I need to go to family court about a custody issue and i need advice please.. read on..?

I have 2 children with my ex and he has not seem them for a year because he was abusive with them in means of language and hitting our oldest daughter and she was only 6.. After that he said he would not bother the kids until they wanted to see him because they were scared of him.. I have physical custody of them and he only has supervised visitation on the weekend for 4 hrs...


Now he is taking me back to court to see the kids..


This is a bit of his history. Drugs, Alcohol Abuse, Violence..Just a bad situation and my daughters are both sacred of him because of what he has done to them...


My question is as follows: We have been to court before over and over again and he sees them for a month and then decides not to but i would like to know how and if i can obtain the records from when he got arrested for drugs and dwi..


He also recently had a situation where he was molesting his own niece.. Should i get a court appointed lwr ? Can i get his records on my own.. Please help...I need to go to family court about a custody issue and i need advice please.. read on..?
Ok, let's try to answer all your questions and give you some advise with out writing a book. I have been a child advocate for over 5 years and I see this kind of case fruquently.


First let me say, a court appointed attorney is ';a rule'; attorney. Some of the best attorny's I've seen have been appointed to represent the parents. So I would say save your money and us the one appointed to you. Their job is to work for you and look out for your/children's best interest if at some point you do not feel this is happening you can ask for a new one or hire one. But something to remember is they do this everyday, they work in the family courts. So not only are they familier with the situtations they work closely with the pros/judge so this will be a benefit for you.


You can infact simply go to the local law enforcement agency and fill out a request for the arrest reports on your ex, most agencies will require you to pay a min fee for the coping, another way you attorney can request it and ususally this would be free to them. BUT I would recommend you go get it, it will spend up the process when you know you are doing it. All criminal information is public record.


One thing you need to do is present evidence of the past abuse by your ex towards not only your children but also his abuse of drugs/alcohol (this could be the DWI) show he only maintains minimal contact with the children.


If your children are seeing a therapist have them write a report to the court stating the effect having contact with dad may be on the children and if he believes if it's in the best interest. Alot of time, if a therapist states it's not in the best interest of the children, the judge will NOT order visitation in fact he will state visitation will only happen when the therapist states it's in the best interest. Does your daughter want to see her father? If not have her come to court and state that to the judge.


Also, another option is to go to court and if you feel the judge is leaning towards visitations again, then have your attorney request the judge to appoint a Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) this is a third party non-bias opinion on what is in the best interest of the child/ren. They are appointed by the judge and reports back to the judge. The GAL should/would do an independent investigation, talking to all parties, inlcuding the children, therapists, teachers, family members and report what is in their opinion the best interest of the children.


You stated he had supervised visits on the weekends, if the person who supervises is a specialist, have them write something up for the courts about how the visits are going.


I hope this helps, if you have any other questions I would be happy to try to help you further. Contact me, and I will answer them.


Good LuckI need to go to family court about a custody issue and i need advice please.. read on..?
I don't think you're being very fair to court appointed lawyers. The court appointed attorneys are licensed attorneys, just like one that you pay. The difference is who is paying them, and regretfully, the caseload. They often have a huge caseload, and are often overburdened. However, court appointed attorneys are also often specialists in their fields. Just like a public defender does nothing except criminal work, an attorney who is appointed for custody matters only does that type of work, as a general rule.





CAVEAT: I'm not aware of any procedure for routine appointment of an attorney in a custody case except when the state is moving to terminate parental rights. You may be confusing ';court appointed'; with the Legal Aid society or some such group, which is not the same thing.





All that being said, you need to obtain an attorney. This type of procedure is complicated and fraught with potential pitfalls. If you make a mistake, your children are the ones at risk. If you can't obtain a lawyer for free, you will need to find a way to hire an attorney. For a referral, contact your local or state bar association.
go to the court house and look up his name for past arrests. if he was arrested for molesting his niece than bring that to court also if not than it will be speculation and no solid proof. but the biggest thing to do is get a lawyer not a court appointed lawyer. the biggest evidence that will help you is to proof that you children are scared of their father because of the past experinces.
In the state of Ohio as long as the case is closed and there are no open court proceedings in the case (ex the old DWI , DRUG ARREST ect.) it is public record and anyone that is a member of the general public can obtain it. There may be hassle to get it if they know why you want it but it is a matter of public record do so research at a public library or the net for where you live and see what the records are on public record or call a local lwr and ask. As far as obtaining a lwr check your local court houses, prosecutors offices and evening job and family services ( child services / welfare) departments for att that will help with child cases. Hope this helps and Good Luck to you and your daughters.
With the history you described, it is very likely that supervised visitation will continue.





I am not familiar with the acronym, lwr. However, some jurisdictions allow for a court appointed special advocate, who is an attorney that advocates for the benefit of the child(ren).





You can get his records only if you are named as a victim in the reports or your minor children are the victims. His DUI and drug arrests will probably not be available to you.





Good luck.