Q. My 10-year-old daughter disclosed that she is being abused by her stepmother and is due to spend six weeks with her father and stepmother for the summer. She said her phone is taken away and only returned for the 15 minutes per day she is allowed to Facetime. The rest of the day she is responsible for all of the laundry for her two-year-old twin sisters, preparing their meals, and playing with them so her stepmother can rest.  If she resists, she is screamed at and pinched in locations covered by clothing so no one notices the bruises.

I filed an emergency case, so she does not have to go to Kentucky this summer and lost. I tried to do this without notice to my ex so his wife wouldn’t know and retaliate if I lost. The court notified him and they participated in the hearing denying everything.

My lawyer says I should not appeal because this is an emergency situation – instead I should call the child protection agency in Kentucky and then send her.  I want to appeal.

A. I understand why your lawyer said you should not appeal. Assuming there was no case pending before you went to court, you had to file a new modification action.  If the relief you were requesting was denied and the case was dismissed, which is unlikely, an appeal will take at least a year. During that time, you will still be expected to abide by the order unless there is some alternative intervening event. If the case was not dismissed but the judge just denied your request not to send her to Kentucky, you can appeal to a single justice of The Appeals Court which is a way of appealing an order mid-case. In my experience, most single justice petitions are denied.

Ask your lawyer for more alternatives to the appeal.  Notifying the Kentucky child protection agency is one option but maybe notify the Massachusetts DCF or seek a restraining order for your daughter if she is afraid the physical abuse will escalate.

If you refuse to put her on the plane, you will be in contempt of court, but it might buy time to take these other steps. The judge can order make up time and in an extreme situation even a change of custody so weigh your options carefully. Consider getting her a prepaid second phone to hide in case she has to call for help.

Email questions to whickey@brickjones.com