Question:
Here is a brief run down of my dilemma: In July of 2004, I filed for divorce because my estranged wife falsely accused me of beating her up. There was an altercation and some wrestling but there was not any battering. Anyway, I copped a plea of guilty, took what the judge gave me and continued on with the divorce. In January of 2005, joint custody was established with our 15-year-old daughter and her primary residence was to be with her mother. Child support was set at 570 dollars a month. I agreed to that and had no problem paying that. I was paying a 900 dollar mortgage even after I moved out so that my daughter could have a roof over her head. In June of 2005, my daughter was assaulted by her mother because she had told her mother that she wanted to live me. Her mother grabbed her by the throat and pinned her up against the front door. My daughter struggled to get away ran for the back door where her mother met her and dragged her back into the house and locked her in her room . The next day my daughter called me from her grandmother's and asked me to come and pick her up that she could not live with her mother anymore. Since this has happened, I have been fighting tooth and nail with the friend of the court to suspend my child support. All I have gotten was the support in an escrow account. I have had a court date for this but the judge would not make a determination because child support and custody are "entertwined" as he put it. I have a provision in the order that any back support is to be preserved until it is determined if and when I get some sort of credit for paying the mortgage, truck payment and medical bills for my daughter. The friend of the court is showing very heavy favoritism toward the mother and is being manipulated by her and was going to release the money in escrow to her until the deputy friend of the court intervened. What can I do about the friend of the court and his animosity towards fathers? He has a reputation of denying fathers what is rightfully theirs.
Answer:
Allow me to preface my answer to your question with the disclaimer that I am not licensed to practice law in the state of Michigan. I assume you have an attorney based upon the Orders that you stated are in place. I am not familiar with the friend of the Court and deputy friend as these do not exist in Missouri. It sounds like you and your attorney are doing all you can do at this time. It appears that the Judge does not want to make an interim decision on child support, as custody is not decided at this time. That is a common approach by Judge's to avoid decisions on one issue when there is an overlap with another issue, as the Judge pointed out. As far as favoritism on behalf of Mother from the friend, based upon what you have provided above, this favoritism does not decide custody. There are clearly more important factors that the Court will rely upon.
