Obstructing a Parent’s Rightful Child Custody
Custodial interference (also called custody interference) refers to the taking or keeping of a child from the custodial parent with the intent to interfere with that parent’s rightful physical custody.
In other words, when a non-custodial parent does not return his or her child to the custodial parent from a scheduled visitation, or when the custodial parent refuses to allow visitation with the non-custodial parent in violation of the court’s order. It can also occur when the parents have joint physical custody – in this case, even though the parent taking the child has physical custody rights to the child, he or she is still interfering with the other parent’s scheduled custodial rights.
Charging a Parent with Custodial Interference
Custodial interference is a crime in most states and can be punishable by jail time. Depending on your state’s laws, different circumstances can bring varying charges and different penalties. For example, some states treat custodial interference as a misdemeanor unless the child was removed out of state. In that case, the charge becomes a felony. Other states have additional penal provisions for taking the child out of the country. In certain situations, custodial interference can escalate to a state or federal charge of parental kidnapping.
Defending Against Charges
Many states also allow certain defenses to custodial interference. Imminent harm, for example, is a commonly accepted defense. In this instance, the parent removing the child claims to have interfered with normal custody rules because he or she fears for the child’s safety. Other defenses can include mutual consent and the belief that, if he or she did not take the child, the other parent would remove the child from the court’s jurisdiction (i.e. out of state or out of the country). Failure to receive court-ordered child support is not usually a valid defense against a custodial interference charge.
Some states also recognize the child’s wishes, typically when the child is at least 14 years of age and may waive the charge of custodial interference if the child states that he or she did not return to the other parent on their own accord.
Still other states will not apply the interference charge if the child is sixteen years of age or older and there are yet other states that will not file charges if the child is returned before the arrest warrant is issued.
126 Comments
I was wondering how long a non custodial parent keep a child due to the living conditions at the custodial parents house with out it being charged as a kidnapping?
Any time the non-custodial parent keeps the child beyond the visitation period provided in the court order, the non-custodial parent is in violation of the court order. The custodial parent can take a copy of the court order to the police and they will enforce the order.
The non-custodial parent is not entitled to keep the child beyond their court ordered visitation period without obtaining an order from the court modifying his or her visitation.
What if there is no custody agreement. can the father still keep the child if he is not the custodial parent?
If there is no custody agreement then there is no official “custodial” parent. If you are the parent with all or the majority of custodial time, then it is best to obtain a court order to “make it official.” Only a court order can legally provide that you have sole physical custody or the majority of custodial time.
No the police will do nothing about it unless the court order says that police can get involved or enforce it. It has to be plainly written out. Most police will tell you “Take it back to court”
Thank you!
It’s called Enabling Clause!
gives the appropriate officials the power,to implement and enforce the law.
What if the custodial parent never comes to get the child/children when they say they will or were on their way. Parenting plan states that childrens daycare is means of exchange unless daycare is not open. The times when she has not picked them up (numerous times, all documented ) the daycare has not been open. I have always been very open with communication when she has not picked them up, many times she never answers her phone/s or responds back.
EXCEPT IN MACON GEORGIA THEY THINK ITS STILL 1973
I agree to that
Police actually will not get involved, rather will tell you it is a civil matter, go file a contempt charge. Although there is a criminal statue, they don’t like to get involved and any time their father has violated the court order that happens often, and does not stick to the parenting time schedule, the police say they can do nothing. They are usually very reluctant to get involved.
Angela and Metgel, You are ABSOLUTELY SO CORRECTO. THE COPS DO NOTHING. WHAT THE HECK do you go to court for and pay THOUSANDS of dollars to attorney after attorney after useless attorney who basically do nothing but mubmle jumble talk behind their hands, lol, and ask for a 2000 retainer. YEP. I have spend 20,000 in 10 years to 7 differnt attorneys who all buckle in the end. I cant do it anymore. …and the cops, the sheriff, the court, the da all say we cant do anything? wtf? WHERE DID MY MONEY GO??? do you mean to tell me a redneck can buffer all these people? shakes head in disgust.My Long LaborDay weekend stolen…he walked into the school and took them 5 states away.
i have a paper by a judge giving my temporary guardianship over my grand-kids untill we go to court in September 2010 and the great grandma knowingly took them across state lines and the law has done nothing,,,how do i get them to act
If a custodial parent denies the non-custodial parent his rightful, court-ordered visitation, what recourse does the non-c parent have? Will law enforcement (police) go with the non-c parent to claim the child for visitation and enforce the order there and at that time? Or will the custodial parent have to be charged and brought to court? This is very urgent for us considering Christmas is around the corner.
The police department can enforce a court custody order. However, in reality, some departments may be hesitant to do so if the order is not specific clear enough.
The non-custodial parent can also “bring an emergency motion” (submit a formal request) in the family law court to have the order enforced. Usually motions filed on an emergency basis are heard by the court the day after they are filed. You may wish to consult with a local family law attorney or at least check the rules in your county for the specific filing procedure.
if custodial parent does not go through with the visitation plan (he is out of state)
is it grounds to lose custody..hawaii..kids in maryland. need to be here 10 days after school out. he is ordered to purchase tickets 60 days prior to then. what if is kate or what if he cant afford it?? is it possible for me to get kids back??
If a non-custodial parent does not exercise his or her visitation, it may be grounds for reducing that parent’s custodial time.
I am filing for a divorce and my sons father want joint physical as well as legal custody of him. We live in two separate cities less than a 100 miles apart from each other. I have agreed for my son to visit his father 3 out of 4 weekends out of the month, as long as he can afford to return him at the end of the visit. I drop my son off, and he is responsible for the return. Point is those 3 out of 4 weekends, a few holidays and a week in the summer does not constitute equal time which equals joint physical custody. Plus I’m the primary provider for all of his expenses. I’m afraid that if I bend to his demands the custody agreement will be null and void for the above mentioned reasons. I also worry that he can take my son whenever he chooses to if I agree to his terms, however he feels that I will do the same if I don’t.
It’s important to know that joint physical custody means that both parents have custodial time, but does not necessarily mean that the custody arrangement is 50/50 (see: types of custody).
I’m currently involved in a custody battle for my 10 yo daughter. Her father refused to return her to me. He drafted the paperwork & had an attorney put his name on the paperwork. He’s a criminal attorney in Michigan & has a hx of drafting paper work then expecting me to sign it without representation. He did this in the past with his current wife. Unfortunately, my attorney did not file a response to his motion of parental interference. I have not seen my daughter since May. Get this, he has a hx of domestic violence towards me & his current wife. Domestic reports are available through Jackson City sheriffs Dept & there are 5 child support cases including mine where he payed substantially less than his actual income & remained in arrearage multiple times. I made sure that River would be my last & only child from him.
I have joint legal custody and the mother nas sole physical custody of your 8 year old daughter. The mother left the state and moved to Texas, taking our daughter and ignoring my visitation schedule. I filed an ex parte stating that she cant leave the state of CA, granted my the judge, and she violated that order. Is this considered to be Custodial Interference?
If a parent moves out of state with a minor child, it can interfere with the other parent’s visitation. However, the real issue here is that the move is in violation of a court order. If you have a court order which provides that mother cannot leave the state of California with the minor child, then you should file a motion to enforce that order and request that you have primary physical custody of your daughter.
Hi,
My ex-husband has joint legal custody but hasn’t exercised his visitation and moved out of state without telling us. He is also in violation of his child support order. He bodly now calls since he moved out of state telling me that he won’t pay but I am in violation if I don’t let him speak with his son twice a day.
In the order, he is supposed to have reasonable access by phone but every morning before I go to work and every evening before we go to bed is excessive. The child is 3 yrs old, and he is trying to control my whereabouts by enforcing that I be home every single day for his call.
Questions:
I will be going to court soon regarding his contempt of no support, can I also ask the judge to remove his joint legal custody right since he hasn’t been active in his life beyond calling him and he just moved out of state without giving us his contact information?
