I don't post much, but I read all the time....I am having such a struggle that I feel like I need to post to see if anyone else has had the same struggles....this may be long....
My daughter is 13 1/2, for the first 12 years of her life, her dad was hardly involved. He never paid child support (although it kept accruing) and saw her only occasionally (even though there was a custody order).
About two years ago he got married and was not honest with his wife about the past, she found out the hard way when their bank accounts were frozen by the attorney general for child support....SHE (not him) decided that if they have to pay, then they were going to begin enforcing custody, so my daughter had to start going every other weekend, holidays, etc.
DD hates it, she doesn't like being forced to go and having no flexibility. The step-mom has had several outbursts where she is less than friendly (even calling her a curse word one time) to DD and she talks to her like a lawyer and not a child, telling her things that she doesn't need to tell her. Her dad just sits by and lets the step-mom take control of everything.
After a verbal (phone and text) confrontation yesterday with her dad and step mom, I have decided that I am refusing to let her go over there anymore and I have made an appt with a lawyer. I am worried that we won't be able to amend the custody and that she will continue being forced into a situation that it not mentally healthy and is very stressful for her