Hi all,
I have a unique case here, and I humbly come to you asking your opinion. If this is not appropriate, I apologize in advance. I have a story to tell regarding the custody determination for my children in the State of Michigan, and it is not pretty.
You have to know MI law for this, so here we go. In order to restart a MI friend of the court (FOC) investigation, I have to convince a judge that there has been a material change in circumstances. I brought several issues to the judge, involving inability to communicate, decaying physical circumstances, my remarriage, and a serious dispute in religious upbringing. The judge said this was enough, we had a long FOC investigation, and then a referee hearing. This was dismissed 2 days ago on insufficient grounds for material change in circumstance, citing the Vodvarka case.
The facts:
- I'm divorced. I have two minor children with my ex-wife, ages 8 and 6. She has primary physical custody, and we have joint legal custody. I moved (without appropriate permission from the court, as a result of improper legal counsel, to take a job with my 2nd wife at a new University in OH), since the judgement of the divorce (JOD).
- The kids are living in filth. I have video evidence from a former joint residence, taken immediately after the JOD, indicating extensive cat urine stains in various locations in the house and very dirty bathrooms and kitchen. This was 11 months after I left the former marital home. In addiiton I have twice witnessed (through a window) dirty conditions in the new home. The FOC report indicates this cleanliness problem in a surprise visit, and indicates it still remains to a lesser degreee on a scheduled (!) second visit.
- The children were raised in a Jewish home. My ex-wife is a convert to Judaism. Since the JOD, she has begun Christian ritual, over my strongest objection. She has started to provide Christmas presents to the children and to herself. She claims in court that this is practice we used to conduct, which is an outright lie. For her older child (my former stepson, who I was with for 8 years), we allowed him to accept Christmas presents from his Christian father, but we scrupulously avoided opening them on Christmas, never had a tree, etc.
The court has decided that religion is a private matter and (apparently) this doesn't meet the change in circumstances standard, and that the other issues are not pertinent or strong enough to meet the standard set forth in Vodvarka.
I have evidence from the FOC document itself that the children are religiously confused, and also from our Rabbi in Ohio. My ex-wife doesn't conduct any significant Jewish ritual in or out of the home, and seemingly is not intending to do so. When I left the kids were 6 and 4, and we did as much external and internal religious observance, although not as mush as I do now that I am remarried (and the kids ages allow more developmentally appropriate ritual).
We still have the final Judge's ruling, and he was symapathetic at the start of this, but shall I lodge a discrimination suit? How can I? How can the court allow ritual that is in opposition to my joint legal custodial desires? How can this referee possibly believe that that there has not been a change in circumstance?
I am so livid, and I feel as if my kids are demonstrably suffering and noone in the MI family courts is listening. Thanks for listening.
