Concerns in the courts
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| Sun, 11-14-2004 - 2:58am |
As I have written in another post, I am going to seek divorce as well as a protective order by the end of November. At that time I am going to remove myself and son from my house because of fears of retaliation. I have read some posts that frighten me about how an abusive spouse convinces the courts that he is the victim and even tries to take custody of the children. Is this a big threat? Are courts that oblivious to evidence of abuse? How much evidence do you need?
My problem is also rather unique in that I do not live in the US (I am a US citizen as is he). My spouse returned to the US temporarily with threats that he will only come back for a month or two then 'may just leave permanently'. I couldn't trust that those two months, if they were even guaranteed, would go by without incident and so I am taking action now. The country I am in and have been for the last 4 years says that they will follow US law but under the local country's court system. So I am thinking that things will proceed in a way similar to that in the US.
Should I be prepared for a serious fight where I will be accused of things I cannot even imagine now? Am I under threat of having my child taken away? I have horrible emails which he has written me at work, people he has verbally threatened, and at least 2 witnesses to his behavior towards myself and my son. My spouse has even been so kind as to write slanderous accusations about his work which he showed to a respected individual at work, and proposed to publish this. He has also written slanderous things about his work through email and sent it to various respected individuals. This he told me himself. I also have one doctor's report showing a broken rib which I attributed to an accident. The doctor refuses to report the incident in writing though, but was willing to verbally report it to the lawyer. Is this enough to assure a court that I am being truthful?

Hello, hg and welcome back.
Mama Harmony