We have joint legal and I have (full physical custody, join legal with breaking authority). Can I get his passport without his Dad’s signature to go on vacation out of the country? The divorce settlement states I have breaking authority under the joint custody right- I don’t know how much power I have.
If you want sole legal custody you will have to make that request to the court. If you are granted sole legal custody you will have the ability to make decisions about your child’s health, education and welfare without having to consult with father. Father’s move out of state may be a factor in the court’s determination to award you sole legal custody, but that fact alone is not determinative.
Regarding phone access…
Reasonable is more like Monday and Wednesdays 7-8 pm. (Been there, done that.) Don’t let him interfere with your morning and bedtime routines. That’s invasive.
It amount to stalking (or in the least controlling) if you believe you are “required to be there 24/7″ and wait for his calls. Or stop what you are doing to take the call. Sounds like forced contact to me. She’s three. I think he really wants to talk to YOU twice a day.
Don’t buy his threats. You set a “reasonable” schedule for him.
In this case, the father has sole physical custody, and the mother keeps refusing to bring their son home although it clearly states in the custody decree that she is responsible for transportation both ways. After she refuses, the father has no choice than to go and pick him up, which was all she wanted in the first place. The father is finally fed up and let the mother know that he is going to enforce the decree from here on out. There is no question that she will not heed the warning and attempt to manipulate and control the situation this weekend by refusing to bring him home again. My question is: If the mother lives across the river in another state and he has to get the police involved, is it possible she will be charged with a felony even though from our house to hers it is only 30 miles? And how long should we wait to call the police after he is not returned? Immediately? He’s not scheduled to be back before 8pm on Sunday. What if she just threatens all day that she will not bring him home, trying to intimidate the father and emotionally traumatizing the son? Is that cause for anything in the future, possibly to get her to have supervised visitation?
Mother will most likely not be criminally charged. Your best option is to file a motion in family court and notify the Judge that mother is consistently refusing to comply with the transportation provisions of the court order. It could be grounds for reducing mother’s visitation.
My son is 8 months old..the mother had our son while in jail..she also was doing narcotic pain pills throughout the whole time being pregnant..just now getting out of jail only being able to see her son through glass at visitation expects me to just let her have the baby back in the drug atmosphere..no one has custody of our son..I’m afraid if I give her our son she will not bring him back after all his belongings our with me and the people that’s been with him throughout his whole life..he don’t even know his mom??? She has brought the cops to my house and they won’t do anything for her..so I don’t have to hand our son over to her if the courts are not in it correct?
It is best for you to file a motion with the court as soon as possible requesting an order for sole physical and legal custody.
Does something of this nature apply if your divorce decree states you have “liberal parent time with a minimum of (insert state code) state ordered visitations”? My ex has sole physical custody and I have visitation/parent-time with joint legal custody (I know, pretty much the “system” standard), and the transportation arrangement is that we provide reasonable shared transportation for visitations. My ex has moved to where she lives 120 miles from my residence, and I picked up our daughter for visitation and asked that she meet me half way for the drop off. She refused, so I kept our daughter for a week per it was Christmas holiday and I was scheduled to have her the first half of the holiday period per divorce decree also. She told me later she had contacted the Police and filed a complaint… but I have not heard or seen anything from the Police since. Just curious if “liberal” parent time overrides the interference clause.
A parent interferes with the other parent’s custodial time when that parent impedes on or prevents the other parent from exercising their court ordered visitation. If your ex spouse has moved and the move has caused a change in the visitation or transportation arrangement, the new agreement should be reflected in writing or you should seek a new order from the court.
My son needs to know if he has to let his daughter(she is 8 month old) go with her mother if the mother comes to pick her up for her timeshare when the mother is accompanied by a registered sex offender?? We live in florida and dont know the laws about this.
Your son should seek an order from the court immediately which prohibits any registered sex offender, namely the person in question, from being present during any visitations.
My ex has “temporary custodial” rights to our 22 mo old daughter until his protective order is out of affect come this february. Now no papers have been filed in the terms of a parenting plan. If no papers get signed by the time his protective order twards me is up can i take my child back without facing criminal charges? Or will he still hav custody? Please help someone.
Once the protective order expires you should file a motion in court seeking visitation. Without a court order it will be very difficult for you to exercise visitation over Father’s objection.
my question to you is my brother is a sex offender. he seved his time and paid his debt. he has 50/50 joint coustody withhis ex spouse one child lives with him and the other with mom. now mom want to stop visitation of
child that lives with mom can that happened what can i do to help my brother out?
Your brother’s sex offender status will be a factor the court considers when it determines custody and visitation. The court will also consider the nature of the offense and any rehabilitation efforts your brother has made. It is possible that the court may ordered supervised visitation. Supervised visitation is where a court appointed supervisor or family member must be present during the visits and reports back to the court.
I live in NJ and would like to do humanitarin work with son who is almost 16. Asked X who moved away to another state for letter to get passport and told him about trip openly. He is refusing saying I am making him do it and wont sign. I looked at divorce papers and no mention of what to do if child needs pass port to go abroad. we are definitely coming back. I think I saw that when he is 16 he only needs 1 parent present- but I do not want to do it that way, but will if need be. my son is upset with his absent father . What can I do ( i have tried reasoning with him) to avoid financial and emotional stress? I would be going along with humanitarian group, too. We have NEVER co parented. I parent he sends the required support. thats the way it has been. Please advise.
If you and Father have joint legal custody (legal custody means decision making about the child’s health, safety, welfare and education) you will need his consent to take your son out the country. If Father does not consent you will have to file a motion in the family court in your county seeking permission.
If you have sole legal custody but Father has visitation which will be affected by the trip outside the country, you will also need to obtain his consent or a court order.
If Father does consent to the trip be sure to get his consent in writing!
I’m a father of two girl. I have Joint custody. My ex-wife has Primary custody. Can I file a complaint that charges her with Custodial Interference? I have a court order to have custody 3 day a week and everyother Sunday.Since July I have seen my girls 11 times today is Jan 25
I live in Az and have temp physical custody of our three kids. I have a OP against my wife that states she is to only text me when she needs to communicate with me.. She gets limited visitation by way of curb side pick up and the visitation states that the times are to be strictly followed. She however refuses to show up on time and then just keeps the kids extra to offset the time that she was late… I dont want to make things worse but im not sure if not going to the police for custodial interferance and violating the OP by calling me constantly, will help.. on the other hand i fear not doing so will weaken my case in court.. Im just trying to get suggestions on if I should go to the police and then also file for enforcement.. or would just fileing with the court be just as effective? Also she is not allowed to have any achohol 12hrs prior and during but i found out that she has been. Is there a way to try and prove it or am i powerless if she simply states that she has not been?
You are smart enough to get OP against your wife. In other words, you know how to take advantage of our legal system in your favor.
What’s your point asking here?
If there is no court order or custody agreement in play can you still be charged with custodial interference?
At least not in Arizona… I had to get a court order to have anything dealt with.. The police and courts did not care about anything and stated that neither of us (my self or my wife) had any leagle recourse against each other untill there was a court order in place.
I live in NM, there is no court order in place yet. My ex fiance filed for custody of the child but i have yet to respond so it hasnt gone to court yet. I have the child and she called an officer we have spoken to whom called me and said that he is going to file custodial interference on me.
The best thing i can suggest is to file a response as soon as possible.. technically you both have rights to the child so if you compleatly deny accsess to the child there may be an issue. what I did was agree to meet a chucky cheese for visitation. They put an armband on the child that matches up with you and the child cannot leave unless you are with them. that way she will get to visit and you dont have to worry about her taking off with the child. If she has ever been violent then you can file for an order of protection that will also make it easier for you. Do not include the child on the OP if there has been no violence towards the child though.. that will just look like your abusing the system.. best thing though is to get a lawyer at this point.
I am considering moving out of massachusetts to upstate New York with my daughter who is 16 yrs old. The absent parent her father hasnt had any contact or visitation with daughter due to his visitation taken away 7 yrs ago per order of the court. I am finding it difficult due to the cost of living in Mass to make ends meet.I am considering a Prosperous job offer in NY and have looked into a Reputable school for my daughter to finish her last 2 yrs of highschool and have also found a great college for her to attend after High school..Do I need the absent parents permissin to relocate or do I need to go into the Family Probabte court and get a judges permission? Any help you could pass along would be appreciated.
