Arielle Curry v. Adam Yox
Case No: 18FL00193
Hearing Date: Tue May 22, 2018 10:30

Nature of Proceedings: Req. for Order: Child Custody/Visitation/Co-Parenting Classes & Reimbursement of Sophia’s Birth Costs

Req. for Order: Child Custody/Visitation/Co-Parenting Classes & Reimbursement of Sophia’s Birth Costs

Petitioner’s Attorney, Channe G. Coles

Respondent in pro per

Ruling: The Court is not unsympathetic with mother’s efforts to reach a resolution; at the same time, the Court has no conclusive evidence of what father has agreed to; reading and interpreting text messages and emails does not constitute “a contract” in this case; the Court will not enter orders until the hearing on 5/22, at which time the Court will inquire what father is willing to do, and not do. Indeed, among other things, child support requires a specific finding of time share and turns on what the “agreement” contains. Only then can the Court make a comprehensive decision.

Analysis:

The Petition to Establish Parental Relationship was filed 1/2018; two children ages 1 and 3; Mother filed a 43 page RFO; the Court will summarize: seeks child custody orders [sole to mother] and visitation to father, and “other [seeks Co-parenting classes and reimbursement of Sophie’s birth costs];

Seeks the following visitation schedule:Adam shall have visitation with our daughters as follows:

a. Beginning the week of the hearing (Olivia, age 3, Sophia, age 1):

i. Every Wednesday from 5:30pm to 7:00pm, during which time he must feed them a nutritious dinner. Arielle will deliver the children to Adam’s residence, and he shall return them to Arielle’s residence promptly at 7:00pm so they can be in bed by their normal bedtime of 7:30pm. She will promptly drop off the children at Adam’s residence at 5:30pm.

ii. Adam shall have visitation with Olivia every first, third, and fifth weekend on Saturday and Sunday from 11:00am to 6:00pm.

iii. Adam shall have visitation with Sophia every first, third, and fifth weekend on Saturday and Sunday from 11:00am to 12:15pm.

iv. For weekend visitation Adam shall pick up the girls from Arielle’s residence at 11:00am, and Arielle will pick up Sophia at 12:15pm. Adam shall return Olivia at 6:00pm to Arielle’s residence.

b. Beginning January 1, 2019, (Olivia age 4, Sophia age 2):

i. Every Wednesday from 5:30pm to 7:00pm, during which time he must feed them a nutritious dinner. Arielle will deliver the children to Adam’s residence, and he shall return them to Arielle’s residence promptly at 7:00pm so they can be in bed by their normal bedtime of 7:30pm. Arielle will drop the girls off at Adam’s home at 5:30pm.

ii. Adam shall have visitation with Olivia every first, third, and fifth weekends from 11:00am Saturday to 6:00pm Sunday. Adam must first provide proof that Olivia has an age-appropriate bed at his home and that his home is properly child-proofed, including all doors to the exterior and cupboards/drawers containing items/chemicals that are harmful to children.

iii. Adam shall have visitation with Sophia on the first, third, and fifth weekend of each month from 11:00am to 2:00pm on Saturday, and from 11:00am to 2:00pm on Sunday. Adam must provide proof that Sophia has an age appropriate bed at his home in the event she naps and that his home is properly child-proofed, including all doors to the exterior and cupboards/drawers containing items/chemicals that are harmful to children.

iv. Adam shall pick up the children at my residence on both days, and Arielle shall pick up Sophia at 2:00pm. Adam shall return Olivia to her home on Sunday at 6:00pm.

c. A fifth weekend shall be defined as a month with five Saturdays.

d. Prior to Sophia’s fourth birthday we must discuss a new step-up agreement, attend mediation, or file a motion with the Court.

e. Arielle shall have custody of Olivia and Sophia at all other times not specified herein.

