Note: The DearEsq free 'ask a lawyer' site is offered as a free informational service to the public and is not intended as legal advice. Laws vary from state-to-state, and in addition every situation is unique, and relevant facts may not be known. The answer to the question posed below may not apply to in your state or to your situation. For legal advice in your state and your situation you should consult with an attorney in your state who is familiar with the rules and laws in your state.
“I reside in Florida and so does my ex husband. Our youngest daughter has a serious medical condition which her father ia aware of. She has to take medication and I send it with him on visitations. She came home after a weekend and all the medication was still in the bag. He had not given her any of the prescribed medication. Is he neglecting medical attention for our daughter and isn’t his responsibility to give her medications when she is in his care? What do I do? What can be done as far as visitations?”
Question: I’d remind him that the kid needs her prescribed meds. Phone call or an e-mail, as a friendly reminder. Document in your timesharing journal (a calendar of everything that happens in your interactions with your ex) the efforts you make to create this understanding. Unless he is a doctor or some other doctor made a different diagnosis she needs to get her medicine. Once could be a mistake, twice seems willful and three times would be a disturbing trend. If he is consistently not giving your daughter her meds, you may need to seek an order (and the Court might grant an order that both parents must give the child prescribed medication as an emergency temporary order) to make sure that you have the force of a specific and enforceable order. Then he could be subject to contempt charges if he does not give her the medicine. The willful failure to provide necessary medicine could be a factor a Court could consider in a future hearing on visitation to the detriment of the parent going against the doctor’s recomendations.