Thank you for your time, Chris
It depends on what the most recent court order regarding custody and visitation provides. If the last court order provides that you have sole legal and physical custody and that father has no visitation, then you may not need a court order. However, if father has any court ordered visitation you will need to seek an order from the court that modifies the visitation order considering your new location.
My ex wife is refusing now to bring my son half way for my visitation time. Which is in the final decree. Claiming she can’t afford the gas.
What can I do?
What if the child wants to stay where they are by their own choice and has been given permission by the custodial parent to stay where they are (and has proof via a text message/email)? Can the custodial parent still charge the non custodial parent with interference?
yes.. Some states do not care what the childs wishes are. Some consider their wishes depending on their age but what the court says must be followed. If the custodial parent wishes to change things based off of what the child says, then they need to go to court and use that as part of their argument. Keep in mind text, email, and such can be forged. Also kids do not always know what is in their best intrest…
pls help i have a 10 month old son me and my ex have joint custody but when its time for visitation she will not give him to me and she wont give up the car seat what can i do is this aginst the law in arizana
You should bring an action in family court to inform the judge that mother is not complying with the court order. The court may give you more time if it finds that mother is not cooperating and is alienating you from your son.
Buy your own car seat! As a parent, it is advisable to provide certain things for you own household, of your own accord, for your child’s safety, needs, and welfare. Given the child’s age, diapers and formula would be appropriate to have on hand too. Show you have a good home for the child to visit and are educated on baby care.
Hi Jay
If there is an established Court Order for you to visit your child then your x may be in Contemp. She has to abide by a Judge’s order or she can be put in jail or possibly have her custodial rights taken away.I would document the days you didnt get to visit with your child and I would go file a contemp order against her if she doesnt let you see the child on the next scheduled visit. Good Luck to you.
What about a grand-mother who has gaurdianship over a child but makes the mother (whom still has full-custody of the child) believe that she (the grand-mother) has all of the authority over the child, is that custodial interference?
My husband are legally married but reside in separate homes due to physical violence that required surgery to repair a broken bone in my face. We are not legally separated yet, and were each residing with our 13 year old daughter one week at a time. Due to continuing mental and emotional abuse I have told my husband that she will remain with me until he can get his act together, and she can feel safe with him. I only live 5 minutes from him and have not said he can’t meet her somewhere other than his house. Have I broken any laws in Arizona?
You should seek an order from the family law court immediately. You should inform the court about the domestic violence and emotional abuse. Be sure to present copies of your medical records which show your injuries. You should request that the court issue an order that either provides that father has no visitation or has supervised visitation.
I have 3 kids with my ex who lives in AZ. He has not seen the kids since July 08. He has a girlfriend who said she showed our then 2 yr old how to touch himself, falsified charges, threatened to have me put in jail when the father and I were fighting. The father falsified a restraining order and after I was off of probation from falsified charges from the girlfriend, I took the kids and went back home to NM. He was abusive, left kids in dirty diapers till I got there to change them before false charges were done, I had them 75 to 80 percent of the time, he locked them in their rooms, had the bigger twin hit the smaller twin, put them in wrestling moves at age one for punishment, never admits to any wrong doing and has all of the signs of Narcassistic personality disorder. he was abusive to me, and threw me twice, once when he was mad and I was pregnant with a second set of twins and at 5 months pregnant after miscarriage, his step sister tried to punch me and he threw me on the couch instead. He has two older daughters who live in NM and he has nothing to do with them. he is mad because the state made him pay child support so he pays around 700 a month for 4 out of 5 kids. He says he will see them and wont, has no vehicle, lives with the child molester who is bipolar and has another friend who is bipolar and I copied her blogs to show her mental illness is not in control. The father has severe man boobs meaning his weight is severely, severely over weight and so is his girlfriend, making him a walking heart attack. In 2007, he had his mom and step dad take kids for one week and it ended up to be a month. they disconnected their phone, and i cried day in and day out, called cops to do a welfare check and told them to bring me my kids since the father didnt want to take care of them and now that i am back in nm, they are an hr away. i have told them to either be in their life or stay out and seem it is ok just for birthdays or some holidays to come around, but can go on a 3 plus hr drive to see first grandchild. Mental games are always played. I was so distraught over what she said about my son and all that had happened, I had to see a psychiatrist, and the twin that was forced to his the smaller twins had anger bursts and had to have him evaluated, which said due to father’s chaos, put kids behind mentally. They do not like their dad, are mad, and do not want to see him. I have told him I do not want nothing to do with him because it is his mental BS that is nothing to be desired, he refuses to get mental help, loose the worthless people in his life, move back and be in all of his kids lives. I was told that if I do not have a court order and I dont, that I could not keep the kids from him UNLESS I have mental health prof, to back me up on his behavior and I do. He literally got mad at me in real life because he had a dream I killed him. He said his girlfriend is a better person because she fixed her daughter’s rapist breakfast…it was from he was a client that is retarded and she still went around him. There is just so much abuse, neglect, and more than I do not want to communicate with him. It is nothing but a non ending battle and his phone calls to the kids are a minute or less, and he will go without calling for days. The kids do better when there is no communication. I do not teach them to hate their dad, I tell them the truth in the past when they asked about him, but now they do not ask for him and the children are just 5,5, and 4. Oh and he would have them swim for hours in the AZ heat to tire them out so he would not have to deal with them, exposing them to future skin cancer. Am I doing the right thing by telling him to leave us alone? I told him to take me to court that I do not care and I have no worries for I have sole custody of my first son and I do not let the father see him for he is Antisocial personality disorder and in prison.
He assaulted you while you were pregnant? Why do you not have a domestic violence restraining order? Is he a danger to the children? You need to talk to someone. Call your local domestic violence organization and get an advocate to help you.
I would file for sole custody in my state since that is where the children reside. Limit or deny visitation if he is dangerous or living with a sex offender. It sounds like him giving the children to the grandparents with no contact is custodial interference, but you don’t say if there are any custody orders or not. Get an attorney and make it legal and concrete. That will give you peace.
My estranged wife relocated our two kids, 10 & 9, to AZ from NJ in August of 2009 without my consent or a court order. We met with a court mediator to try and resolve custody/visitation in November. Mediator sent our case before a judge because we could not agree on custody and visitation. We had court on Feb 9th, 2010 and the judge ruled that NJ had no jurisdiction since the children had been away for almost 6 months. I have since filed paperwork to establish a custody/visitation motion in Maricopa County, AZ. My wife has stated that she does not want the cvhildren to visit me this year because she wants them to get used to living in AZ. What are my options at this moment? Can I file for criminal custodial interference when there has been no court order issued yet? Since the children moved to AZ, i have taken up a job in MD. What state would I need to file for Custodial Intereference?
My sister lived in hawaii, i flew her over here to me in Washington because she was being abused by my parents. Now they’re calling it custodial interference which is a felony because i flew her out of state. I thought it wasn’t considered custodial interference if she was in physical danger. Now the police department in hawaii is saying Washington police will arresst me if she isn’t returned. But my parents have already agreed to sign custody over to me. What are my next steps?
