If your ex-spouse refuses to let you see your child, your best option will be to hire a lawyer and file a motion for enforcement.
Before filing you need to prove that you did show up to pick up your child on the correct date and at the correct time. Most attorneys will probably advise you that you need to show up at the correct place, on time, wait for at least 20 minutes, and for your ex to fail to bring/deliver your child to you on at least four to six occasions. You will also need to be sure that you document all of this very well. This is obviously frustrating because you will go without seeing your child for a period of time.
There are some great apps to help prove that you showed up at the correct location, and on time for each of your scheduled periods of possession.
One of them that I recommend is Our Family Wizard. It has a built in GPS tracker and with the app on your phone, you can pinpoint where you were with a date and time stamp included.
If you don’t want to use an app to track your location, you can take someone with you to the pick-up to be a witness. They will have to testify that you were at the location for the exchange on the correct dates and ontime for each occasion.
After you prove that you were at the pick-up location at least four to six times and you were denied possession of the child, should you need to have a court hearing to enforce your possession periods, by statute you will be awarded attorney’s fees from the other party. If the court also finds that there was no valid reason for the other parent to deny your possession, then by statute you will be given back those periods of possession, in the same type and duration, in the future.
Can Custody Be Reversed After Being Denied Possession?
If the other parent’s actions in refusing to let you see your child becomes so egregious, then it is possible that the court will change possession. If you’ve gone to court several times for enforcement the problem could be seen as a severe issue. Your attorney would probably advise you to file a motion to modify your custody and ask for possession of the child. If the judge finds that you are being denied possession with no legitimate excuse then the judge may decide in your favor and switch custody.
