Learn the Important Factors You Need to Know
Video Transcribed: Is the other side withholding during COVID-19? I’m I’m the Tulsa father’s rights lawyer and this is going to be a video about your options if the other side is visitation withholding during COVID-19. The most important factors which will define the relief that you can request from the court are the status of visitation and the ancillaries present in your case. So is there a parenting coordinator, a therapist coordinating visitation, reunification counselor?
Is there a guardian ad litem, is there a supervised … Is there supervised visitation, does the other side have or does the child have an attorney? All of these factors are relevant, and what the actual setup of your visitation and how much access and possession you are allotted by the order are important. However, if you want the relief of access and possession, there are four options for you to file, and I think that a combination of three or four of these will likely be the appropriate response in just about every case.
One, application for writ of habeus corpus. Application for writ of habeus corpus is to move the body. That will effectively be a court instructing a sheriff’s deputy to move the child from one to the other. Generally, this is used for custodial parents, but during the coronavirus, I think judges are more likely to do this and have expressed that they’re more likely to do this based on the fact that motions to enforce are not being heard under the timelines by statute.
The other option is to file an emergency. To file an emergency, it’s got to be proven that there is a risk of immediate harm and that that our harm is irreparable. Now I do believe that erosion of a parent child relationship is irreparable. There is evidence that suggests that children have a fear of abandonment, that they would need to be reassured that they are not being abandoned during a national emergency.
So I do see that it could be an emergency and irreparable harm. I’m not sure that the judge is going to agree with me. And so that’s why you’ve got to file more than one of these things. And the motion to enforce, which is the more traditional manner for relief, is set out. So if you’re not able to get writ or an emergency, technically you’re supposed to get an enforcement within a statutory period, which I think is 21 days. But with the current crisis, courts are paused. These are not being set. And so first in line, first get to see their kid kind of thing and you’ve got to file the motion to enforce alongside the application for habeus and the application for emergency so you can kind of check every box and see if you can see your kid.
The final option, which I think is the teeth is the application for contempt. And that’s not going to get set right away, but at the end of the day they’re withholding. It’s wrong, it’s not fair to you, it’s not helping the child and it’s violating a court order. And that contempt is punishable by up to six months in the county jail and up to a $500 fine. And we’d be happy to file an application for contempt and prosecute that case for you, because you know what?
How are you going to get her to not do it the next time? And I’m tired of seeing dad’s getting hosed. So give us a call. You’ve got four options, application for habeus, application for emergency, motion through force, and application. Happy to talk you through all those and answer any questions for you if you’ve got any. Again, I’m I’m Tulsa’s father’s rights lawyer, that was a movie about getting and enforcing visitation during this COVID-19 virus. I hope it was helpful. Thanks.