You should consult with the child protective services in agency in Washington. (see: Washington Public Departments & Services)
My cousin left the U.S.A. with his child 10 years ago from Arizona in good faith with a notarized agreement between his ex wife and himself allowing father and child to live out of the country for 3 years and renewable every 3 years. Right upon leaving the U.S.A. his ex wife filed malicious charges against him- threatening to take the child out of the country and he lost by default. The court awarded her full custody of child. My cousin is still out of the country with the child and never returned back to Arizona because of those malicious charges. Child in now 15 years old. Divorce decree assigned father as residential parent with joint custody allowing mother to have visitations on weekends. Father has been wanting to return to Arizona with child but he is afraid of the consequences. Mother told his son over the phone just to go back to the States when he is already 18 years old. My cousin is not a U.S. citizen and his ex wife is a U.S. citizen. Will my cousin be jailed if he returns to Arizona? How long will he be in jail? Will he be deported after serving time in jail? What are the chances of father winning this case?
i am the custodial parent of my 6 yr old son his dad gets him everyother wkend but wen he picks him up he spends a cpl hrs with him then leaves our son at his partents and goes over to his girlfriends for the night so i think its pointless for my son to go with him and my son hates goin i was going to not let him take my son on his visitations anymore but i don’t want to get in trouble. is there certain guidelines for visitations like if he’s so many minutes late i don’t have to let him take our son. or is there something else i can do i feel i shouldn’t have to force him to spend time with his son. i don’t know the laws here in nebraska
My son is 6 years old. His paternal step-grandmother has had custody of him since he was 10 months old. She got me to sign a paper giving her legal custody which she told me as temporary custody. Anyway since 2007 I have been going to cour fighting for custody. First I had to have visitations at a supervised visitation center.
Then after I completed that I got every weekend visits. Then we went back to court last year and I got to have him for standard visitation where I get him every other weekend and some holidays. For about 5 visits in Total I have not had transportation to go pick him up. I just got a phone on and told her that my son Bryce (who lives with me) grandmother’s spouse is in the hospital with lung cancer and he was my ride to get my 6 year old Braden. She said that she is stopping all visitations.
Can she stop visitations if I do not have transportation to pick him up? (greene county ohio court has given me visitation rights and i told the judge that I can see if I could get someone to take me to get him and bring him back but my ride is an old individual and now he is in the hospital)
Can she stop the visitations because of this and if I don’t have transportation to get him how do I get to see him? She refuses to bring him to me. And I owe child support for him and they put a block on my license.
More information: The step-grandmother has moved around in the past two years to 4 different places. 2 which have been counties away. She lives in Greene county now which is one county away from Montgomery but has had 3 or 4 different men in my 6 year old’s life. One of those men with which she is living with for the past 6 months+ is her own flesh and blood daughters ex boyfriend whom my 6 year old is old enough to realize that the daughter was with him before. She also has said she is stopping visitations because he is wetting the bed, having trouble in school now, and seeing a psychiatrist because he supposably was in his room trying to tie a rope or something around his neck and was asked how he was going to kill himself when he threatened it to her. Why would you ask a 6 year old that question. She said he isn’t supposed to be around my two older sons 8 and 10 because of their behaviors (they live with their paternal grandfather whom i get along with and is not the same grandfather as my 6 year old) She is making my kids, even my 3 year old who lives with me out to be monsters when they are good kids. What kid doesnt act up or have a rivalry with their siblings? I can’t keep my kids from not knowing there siblings it is wrong. She has made my 6 year old out to believe that she was his mom and his grandfather was his dad since he could talk and there was no mention of me or his real father to him. When we got along prior to her moving again in 2007 I was always to be refered to as a friend when she would bring him to visit even though she told him who his brothers were. And she would bring him to see me or I would take the bus and she would pick me up at the bus stop. Now that I filed for custody/visitation in 2007 she refused to let me see or talk to him and when we went to court she refused to do the transportation with the bus. i’m trying to make an effort here but the bus only goes so far into fairborn. and she wont bring him to the bus stop she says im supposed to have a ride to and from her house which i was till my ride got sick. Now she wants to stop all visits per the doctors/school (supposably that’s their recommendation) and wait a year or two for me to get my visits. I don’t have the money for a lawyer and had drawn up the court documents myself for custody and visitation and a friend’s lawyer helped me get visits but can’t help no more. What can I do to get my visits and get my son back?
You could modify the visitation orders to require grandparent to provide transportation due to distance of move which interferes with your seeing your son. You could also request longer visitation times for summer and holidays.
If you want custody, provide the stable environment. I don’t think her repeat moving (and revolving boyfriends) shows stability. She may be blowing smoke on school recomendations, I would contact school and keep informed of son’s academics and progress. Be involved and be “in the know” when it comes to your son, especially if she is alleging behavioral problems (and blaming you, but that might not be truthful). Request access to school records through the court if you get denied.
My ex and I have been divorced for over 3 years now. He asked for a military transer about 1.5 years ago so that his new wife could get a job in another city. His new residence is 3.5 hours away. He is entitled to visit his children every other week and only sees them once every other month or so. I had met him half way several times and EVERY time he was 30 min to 1 hr. late with no call (no, he does not have a cell). Transporation is not listed in the divorce decree and I have tried to express that I too have a life and think it is very inconsiderate of him. He laughs and says I have to leagally meet him half way because he is military…and it was a military move. Is this true? Mind you…he put in for the transfer…not thinking about how this would affect HIS children… only thinking about his new family…
What about millions of Fathers who are MIA because of the family court system? Political figures often discuss the welfare of our children but never discuss the problem regarding our family court system, unfair visitation laws and how those laws effective fathers who want to be part of their children’s lives.
There is a Child Support Enforcement agency in every state but not a Visitation/Parenting Time Enforcement Agency. Why?? This needs to be an issue addressed at the federal level and not decided by the states because the system at the state level is not working. Most states call the time Fathers spend with their children as “Visitation” instead of calling it what it is “Parenting time”. Parenting time is a time to be a parent to your child. Visitation is what the family court force on fathers, as they want fathers to become an occasional visitor. Family courts wants fathers to settle for becoming a ‘Disney Dad,’ one whose role is nothing more than outings to theme parks once or twice a month. Why can’t the family courts grant time to fathers in a frequency, duration, and type reasonably calculated to promote a strong and loving relationship between the child and the parent? The standard visitation which is four days a month is not enough time to be an effective parent to your child. The family courts very, very rarely enforce visitation. Here, the prejudice is against fathers and their parental rights. The congress refuses to acknowledge the injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of denying the love and companionship between a father and their child. Divorce from a spouse is not a divorce from your children, nor should custody decisions be used as a punishment. Joint custody can benefit the children, the divorced parents, and society in general by having both parents involved in the child’s upbringing.
Fathers are systematically eliminated from their children’s lives. Father’s parental rights are systematically terminated by family court judges who have a deep seated gender bias against fathers. Termination of parental rights is both total and irrevocable. Termination of parental rights is the family law equivalent of the death penalty in a criminal case. The primary casualties in our Domestic Relations courts are our children.
Courts are supposed to approach cases of child custody, support payments, and visitation rights in a gender-neutral posture. It sounds fair, and it is fair. But it is a myth. Judges are not enforcing these gender laws fairly, and few seem to care. Unless you have been forcefully removed from the everyday upbringing of your child by the Court, you can not fathom the emotional distress. To discriminate against fathers because of their gender in this day and age is no different than telling a person to go to the back of the bus because of their skin color. With sole or primary custody going to the mother in roughly 90% of cases, claiming custody is not based on gender would be like claiming hiring is not based on race if 90% of a particular race, though equally qualified, was unable to obtain employment. This was missing from the Obama’s Father’s day speech. What about millions of Fathers who are MIA because of the family court system?
It’s not just about Father’s fighting for parenting time/custody. It’s about mothers too who have wrongly had their kids taken from them from manipulative grandparents. not saying all grandparents are manipulative but my sons step grandmother is. So I am fighting for the same injustice as those fathers you talk about and mothers.
My brother has full custody of his 7 year old daughter. The mother lost rights because she did not want to take a Physicological examination for the courts. Its been 5 years since the mother had any contact, up until 2 months ago. My brother allowed her to visit with the daughter. The last time my brother heard or seen his daughter was 2/7/2010. He went to the police and spoke with his attorneys as well as his daughter attorneys and they told him that this is considered Custodial interference, the judge issued a RIT, and the mother has until 4/6, 2010, to return the daughter. How is that possible?? Is this how this situation is to be handled? His daughter needs to be in school, not to mention the mother is mentally unstable and she does not have a place to live. What should we do at this point?? please help,
Renea E.
