I am in Angelina County, Texas. I currently have joint custody with me being the primary parent. My 7 year old daughter is not liking her visits with her Dad. He lives about 100 miles away with his girlfriend and her two small children (4 and 2). He claims that she misbehaves down there and that myself and his mother %26quot;baby%26quot; her too much (his mother and I are close and she is very involved with raising her). He says that she needs to grow a backbone and toughen up, etc She has ADHD and he refuses to understand how this effects her or to learn methods of parenting her that would work better than screaming at her all day. I got off the phone with her a while ago and she was just in tears begging for me to come and get her and all the while he was in the background screaming at her to quit whining. I reassured her that she would be home in 5 days but she says it is too long, she just can't take it, can I please get her early, etc I told her I loved her and that it would all be okay. I feel so bad for her. He is bipolar and is verbally and emotionally abusive. He also has a criminal history (2 felonies). My daughter receives counselling and has said that her Dad yells a lot and spanks her. Can I get sole custody and reduce his visitation to no extended visits with her (like, a one week max at a time) as the extended visits seem to be worse for her, not so much the shorter visits. Can she speak in court, also?Change to sole custody of 7 yr old and restrict length of visitations?1) Can I get sole custody
Not likely, based on what you are saying, but understand that there are three sides to every story, yours, his and the truth. In this forum we only hear your side, the judge will hear all sides. If your complaint is that he yells at her for misbehaving, no judge will rule on that alone.
2) reduce his visitation to no extended visits with her
See the answer to number 1
3) Can she speak in court, also?
A judge can allow her to speak, but is in no way obligated to follow her wishes.
I am assuming he already had the felonies when he was granted joint custody, so their chances of that having any bearing now will be the same as it was in the first hearing. I also assume you brought up the proof of his bipolar as well as his verbal and emotional abuse when custody was originally granted, what did the judge say then? If this is a new diagnosis, then it could b e pertinent, if not then you may well be wasting your time.
Contact a good family attorney for a consultation.