Mother proposes a complex holiday schedule

Response

Father does not consent to the order requested; he does consent to Joint Legal and Joint physical custody with the following time share for father, while the children are so young and need to spend more time with their mother, who is their primary care giver; alternating weekends defined as follows; Saturday 11 am to 6:15 pm and Sunday 11 am to 6:15 pm; equal holiday time; does not consent to the child support order requested; he makes the following requests that the Court:

a. Grant his request for joint legal custody.

b. Grant his request for joint physical custody. He requests to have Olivia from 11AM-6:15PM Saturday and Sunday on alternating weekends; request to have Sophia with Olivia from11AM-l PM Saturday and Sunday on alternating weekends; he requests the schedule for Olivia transition to Saturday from 11AM-6PM Sunday starting in January of 2019; requests to have Sophia from 11AM-6PM on Saturdays and Sundays. He would like this schedule to be reviewed and additional time spent with father as the girls get older; would like time to increase substantially at the age of five, with both parties recognizing this would constitute a “change of situation and needs” in regards to the girls.

c. Grant guideline child support not inclusive of childcare add-ins.

d. Grant his request to waive reimbursement costs incurred for the birth of Sophia; he depleted his 401 K at mother’s request and gave her $2800; this was the same week she chose to terminate their relationship and previously agreed-upon living arrangement; was a substantial financial hardship.

Mediation

Mediation reports that “The mediation was incomplete. The parties will return to mediation on May l8, 2018.”

Reply

Mother filed a Reply that comprises 32 pages including Exhibits A through F; the Court can only summarize as follows: she testifies that her initial requests of the Court have not changed much; father and she discussed this matter at length (outside of mediation) and “reached an agreement for a custody and visitation schedule” which are reflected in her modified requests as outlined below.

a. Father shall have visitation as follows:

i. Beginning June 2, 2018, and until January 5, 2020, Father shall have visitation with Olivia on the first, third, and fifth weekends of the month on Saturday and Sunday from 11:15am to 3:15pm each day. Visitation with Sophia on the first, third, and fifth weekends of the month on Saturday and Sunday from 11:15am to 12:15pm each day.

ii. Beginning January 6, 2020, father shall have visitation with Olivia on the first, third, and fifth weekends of each month from Saturday 11:00am to Sunday at 6:00pm, provided that prior to that date he provides proof that Olivia has an age appropriate bed. Father shall have visitation with Sophia on the first, third, and fifth weekend of each month on Saturday and Sunday from 11:00am-2:00pm each day.

Mother then testifies that she requests that the Stipulation and Order attached as Exhibit A be made into an Order of the Court based on the fact that the terms were all agreed to by her and father, and yet now he is making different requests without justification or reference to facts to support his claims that they are in the best interests of the children [emphasis by the Court].

Mother also testifies that they reached the agreement for the new schedule as shown in true and correct copies of text messages between father and her as well as emails between father and Ms. Coles’ office attached as Exhibit B, father refuses to sign the proposed stipulation because of the alcohol and drug provisions it contains; mother also notes that following these text messages father and she had multiple phone calls whereby he agreed to change his visitation with Olivia from 11:15am-6:15pm to 11:15am-3:15pm [emphasis by the Court].

Mother then testifies that Attached as Exhibit C is a true and correct copy of a text message from father on May 9, 2018, whereby he states he will be signing the stipulation without the alcohol/drug provisions that night [mother apparently agreed]; but as of May 14, 2018, she had not received the signed stipulation from father and only agreed to remove the provisions so he would sign the stipulation and she could avoid incurring attorney fees for the Reply [emphasis by the Court].

Mother testifies that the back-and-forth was costly and led nowhere, which forced her to file this motion; continued to try and reach an agreement with father that was in the daughters’ best interest, but after stating that he would sign the stipulation, he backed out and said he “has until May 22 to sign.” Father makes co-parenting extremely difficult and only wants to see the girls when it’s convenient for him [emphasis by the Court].

Court’s Conclusions:

The Court has no conclusive evidence of what father has agreed to; the Court will not enter orders until the hearing, at which time the Court will inquire what he is willing to do, and not do. Only then can the Court make a comprehensive decision.