My husband is in the Military and the judge stated that if we went overseas we would be reliabe for 100% cost of the airfare for my son to see his biological dad. Is it the law of Texas that we are reuired to pay roundtrip if I follow my husband in the military?
Stephanie,
I can only yell you that when my daughter’s father moved over 475 miles away to the Dallas, Texas area that the Texas judge told him the same thing… You (the father) moved and so you (the father) must pay for all of the transportation fees. It is not reasonable to expect to burden one parent with HUGE travel expenses just because the other parent moved. So, typically, the parent that moves further away is the one who bears the transportation expenses… at least in Texas.
I was wondering if the custodial parent puts a lot of restrictions on the non custodial parent and its stressing the non custodial parent. can that non custodial parent file a suit against the custodial parent for causing emotional distress? Will it affect the court oder that exist? Will that be a consideration for the judge to award physical custody to the non custodial parent?
I have joint custody with child mother, but i am primary custodial parent. i had a dispute with my two teenager and the 11yrs old son did not like me when i blew my head gasket, but nothing was said toward him. i had threat to kick 17yr but when turn 18yr of age. so now the 11yr old wants to live with his mother. and that we are not a happy family. that what my 11yrs old had told grandparents and his mother. so the mother insistence on keeping him even thought i am primary custodian.
I live in VA. My husband moved our son to Louisiana without my knowledge. I was at work and when I got home all my husband’s thing were gone and when I went to my son’s room, his stuff was gone too. I called the school and the teacher said his dad picked him up at 10:30 that morning. We are still married but had problems in our marriage. My husband is a lieutenant in the US Army and accepted orders to work in Louisiana until Sept. He wanted me and the other children, not his biologically, to move with him but I did not think it was in their best interest to do so especially in the middle of the school year. Is this legal? I have filed for custody. What are my chances of getting sole physical custody seeing that VA has been our son’s home since he was born, he just turned 7. He is doing good in school. He has 3 brothers here and all of my husband’s family is here. they have no family in Louisiana except my mother in law who is an alcoholic. My husband brought her with them to care for our son. He also does not have a permanent job
I was wondering something my ex husband has full custody of my child and has been indicted on 3 charges of manuf,sell and distribution of a drug substance what steps other than filing for full custody can I take. he keeps post poning our custody case until after his drug case has been heard. What can I do? I fear for the safety of my child.
Cindy in Virgina
My daughter was taken from Page,Az.I am the Primary caretaker,My ex-wife has done this before.The local Page,Az police refuse to help me,What can I do legaly??
My daugther’s friend skipped school and was with my daugther and another friend. Her mother and stepfather kept calling me at asking me if i knew were there daugther was and i said know i have been at work all day. They asked me to call my daugther to see if she had heard from their daugther so i did and my daugther said that she went with a friend to the health department and i called them back and told them what she said. And they continued to call me at work saying she was at my house and i told themn that my daughter was the only one that was suppose to be there and that she my be gone with my sisiter in-law. And now they have served me papers and charing me with Custodical Interference. But I have witnesses and proof that i was at work all day long. What can i do.
I currently have a restraining order against my ex boyfriend. We have one child together. At this time, I am granted temporary sole custody due to the fact of the restraining order. My ex’s attorney and I came to an agreement on custody and parenting time just a week ago. The order has not been signed by a judge as of today.
This weekend was my ex-boyfriend’s weekend with our child. The only contact we are allowed to have due to the restraining order is via email. I have emailed him several times and he is refusing to respond. He only does this when he has our child with him. He emails me throughout the weekends and weeks that he does not have the child and I respond to him.
Basically, I’m asking what rights do I have as the custodial parent to compel to him respond to my emails when he has our child with him? Is he breaking any laws where law enforcement is required to respond?
My neighbor has a 4-month old baby and was living with the baby’s father until a couple of weeks ago. He filed for custody and took the baby, against the mother’s wishes, to the next county to his mother’s house. My neighbor called the police, and the officer that came told her that this was not illegal. I think the officer is wrong. We live in VA and my understanding is that VA does not give preference to either parent when custody is pending, and that neither parent can remove the child without the other’s consent. Am I right?
When my neighbor went to the grandmother’s house to retrieve the baby, they told her the baby was not there, and that he had been taken across state lines to NC. The father of the baby has brought him back a couple of times to let her see him, but always removes him again under threat of physical violence if she doesn’t comply. She is young, 20, overwhelmed, and thinks she doesn’t have any rights. She has since also filed for custody but the hearing is not until June.
I have spent hours searching the net and can’t find a definitive answer to this. I have found lots of info re: when custody has been awarded, but very little pertaining to situations in which custody is pending. Is this custodial interference? Is it parental abduction?
Thank you.
I have been living apart from my husband for 9 months now. When I left him originally it was due to abuse, I had an OP and he filed for divorce. We had set up visitation of every other weekend. We ended up canceling the divorce and the OP because he wants me back, and I don’t have the money to pay an attorney. Now my husband has been caring for them on weekends that I have to work, and 1-2 days during the week when I have to work late. There is no real set schedule for visitation. I would like to take them for a long weekend out of state which I discussed with him previously that he did not object to. Now he is stating that he is going to have me arrested if I go and I will never see my kids again. He is saying he makes more money than me and he has more familial support than I do. This weekend when I went to pick them up he made me stand out in the cold and rain with him for 2 hrs before he would let me take the kids home. I would like to know if the previous arrangement is still valid even though the divorce was canceled, and can he prohibit me from taking the kids on vacation?
i live in alabama and currently going thru divorce with my childs father who is incarcerated on sodomy of a 15 year old and assault. He is in prison right now and will be out in another year. in my divorce papers it says i have sole legal and physical custody of her,however will he have visitation rights since he is a sex offender? or will it be supervised? also he has sent threatening letters by mail and threatened me over the phone, his family is crazy and they have no respect for me or my child,i am a good mother and have taken care of my child since day 1….what do you suggest and in alabama what are the factors that are considered when it comes down to visitation rights with the noncustodial parent?
My stepson has just been released from prison on parole after two years of a five year sentence. His wife sued for divorce at the time of his incarceration, and was granted joint conservatorship as primary custodial parent, with my stepson as non-custodial parent. He contributed his entire 401k account to three year’s advance child support. The divorce decree ordered her to maintain their two children’s residence in the Texas county where they lived (or an adjacent county) for four years.
However, in January of this year she wrote my wife that she had lost her job in December and without even seeking another job here, moved with the kids to Topeka, Kansas secretly, without permission and without giving notice to anyone, including the children’s father or the Court. She has family in Kansas, but had no job there when she moved. My stepson cannot leave Dallas as a condition of parole, and cannot afford to pay for the children and an escort to bring them here for scheduled visitations, nor can he afford to pay an attorney. Is this a case of custodial interference? And how should he go about securing his rights to see his children? He does not want to force his ex to move back to Texas, or be fined or jailed and is willing to substitute electronic visitation for many personal visits. He obviously cannot at this time seek to become the custodial parent. He would like for the Court to order his ex to pay for the difference in cost of travel for visitation (the kids have a great relationship with their grandmother and me, and can stay with us), and order her to provide for weekly electronic sessions on video iChat or Skype. These requests, although expensive for the mother, seem reasonable in consideration of her disregard for Court Orders. What are his options?
My ex and I have joint physical and legal of our 4 children. We share visitation 2 1/2 days per week and every other weekend. I have recently been awarded a different timeshare because I am moving from Northern California to Southern California, the judge has granted me permission to move with the children with liberal visitation to their father. This custody doesn’t go into effect for another month. My ex is very manipulative, puts the kids in the middle constantly and has made his feelings known about his disapproval of the move. Today was one of my days for visitation. After I dropped off 2 of our children to walk to school, one told the other she was taking a new way to school, long story short, Father orchestrated for her to walk to a pre determined location and be picked up and brought to his home without my knowledge or consent. After my other daughter realized that her sister didn’t make it to school, she became worried and upset and called me saying her sister was missing. Police were called, father was called and asked point blank if he had spoken with or seen our daughter and he said no. At some point he called and said she “showed up” at his house- He lives 25 miles away. He came up with a huge story that he told our daughter that she needed to stick to, however the police talked to both my ex and our daughter. My ex was asked- did you set this up? he said NO. Our daughter was asked what happened and came clean that her dad set the whole thing up. Has he violated any laws?
