Ask a Lawyer on Single Dad: Texting On My Time

Get Expert Family Law Article Advice from our Ask a Lawyer Topic Section on SingleDad. Craig A. Candelore from Mens Legal Center is one of the nation’s leading Father’s Right’s Attorneys and offers FREE Family Law advice for Men on SingleDad.com. This month, Craig gives his advice on what to do when your ex is texting your child on your custodial time.

Ask a Lawyer on Single Dad: Texting On My Time

Get Expert Family Law Article Advice from our Ask a Lawyer Topic Section
on SingleDad. Craig A. Candelore from Mens Legal Center is one of the
nation’s leading Father’s Right’s Attorneys and offers FREE Family Law
advice for Men on SingleDad.com. This month, Craig gives his advice on
what to do when your ex is texting your child on your custodial time.

Ask a Lawyer on Single Dad: Texting On My Time

Dear Single Dad,

My name is Dave and I am a 40-year old single dad to a 7-year old
daughter living in San Diego.
Divorced only 6 months, my ex-wife and I have a joint custody agreement
where I have my daughter on the weekends. During my custodial time, my ex is constantly texting
my daughter. I feel that this interfering
with my time with her but when I addressed this my ex-wife she simply told me
she "bought the iPhone and she has every right to keep tabs on my
daughter." Is there anything I can
do to make her stop doing this?
Any advice is appreciated.

Signed Tired of the Texting

With limited time with your daughter, it is easy to see why
you would be upset over her attention partly going to her mom during your court
ordered custodial time when that time is reserved for just you and her. Aside from the upset this is causing
you, it’s putting your daughter in a compromising position where she has to be
responsive to her mom and having to choose mom or dad in that moment. Not an easy situation to work
with when you are only 7 let only 40.

Restrict Phone Usage

During your custodial time with your daughter, you have
every right to run your household the way you see fit. Which means you get to set the
rules. During her custodial time,
the ex-wife is also granted the same privileges that you must respect and honor
as well. Therefore, if you see it
fit to restrict your daughter’s iPhone time during the weekend, you are within
your right to do so. Even parents
who aren’t divorced sometimes need to impose restrictions on cell phone use, so
it’s not an unreasonable request to ask. You may have to go as far as withholding her phone all
together so she doesn’t feel obligated to answer her mom’s texts.

Is There A Compromise?

Instead of having to withhold her phone, another alternative
is to compromise with your ex and ask her to only contact her at specific
times. For example, 6p each weekend
evening or just once during the weekend at a specific time. This will help everyone to know what to
expect, satisfy your ex’s need to be able to talk to your daughter without
constant interruption of your time and free your daughter from having to choose
a side.

Since your divorce is still pretty new, you might find as
time goes on that your wife’s need to constantly text your daughter may
subside. You can either give it a
couple months to see if it will work itself out or if it’s something you feel
needs to be addressed immediately, then your best course of action is to go to
court and get a court order for one of the above-mentioned options or something
similar to.

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