Granmother trying to play"daddy" in divorce case

My husband left me and our 5 month old a month ago. He has 2 DWI'S and therefore is not allowed to drive with the baby. He also hasn't been working. We have not gone to court yet, but his mom wants to be the supervisor during his visits and wants the baby overnight. I let her have him overnight in the past, when we were married, but now I don't think it is a good idea because she wants to come pick up our son for the visitation, whetther or not the dad shows up or not. She is also trying to pay his child support for him. But I have recieved none for this month and she was recording our conversations. I want her to be a grandmother to my son, not the mediatior between my husband and I. Will the judge grant her supervisor over his visitation if I do not feel comfortable with that? Why can't the visitation be at my home, or with a worker at a neutral location? The grandmother is trying to take over this divorce and I haven't spoken to my husband once and he has made no effort to see the baby, and has been unfaithful. His mother wants visitation over at her home for her son, but I think this is none of her business and this is wrong. What can I do? They rescheduled the court date and I fired my lawyer because he was not giving me good legal advice, and instead, wanting to settle. My son needs visitation with his dad, not two "mommy's"

Grandparent Visitation Statutes vary greatly from state to state. Most, if not all courts will determine if it is in the child's best interest to spend time with the grandparents.

As for grandma being the supervisor during visits between your child and the father I don't know if the court would grant something like that. If the supervision is because of the drinking or violence then I doubt the court would allow such a biased party to supervise the visitation. You will want to voice your opinion about her being the supervisor on your court date. Emphasize that you don't mind a nuetral 3rd party supervising but not the grandmother. If you are willing to supervise you may want to also mention that. Also bring up the fact that you don't feel comfortable allowing visitation at the grandma's home and explain your reservations. Offer alternative locations such as your home or other locations that you would feel comfortable with.

It does not sound as if you are oppossed to the grandma seeing your child. You may want to think about Mediation since you will most likely have a long standing relationship with this woman. And if she loves your child what could be better than another individual looking out for yours.

Depends on the state but it is likely that grandma will be allowed some sort of visitation. As for the more specific details such as location, time etc. that will be up to the judge.

You may want to hire another attorney who can articulate your arguments and concerns in court for you.

Well, my attorney said that they look to the next available family member if the son, my soon to be x husband, has to have supervised visits. He has two DWI's and the other day, his mom called to take our son, and asked if my x , her son, could pick up our child. I feel if the court grants her as the supervisor, she will let him drive with my son. She does not think he needs help, and he needs AA meetings. She is pushing for overnight stays, but my son is only 6 months old. What can I do to get visits under my supervision? If she gets to supervise, I am also afraid that if something happened to my x, she would push for the same visitation as his grandmother and win because our son would be seeing her so often and in grandparent rights cases, they look to how much time the child has spent with the grandparent. She is trying to use our divorce as a way to see our son becuase her son, my x, hasn't even called about the baby, and has been missing work for a month, ever since he left us a month and a half ago. What can I do to sway the judge that I know what is best for my child, since the father is irresponsible, and sway him to see things the way they are and not give this woman cthe control she desperately wants over my child. She is telling my x horrible things about me so he won't come back to me, and making the divorce even harder. She's an enabler and babies him completely and he is almost 24. I'mm 22 and have been forced to live with my parents since he left me and the baby. She is trying to prove she is a good supervisor, but she lets my child around second hand smoke, and let my son ride in the car with her husband who was drinking and driving at the time. It's like she sees nothing wrong with this, and why should my son be around this disfunction? What can I do to ensure my son is safe from harm? I am also afraid she will pick up my son for her son's visitation and the father won't be there. What can I do?

It is your attorneys job to sway the judge and voice your concerns. You should really be posing these questions to your attorney.

Have your attorney present evidence of the two DWI's and ask that your ex not be allowed to drive your son around. Make sure your attorney voices your concerns about the drinking, second hand smoke and anything else that worries you about that family.

Thank you for the advice. I spoke with my attorney about the options, though I am still skeptical about the outcome since they have moved back our first court date once again. I will voice my concern to the judge about the grandmother being supervisor, and hopefully he will hear me out. But it really bothers me about this state, TX, because they do not like the father to sign away his rights. I think in this case, he would want to , but like I said, his mom would talk him out of it. I think his abandoning alone and illegal behavior should be taken into consideration , especially, the violence, when considering if he should still have parental rights. But supposedly, TX does not like parents to sign away thier rights because then they won't have to pay child support. But as much as the money helps, I can survive without it and I think it would be better if he did sign away his rights. But they only consider it if I have someone ready to adopt my son if I re- marry. I don't see how this is fair, but I hope all turn out for the best interest of our son , in court.

The father of our 7 month old son, has not called or seen him in two months asfter he left us and we are going through a divorce. Since our child is not yet a year old and we were not married at the time our son was born and I gave him his last name, once divorced can I easily change our son's last name back to my maiden name? If I re marry later on, I know also that there is a chance of adoption and then can take thier name, but even if I never remarry, can I give my son my maiden name now that I will be appointed sole mangeing conservator and the dad is posserory with limited visitation?

You will need to go to either your Family courthouse or in some states the Probate court or Civil court to find out exactly what paperwork needs to be filed and whether you can do what you are seeking to do. Good luck.