Legal Question in Family Law in Arizona

hello, I currently have joint custody with an ex girlfriend. We have a 3 year old son together. I have always taken car of our son up until about a year ago. She has been known to be extremely irrational and has serious anger management problems. She has thrown ipods in water, she has thrown laptops into the wall, and her most recent shocking temper tantrum last year was throwing a remote conttrol through my $5,000 television, after which, I kicked her out of my house. After a couple weeks, I returned home from work to an empty house- no furniture, no bed, no dishes, no child- obviously, I should have changed the locks sooner. She left the kids bike and toys, but she went as far as taking my deceased mother's picture off the wall. After several more months we went though a custody battle in which I was given rights to have my son friday through wednesday every other week. Lately my son has 'been sick' every other friday and I haven't seen him in a month. Of course after all this, my son has serious insecurities and anxiety issues. My ex is impossible to communicate with- she is a habitual liar, she's very unstable, she is a complete narcisist, she has personality disorders and has major anger management problems. I am fine with never speaking with her again, but my fear is the environment my son is in when she has him. Is there anyway to prove to the court that she has these psyciatric problems? I sincerely believe she needs to be evaluated and be put on medication. She would never agree to that by her own will. Is there anyway for the state to evaluate her with a psycologist? I don't know the legal terms or what sort of proof I would need to require her to be evaluated.


Asked on 12/13/10, 3:20 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Rich Peters R.J. Peters & Assoc., P.C.

If she is not permitting you Court ordered access, you could and should file for enforcement.

Six months after a joint custody order is entered, a parent may petition the court for modification of the order based on the failure of the other parent to comply with the provisions of the order. In a Modification proceeding, you can also allege the need for a psychiatric evaluation. In doing so, we would need to emphasize her concerning behavior.

We can certainly help you consider and then pursue your options for enforcement and modification. This is obviously a very important matter, and you should not go in alone.

One of our attorneys can explain the issues and procedures better in person. As you can imagine, there is too much to cover via email. We offer free 1/2 hour consultations, in which we can discuss your matter in detail.

Please call us directly to discuss the specifics of your matter, or contact my assistant Gina or my paralegal Jennifer to schedule your free 1/2 hour consultation.

/s/ Rich J. Peters

R.J. Peters & Assoc., P.C.

1422 North 2nd Street, Suite 100

Phoenix, Arizona 85004

602-254-7251

facsimile 602-254-1229

see our website at www.familylawaz.com

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Answered on 12/20/10, 7:04 am


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