A few days after Christmas, rapper, Future, went on a profanity laced rant on Twitter complaining about Ciara, the mother of his child. According to Future’s tweets Ciara has been keeping him from their child, Future, Jr. The rapper tweeted, “I gotta go through lawyers to see babyfuture…the f–kery for 15k a month” and “”I just want babyfuture that’s all…I been silent for a year & a half..I ran outta patience.” To date, Ciara has not publicly responded to Future’s posts. While not every parent would take to Twitter to complain about child custody issues, many don’t realize what their options are.
Seeing tweets like this splashed all over the internet may seem shocking, but Future’s frustrations and concerns are hardly uncommon. A custody agreement that seemed reasonable months or even years ago, may no longer be practical. Or one parent may unilaterally be deciding to make alterations to an agreement or court order.
Rather than publicly airing frustrations about custody time, a parent who wishes to alter or enforce a custody agreement has available remedies through the courts. It is unknown at this time whether Ciara is in fact withholding custody from Future, or if Future simply is unhappy with the present custody arrangement. If it’s the former, and one parent is withholding the child in violation of a present custody Order of Court, in Pennsylvania, the other party can enforce the Order through contempt or enforcement proceedings. The result of these proceedings is the court is empowered to order parties to abide by a custody order and assess sanctions if one party is in violation of the order.
If it’s the latter, and Future feels that the present arrangement does not afford him adequate time with his son, he can pursue a custody modification. The goal of this proceeding is to change the present custody order, assuming such a change is in the best interests of the child.
While neither of these avenues offer the instant gratification of airing frustrations on social media, they are much more likely to provide long-term solutions to custody issues. Typically, parents should refrain from social media postings like Future’s as such postings may reflect poorly on the parent during any ultimate custody proceedings. A judge would likely respond favorably to Ciara’s silence in response to Future’s social media campaign. If you’re feeling frustrated by your current custody arrangement, or have questions regarding other family law issues, contact the experienced custody lawyers at McMorrow Law at 724-940-0100 for a free initial consultation.