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If you are in the middle of a divorce and you are in Court, you may think that you are in control of your family. Quite frankly, you are not. If your marital home is in New York and you think that you and the child can simply move to another state, California for example, without the permission of your spouse or the Court, think again.
I am involved in a matter in New York, in which the father, without notifying the mother, took the child to Michigan to be with his parents. The mother initially thought it was just going to be for the weekend. But the weekend turned into a week and then more days. The father was ordered to return the child to New York.
Although the father returned to New York, he left the child with his parents. It took the father another 72 hours to produce the child. During those 72 hours, the father fired his lawyer because he felt he could speak from his heart and the Court would listen and understand. There were daily Court appearances to obtain the status of the location of the child.
The father told the Court that he fired his attorney because his attorney would not let him speak directly to the Judge. Essentially, the father thought and expressed to the Court that the child was safer with his parents. The father also advised the Court that he was told by his attorneys that he could take the child out of the jurisdiction.
The Court was not amused that the father violated the Court order and the Court felt that the father had no understanding of the child’s needs. The Court felt that the only reason the father returned the child to New York was because the Judge threatened him with incarceration. The father kept trying to explain his position on why he did what he did, however, every time he spoke, he confirmed that he violated the Court Order and that the only interest that he considered was his own.
After the child was produced, the Judge ordered that the mother have temporary legal and residential custody of the child. Additionally, the Court ordered that the father have supervised visitation of the child by a third party-approved resource.
There are two very big lessons in this story. If your attorney tells you not to speak, rest assured there is a reason. You, as a lay person, do not understand the law and how your words may not be in your best interest. Second, if the Court issues an Order, follow it. Judges do not take kindly to you disobeying their order. There will absolutely be ramifications if you do not follow the Court order.