Father did not violate any laws, but his behavior should be brought to the family court’s attention. However, it will be hard for you to prove that he orchestrated your daughter’s return to his home.
My question is: I live in Az but my 2 boys live in Ga with there dad. Our visitation has not been modified since I moved. I visit every summer for 2 weeks. Can he keep me from seeing my kids?
My son is incarcerated for a year and wants to write to his son and call an talk with him, he has visitation rights already in place. The mother refuses to let anyone know where she lives. I am the grandparent and I have made numerous attempts to contact the mother (custodial parent) and she refuses to answer.My son and our family have no idea where she lives and has cut off all communication. My son feels like his son has been kidnapped by her. He has been involved with his son now for 6yrs and not being able to contact him he feels his bond with his child is being cut off. Does he have any recourse towards the mother? He does not want to lose contact with his son, when he comes home he wants to continue with his visitation rights and be involved with his son. Please tell me what we do? Also we have (grandparents) been involved with my grandson since his birth, even raising him for awhile, do we have any rights to see him, the mother has cut us off completely too.
My hubby’s ex-wife refused to return their 9-year old daughter last year from Summer visit. Hubby (primary custodial parent) had to file an emergency order to drive over 6 hours to retrieve child. They have NOT been to court so the ex-wife can answer for what she did. Hubby has stated that although he is not trying to keep child from her mother, he will not allow the child to return this Summer until there is a response for ex’s actions. He told the ex she is welcomed to come visit child due to lack of trust with returning child. I should also add there was NO communication with his daughter while she was with mom. Child missed 1 week of school last year as a result of mom’s actions and felt as though she would not be up to par in school because of mom’s actions. Mom currently has no telephone and hubby is afraid all communication with daughter will cease if he sends her with mom. Will hubby be held in contempt of the court order?
I am having trouble with the state attorneys office signing off or following thur on a arrest warrant for interference with child custody of a 20 month old child. The police report clearly states the facts, but I was never contacted by state attorneys office after numerous calls until I recieved a letter that no action was goiing to be taken because child was returned after getting clerk of court and sheriffs department envolved. within 48 hours. and had no physical injuries, which they do not know because they did not check into incident. The child has been diagnosised with acute post traumatic stress disorder, she cries and tries to hold on when dropping off at school and does not want to be put down at home and will only let her mother and grandma hold her, she is just a different child. She had never been away from her family and mom over night. How do we proceed to make the law be upheld by our state attorney’s office. PLEASE HELP How are we to protect our children if the laws are not enforced. We do live in a small town but the laws are written for a reason. Thank you for your help.
Hi,
Two years ago my husband and I decided to seperate, I moved out of the marital home and we made a verbal agreement to share custody of our daughter who was under my care during his 2 deployments. A month went by and I still hadn’t been allowed to see her, I contacted the police and was told they could do nothing. I went to get her myself and the situation resulted in my arrest and was charged with domestic assault. A COR was put in place by the state of Tennessee stating I could have no contact with the victim (my husband) directly or indirectly. He filed for divorce in Dec 2008, I responded explaining I contested but could not afford a lawyer at present. When the COR was dropped I contacted him via phone on many occasions asking to see my daughter, he denied any form of contact between us, even speaking over the phone. I went to the marital home several times in hopes to just talk person to person and maybe work something out but he was never there or wouldn’t answer the door. A few months later I was told he had moved. When I asked him where he had moved to he would not reply. He finally let me start talking to my daughter over the phone after 7 months of no contact at all. I spoke to police and Army officials who either refused to help or simply couldn’t locate him based on the information I gave them. Finally almost 2 years later I found that he had dropped the divorce in April 2009, changed his last name and moved with my daughter to Washington a short time later. I am not a wealthy person by any means, I live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to make ends meet and cannot afford a lawyer. Our legal aid does not help in divorce or child custody cases. I simply don’t know what to do anymore. I have yet to speak with a lawyer who has any hope of me gaining any form of custody of my daughter due to the domestic assault, my financial situation, and the fact that it’s been nearly 2 years since this whole nightmare began. I took a plea bargain for the domestic assault and completed the 11/29 probation and anger management required. I have a steady, reliable job which I have been employed at for 2 years. I provide well for my infant son (not the product of the marriage) with a stable home environment, education, and health care. I can provide financially for both of my children, it will be hard, but it is possible. When it’s all said and done I feel so helpless. I am quite ignorant when it comes to legal matters and in this situation he always seems to have the upper hand. What ARE my rights? Can he legally move her out of state without my knowledge or change his last name or deny me visitation? If and when he allowed visitation what if I cannot afford to travel the 3,000 plus miles to see her? Is it considered child abandonment on my part because it has been 2 years, even if he is the one denying contact? Someone, anyone, please help me.
My ex has custody of our two teenage daughters in arizona. Our divorce papers say we have to give the other parent our vacation days on or before may 1st with his choice in even years and mine in odd years. I did not recieve a vacation schedule from him so I gave him my days in june. Now hes telling me I cant have my vacation time Because it wasnt given to him by may 1st. Can he do that or can the cops make him give me the kids for my vacation?
I am separating with my wife. We have a 3 years old son. We had a separation agreement that she will have the primary custody but I will have visitation for every Saturday. We had the agreement public notarized without a lawyer.
She recently start denying my visitation right and I had to get the police involved. According to police, they cannot prosecute her if there’s not an official court order. However, they helped me filed a complain. The police office made a phone call to her and my ex told the office that the separation agreement is invalid and if I want to see my son, I have to go to the court to get visitation order, or she won’t let me see my son. The police documented this in the complain.
I surely will go and get the order. Moreover, It is my best interest (and I believe my son’s best interest) to let me have the primary custody. I did some research over the internet and I am aware this could be a good ground to modify the custody. And the only document that I can use to against her is this document and my own testimony.
What should be my strategy to increase my odds to get the custody? My ex wife is very emotional and abusive. If she didn’t get what she want from me, she will abuse me through my son, knowing that I love/care my son so much.
My husband has joint legal custody of his 2 young sons’. The courty order doesn’t state any specific time he can have them. Just states under reasonable times. But it does say they are to have them 50/50. They were never married though. Back in January of 2008 she took off and moved from Wisconsin (where they lived) to Florida without letting him know anything. We recently found them back in March in South Dakota. We now live in Arkansas. She gave us the kids for 1 month and she told us we had to bring them back July 5th. We are afraid to take them back because she has already threatened us that he will never see them again. Is there any way we can get it where we legally wont get into trouble for not taking them back? Our other problem we face is that we are getting the runaround from the courts and the lawyers. We can’t go to court here in Arkansas because the kids dont live here so we have to go back to wisconsin if we want to go to court because that is where the court order for joint legal custody was signed. But we are just getting the runaround about court and things like that. And we wont be able to go to court by July 5th because thats only a few days away. And by the time the court would happen she could be long gone already. She may not even show up in court in the first place. Is there anything we can do before this all happens?
My husband’s ex has not exercised her 6 week summer visitation which clearly states it begins June 15. yesterday she says she is getting him today for her 6 weeks. I am thinking he should come back home July 27 if we go by the signed documents. she disagrees and is now saying the custody aggreement is null and void b/c they were living together at the time the papers were signed.
We do have an appt with his lawyer but not until Thursday (lawyer out of town). We also have documented times she has skipped visitation (every other weekend) and when she ask for extra day and we agree but she nevers comes to pick him up.
At our final custody hearing, my ex husband was given 3 weekends a month with our daughter. Also he was ordered to stay out of trouble and that hasnt happened. She is involved in sports and hates going to his house. He has no driving priveleges and can’t take her anywhere. We were went to court 4 years ago and a lot has changed. Is it possible to let her choose? As she gets older, school functions and sports activities are all on the weekends. What should I do?
