Fast forward it two weeks and we have an international incident! The pee-wee soccer game is moved from its normal time of 12:30 pm to 9 am. The local fair in town, this week, needs to use the field. Believe it or not I have seen pathetic visitation wars VERY similar to this fictional account!
See: part 1 of 3 and part 2 of 3
Visitation wars
The 14 prior Court orders do not address this! We have a real problem! An international incident so to speak.
According to the visitation order of January 2023, by Judge Smith, the order states that father’s visitation starts at Saturday at 2pm. There is another order in 2021 stating that father’s visit will start at the end of a game. Mother challenges the legitimacy of this 2021 visitation order, since she alleges that father’s prior Rhode Island divorce attorney entered it without notice.
Some sort of visitation motion was filed in 2021 concerning this, but no one is sure what happened concerning that. This 2021 order was as a result of the fact that mother insisted on taking the child for ice cream for a half an hour, if the game ended early rather than allowing dad to take the child after the game. And then there is the long forgotten 2019 order, which states that if the “baseball or football” game ends early then visitation will start immediately. Noticeably this does not include soccer.
Oh, the horror! The soccer game was now ending this week at 10:30 am. Mom wants to enforce her rights under the 2023 decree. “Visits start at 2pm and not a moment sooner!”, screams mother.
Father digs in his heal and hangs his hat on the 2021 order, which states that his visits start when the game is over.
Mother doesn’t have a copy of that 2021 order because her third lawyer sent her an unsigned copy of a different version of the order. She calls her ex-boyfriend a liar and denies the existence of an “entered” 2021 order. However, it is Saturday, and mother is unable to get the order.
Father, for his part, refuses to produce the 2021 order to his ex with a big smile on his face and says he will show it to the police when the game is over.
Mother declares that even if he has a copy of the 2021 order, it doesn’t apply since the 2019 order specifies it is only for “football and baseball” games. Dad says his lawyer (who does not exist) informed him that the later in time order governs the dispute so it applies to soccer games. Both parties assert that they would talk to their RI custody lawyer (and then they remember their lawyers ran away years ago)
Father’s Position:
The father asserts that,”this is a matter of principal.” Father claims that mother deserves this for not moving his visit last week so he could go camping with the child. Also, he tells his friends she is “crazy” and “screwed him” over when she had the child baptized without his consent in 2020.
This current spat has nothing to do with the extra hour or two of visits. This argument has everything to do with getting retribution for past wrongs, in this never-ending war. It has nothing to do with interpretation of the convoluted and confusing Court orders, either.
Mom calls her second attorney who previously withdrew from the case as a result of nonpayment. The dialogue goes something like this:
- “Do you remember me?”
- Divorce Lawyer “ohhh, how could I forget” (Under breath ‘those people’)
- “I need the order now.”
- The attorney states, “I’ll get to it and get back to you” (she throws away her number.)
Dad shows up at the game and tries to grab the child after the game and mom yells and screams. Dad calls the police to enforce his rights under the decree. Officer Jones takes the call and snickers under his breath “those people again”
The officer thinks ‘I know the answer’ and declares “This is a civil matter. Go to Family court.”