Question:
My ex-wife is the guardian of my children. She has had my child coached on parental alienation and now has my child claiming I sexually abused her, which is absolutely false.
Since the allegations, all visitation and contact has stopped while I continue to pay child support. What is my legal recourse due to my parenting time being cut off because of unsubstantiated allegations of sexual abuse?
Answer:
I will preface my answer with the fact that while I am licensed to practice law in the State of Indiana, this response does not constitute an attorney client relationship and is being made only on the information you have supplied to me. For a better analysis of your legal issues, I would encourage you to schedule a consultation with an attorney.
First, if the child was born out of marriage, you must establish paternity in order to have parenting time rights with the child. Because you are paying a support obligation, I am assuming that paternity has been established and that you have a custody and parenting time schedule which was ordered by the Court.
If your child’s mother has violated the parenting time order set forth by the court, your best recourse would be in seeking an injunction or temporary restraining order to prevent denial of your parenting time as well as filing a motion for finding of contempt or a motion for rule to show cause or similarly titled filing, asking the Court to order your child’s mother to appear and explain why she should not be held in contempt of Court for denying your scheduled parenting time.
Because it would be anticipated that there would be allegations of sexual abuse, you may want to seek out a guardian ad litem or child custody evaluator being appointed by the Court, or for the Court to order the child into counseling. If the Court finds that your child’s mother’s actions are severe enough, and that she has taken deliberate steps to alienate your child from you, you could be entitled to a modification of physical custody of your child.
Your best recourse would be to seek out immediate legal assistance from an attorney who focuses on domestic litigation such as the attorneys of Cordell & Cordell.
Jason P. Hopper is an Associate Attorney in the Indianapolis, Indiana, office of Cordell & Cordell where his primary practice is exclusively in the area of domestic relations. Mr. Hopper is licensed in the state of Indiana – All State and Appellate courts, US District Court Northern District Indiana, US District Court Southern District Indiana, US Bankruptcy Court Southern District Indiana.
