Some good news?
Hi all,
I heard from my lawyer yesterday that my ex (the alcoholic in my life) has signed off on a consent agreement that specifies that Kid resides full-time with me and that he will have access under conditions specified in the agreement (short visits, no overnights, continuously monitored by SoberLink, no driving).
On the one hand this is nothing new - it just formalizes the status quo of the past year and a half, since ex had a major meltdown and Kid came to stay with me full-time rather than 50/50.
On the other hand, it's important because with ex's signoff, I can now have this agreement filed in court as a variation to our old divorce order which specified shared parenting. This means that it will legally enforceable, and that ex can't make a lot of noise about wanting Kid to live with him again and/or having unrestricted access to Kid. If he wants more time with Kid, the burden will now be on him to prove that primary residence with me is not in Kid's best interests. It secures Kid's future (and mine too), as until now I have been (technically) in violation of our divorce order for the last year and a half.
This is far from the end of the road - ex still isn't paying child support and I will have to continue with the court route to get him to meet his financial responsibilities. He will also continue to be in Kid's life and therefore in mine, but with this legal piece taken care of, his ability to interfere in our lives is reduced.
I will continue to keep everyone posted, and to everyone else in my situation, don't give up!