How to deal with a non custodial bipolar parent that won't follow the visitation rules

Question

My son has custody of his child, the mother is VERY bipolar and sees the child on scheduled days. But getting the child back from her is a problem. She makes up her own rules even tho the court has set guidelins for them. There are other extreme problems too but this is the main thing right now. How have other men handled this situation?

Answer 1

The other people here are right in saying that your son (I'll call him "Dad") can get the court to enforce its order.  The difficult question for Dad is whether or not to do so.  If he feels that her illness puts the child at risk of real harm, then he should be petitioning the court to require supervision of her visits.  Otherwise, he will have to figure out on his own where the balance lies between saving himself a regular and significant irritation on the one hand, and keeping the peace for the child's benefit on the other.  

Every bipolar person is different, and so is every child.  I've been involved in cases where the parent's mental health problem was such a stressor on the children that they actually wanted to leave the house.  Other times, though, the kids accept Mom the way she is, put up with the hard parts, and wish everyone would get along better.

Good luck to your son and grandchild.  And good luck to you and the bipolar woman as well.

Answer 2

If she violates the conditions of the decree, your son can go to court and file a motion for contempt of court.

Answer 3

Petition the court or arbitrator for supervised visits.  You will have to provide documentation outlining the occasions when it has been difficult to retrieve the child and her medical condition, but most of the time they will grant it (at least in the state of CA).

Answer 4

you can petition the court and have her visits monitored, file police reports for kidnapping- go consult a children advocate attorney and see what he or she says.

Answer 5

Report her and take her back to court or child services.

This may seem harsh however Bipolar Disorder is something that can

be controlled through proper meds and counseling however we are talking about the safety of a child.

Good luck

Answer 6

I fortunately had my bipolar wife committed for 10 days recently.  She's MUCH more stable now that she is on meds.

Answer 7

He needs to go back to court and ask for supervised visistations based on her behavior..wondering if she had a 'risk assesstment done..for visitation..is she taking her meds..need court interventions