My son has just filed for custody of his 2 girls that live in Illinois, we live in Iowa. Their mother has been charged with neglect and abuse and tested positive for drugs. The state is involved as well. They were never married, but his name is on their birth certificates and has been paying child support for both girls. My son does have a felony record for drugs, but has cleaned his self up and followed all the rules and regulations that his probation officers had put on him. He has even got with a great girl and they just got married a few weeks ago. I feel my son is the better parent and not just because he’s my son. He he was back with the mother of his children and the way he was then I would never of helped him come up with the money to file for custody and he knows that. I feel the best place for the girls to grow and be loved is with my son. How hard is it when one parent lives in one state and the other lives in another.
I have lost custody of my daughter last year due to my substance abuse problem. I did not show up in court so custody was awarded to the father. Since last year i have completed a 6 month treatment I am currently in couseling and i have maintained sobriety after treatment for the last 6 months. However my child’s father moved to South Carolina after he gained custody I can’t afford representation but i know i have rights as a mother
My ex-spouse withholds visitation even though our divorce decree states we have joint custody. She used to live in New Jersey and we were notified by the courts there she was trying to take my custody and I have no contact. The judge ruled in our favor and said she had no right and if she wanted to change the custodial rights she would have to go back to Texas where we were divorced. However, neither one of us live in Texas anymore and she still withholds visitation. What should I do? I don’t want to give up but I am tired of fighting with her? It clearly states in our divorce decree we are to share holidays and breaks but she has my daughter thinking she dictates when she can come or not.
What happens if my daughter runaways at 17 with her 16 year old boyfriend they decided to drive his truck to washington by following us. The kids told me that they were never coming home i never drove them from oregon. Boyfriend drove my daughter to washington with my 18 year old son to go to montana Boyfriend and my 18 year old son drove. I never drove. my 18 year old son asked the boyfriend if he had enough money to drive to washington. They have charged me with Custodial interferance in the First Degree in linn county in oregon im wondering how they can charge me for taking them inticing them and removing them from oregon when i never drove.
My husband and I have physical custody of his three children ages 17, 14, and 12. His ex-wife took us to court for the second time last December, trying to get custody back from us. We won again, she immediately contacted the schools that the kids were going to and told them we were out of district. She has proven many different times and many different ways that she does not care about the well being of the children. She is more concerned with having power and control over them. She is also very jealous of my relationship with the kids as I am very involved with their lives as well as my two children. Since court she has made it so difficult to have them go with her as she will not bring them to the meeting sight, she will not work with the kids so they can do things. My husband has to refuse to send them for them to do any activites that are scheduled by other people that land on her visitation time. She took them three weeks ago and is now refusing to let them come home. My husband has contacted the police departments in her town as well as ours, both have stated that they can do nothing until we get the court paperwork from the judge that she is in contempt of court. I am very worried as the kids told my husband that she is getting a new house. How do I protect the kids and get them back? How do I get the police to see the severity of the situation? It will take some time to fill out al lthe paperwork and get the judge to sign it. What do we do until then?
you dont.
and why are you writing this instead of dad
methinks thee protesteth too much
let Mom love her kids. SHE is the MOM!!!
When my ex-husband and I divorced in 1999, I had physical custody of the children, and he was listed as primary residential parent. He ended up getting the children from his mother while they were staying with her over the summer vacation. This was 10 years ago…I have not seen my children since. I have been searching and searching to find my children as he moved from Florida after getting them. I FINALLY found where my children are, but now supposedly his second wife filed for adoption (I never receieved any court documents regarding this) and when they got divorced she was awarded custody. There were 180 reports on file in Leon County Florida for Domestic violence filed by my neighbors–which is why I left him. What legal recourse do I have and how can I get my children back? Any help is appreciated on this..all I want is my babies back!
WHAT~!?? I dont understand
HOw is that possible?
If you had legal custody how is it humanly possible if you have been looking for them police? sheriff? courts? systems? huh? This would be CRIMINAL if you had LEGAL CUSTODY of ??HOW MANY KIDS? and would be considered a kidnapping or “MISSING/case
Go file another case!~!!!!!!!!!! Got fingerprints? Pictures?? Legal Documents? Social Security Numbers? GO GO GO GOGOGOGO NO ONE can adopt your kids if YOU are alive and have custody unless you have been considered menatally unstable,neglectful or abusive or whats that word? abandonment? Research. Do some research. Unless theres something you arent revealing , I sure to hell wouldnt be doing without MY CHILDREN in a million years. Im fighting tooth and nail NOW for them . THEY BELONG WITH ME not their LUNATIC wanna b “dad”
Is summer vacation and reg. visitation scheduling the same? I was giving paper work saying I was to abide be summer vacation sch. untill school resumed in august. We would each have a week for 4 weeks in the summer alternating. His Lawyer made the schedule for him and sent it to my lawyer and said unles I apposed it that is what we would go by, so I agreed. Well come to find out the reason he made the summer sch. is so he would be able to get her each time I had her on my week he had scheduled for me. So I would have to drive her back and forth to him. Well I didn’t understand it at first, It was Fathers Day, and who would keep their child away from the dad. So I said No prob. you are her dad. Next It was memorial day , It was a little aggravated at this point but she wanted to go so I let her go with him. Well The 3rd week came, I had really big plans for us to go to the lake and see a huge fireworks show, go jet sking, cook outs night time fires for smores & marshmellows and hotdogs. Well that Friday in his home town they were putting on a show and a parade. So out of the goodness of my heart I let her stay Friday till Saturday afternoon. I done this so she could spend time with him on 4th of July.(I also let him have her on thanksgiving, christmas and other special events because I want us to be in both of her life even though we no longer are a couple, also so she would never feel like she was picking one or another.) Well as i picked her up on Saturday afternoon, he replied” I will see you guys tomorrow at nine in the morning”, I turned to him and gave him a funny look. He said,” that is my day to have her on the 4th of July according to reg visitation sch. I said, “You know I have had this planned for weeks to go to the lake” and you made this Summer visitation sch. and said you done it so she could go on vacation and bible school on the weeks you choose. YOu have have had her 1 day of each week of my summer weeks. So I will have to call you and let you know something then. Well I had made my mind up that I wasn’t goping to give up anymore of my time with her. I called him at 7 o’clock on 4th of july to let him know She was going to be staying with me. He was furious. I called the police and expland the sit. they said he just had his panies in a bunch or wad and not to worry about it. So we went amongest our day having a great time. I returnred him 2 days later after going grocery shoping and the cops pulled in behind me and arrested me in front of all my neighbors and my family and m9ost of all my children. The handcuffed me like i was some kind of crimnal. I had to stay in jail for 26 hours before bond was set at 2,500 dollars. I used our familys vacation money to do so. I went the next day to file a report againt him. my county said I should never have been arrested and that i would have to go to his county to file a complaint. Which I tried. I went to the police station, clerks office, dispatch office and finally the sherriffs office. No body would do anything for me. As i walked out the door they said you are no better then him if you do the same thing he has done to you. I replied,” I have paper work saying I am suppose to have her this moment and you are telling me there is nothing you will do. YOu didn’t have a prob. letting him fill an eport against me and talking me to jail for 26 hours. I said if you will not help me I WILL CALL 911. As I started to walk out the door they came at me and my friend shouting and screaming with fist in the air. There was 2 off duty police officer sitting on the bench outside as we wisk our self away from the sit. They got on {walk-talkies} and started saying CODES I guess for us to get arrested. Well We went back to our home town and i haven’t seenmy daughter in over3 1/2 weeks. We have joint custody but he has primary custodianship. What can I do. He told me to sign my rights over and he wpould never bother me again… He has been doing stuff like this to me for the past 4 or 5 years when he gained primary custodion. He told me when I left him i was makein the worst mistake of my life, and that I would never have any peace. { this all started when i meet some one else, He tried to get me back then , I told him I was pregnat, and he said he didn’t care we would raise it as our own. I refused and he has tortured and harraised me ever since.. please someone help me!!!!
Dont GIVE UP darlin
Because thats exactly where he wants you
I know how you feel, I am right where you are
But If you let him beat you, then he won. DONT let him kick you while youre down because hes laughing at you while youre hurting. !
Try
Keep Tryin!
Can a custodial parent refuse contact with the children from the non-custodial parent for no reason other than he moved states? I do have a court orderd 24 hour stipulation but can not affored a lawyer to help with my rights.
I live in Virginia and my 3 year old son is visiting his dad in Michigan. Per our divorce, I have sole legal and physical custody with him having “reasonable” visitation. We agreed on 3 weeks this summer and that ends this weekend.
I have heard from his mom he does not intend on returning my son this weekend, and he will not return my phone calls. (It is also in the decree that the parent shall have phone access at all times to the child.) What can I do? Even though I have sole custody, visitaion times are not spelled out..I can already see him telling the police that it is still his time..ect.. I want my son returned.
called the law when i found out they were not bring them back to the dad for visit that they were taking them to Montana, the sheriff called them telling them he had in his hands a paper saying i have guardian ship of them do not take them, they said the girls weren’t there , the sheriff was suspicious and went out to home and found them loading the kids in the vehicle and waited for them to pull out fallowing them he stopped them for speeding and seen the girls in back he talked to the girls and told the great grandma once again that i have custody i said no and she said she didn’t care what i said,, the sheriff did not retain them for supplying false information and let them go on, i have called police, FBI, everone and cant seem to get help….
My situation is like this my ex boyfriend had custody of my children and he passed away and his mother got custody of them how and what do I have to do to get them back.See it like this they live in Florida and I had to move to South Carolina how can I do everything in South Carolina and it still be valid in Florida?
What if the custodial parent continues to plan activities around my court ordered visitation with my daughter intentionally? The child now does not want to go with me because she doesn’t want to miss going to six flags or soccer games, or friends parties. Ironically all of this is occurring during my every month’s visitation. i still go to get my daughter however she is no where around. I go to the police and they end up getting a hold of my daughter. Her being 11, she tells the police she doesn’t want to go with me today because her relatives are now coming up and she doesn’t want to miss them. I figure I’m just gonna have to get her for contempt however now I’m not sure what I can do. This has been going on for months. Her mother even emails lies to me about her concerns for my daughter’s well being when she is with me. This is another way I found she can get out of a contempt charge since my daughter says she doesn’t want to go due to lies from her mother. I don’t now what i can do. Her mother makes up lies in writing to me about her concerns of the child’s well being when she is with me even though its all lies and there is no proof…mediation in the passed has taken us nowhere. what can i do to stop this from happening and get my daughter.
The father (never married him) and I established paternitiy/child support in 2000 in Marion County, Fl. On the paperwork it states that I am the custodial parent. My 16 year old has rarely spent time with the NC (non custodial) father. I recently sent him to Fl to visit his father ( I am on the west coast). It has not even been 2 weeks and my 16 y/o says he wants to stay there. The ticket (NC parent bought) is round trip and my 16 y/o is supposed to be back late August; the agreement NC father and I made. NC said that since my child wants to stay in Fl then he will not send him back to me. *My concerns are 1. Does NC have the right to do that being that only paternity/child support (which he’s way behind on) was established and not actual visitation? On my paperwork it does clearly state I am the custodial parent and child physically lives w/ me. 2. Does the fact my child is 16 y/o have any say in the matter? –A little backstory: the NC is a substance abuser (marijuana). My 16 y/o needs a LOT of help w/ school and NC is not the sharpest tool in the shed. I received text messages just recently from another relative living in the same house that I need to “get” my 16 y/o now because NC does drugs every night and every day and goes into fits of rage. I called both NC and his local police dept. By the time the police got to his house everything was okay ( I should not have called NC first to let him know I’d call the police to check him out- in essence, all I did was give him a ‘heads up’ that the police were going to come knocking on his door. Being that NC and my 16 y/o are in Florida and I am on the west coast, what type of action do I need to take? By the way, all of this happened on a Friday evening, so I can really do nothing until Monday which is so very frustrating. (Which is why I am surfing the net and came across this site). Thank you so much for your time.
My 4 year old step son’s mother is out of control. There is a court order for visitation but no specified times. The mother thinks its my fiancees responsibility to pick the child up and drop him off even though she lives a mile away and the judge told her she can do one way of transportation. She claims she has no car and its the fathers responsibility to do both ways. Anyone know the state law in Michigan about this if it isn’t in the court order?
And the mother has a history of violence. My mother in law is pressing charges against his mother for destruction of property and simple assault. She has 2 warrants out for her arrest in Livonia. She also managed to get the child kicked out of pre-school in January 2010 for his absences when she was to take him. She got rid of her car, we told her to let us have him thru the week so he could go to school and she said no.
The child was seeing a play therapist until early April when she cancelled to take him to another therapist to get the new therapist to write a note stating the child poops his pants bc of his father (which he does the same at our home).
She also has a rx pill problem. I ran a Meds and found she is getting 3 different scripts from 2 docs for pain meds and depression pills. I need some advice if this is enough evidence to gain custody of the child.
I have sole custody of my 6 year old son. He went to visit his father for family vaction. His father had emailed me requesting an additional week. His father and I have always agreed to compromise. That extra week was going to do no harm ( so i thought). I told my ex that i would be down on the 6th to get him after his additional week in the response back to him. (again i am nice and if he gives me the money i will drive the 4 hours to get my son). He called on the 4th and asked me if my son could spend the school year with him. I told him no. I reminded him I’d be there on friday the 6th. He said we see about everything and talk. He has never been to my house, even though there is always and open invite for him to see his son. My Ex’s parents havent been here in 2 years, and my family hasnt been here in 4 months. However after i got off the pphone with him on the 4th my sister calls me accusing me of being an alcoholic (not true) and says I need to move down there. (where my ex lives). Random call, since she hadnt called me in over 3 months. I let it go. Friday the 6th comes around i pack my car and other 2 children up to go pick up my son, and i have a voicemail from my ex’s attoney saying that my ex was awarded emergency custody due to endangerment of alcoholism. I dont drink! So I know he had no proof.
I am in Florida. In March of this year I was contacted by DCFS in Illinois about sexual abuse to my daughter by her mothers husband, I was given custody of my daughter at that time as her mother was charged with neglect. It has since been reversed according to her mother, but I have not been notified by DCFS or the courts and the mother is now requesting that I return our daughter as in our divorce decree she has primary residence. She is threatening to take legal action if I do not return her, my daughter who is soon to be 15 wishes to remain with me. Do I have to return my daughter? What action can I take to allow her to remain in my custody?
You do not have to return her unless the courts have served you. And they can not conduct a hearing without notifying both parties. Your daughter is old enough to say in court who she wants to reside with.
Have joint custody. Have court ordered visitation for 5 specific weeks in the summer. Mother has primary custody in CA (where the court order was issued). Mother failed to put child on plane to AZ and sent email she would not send her in addition she has been denying court ordered webcam visits. I filed for contempt of court against mother. What should I expect at the hearing? and would I be justified in asking for a motion to change custody?
OK I HAVE A BABY MOM AND SHE WONT LET ME SEE MY SON WE DONE WENT TO COURT I HAVE SET DATES AND TIMES THAT I CAN GET WAT SHOULD I DO SO THAT I CAN PICK MY SON UP ON MY DAYS
I (Mother) have custody of my son, just recently my sons father gave me 30 day notice for his vacation time but i have family coming in to town that doesnt see our son very m uch the time he wants to take him i suggested another weekend besides that one but he said he wanted that weekend now he gave me a paper stating that if i didnt comply with his request he was going to notify the courts that i am in violation of the court order.
Is there a new law that was passed in July 2010 that says unmarried parents who are not living together that which ever parent earns the most income shall compensate the other? They have joint custody with the Father having primary custody and full financial responsibility. The mother is on welfare and is now suing the father for full custody and child support. Now we hear that after living together for 6 years and she decided to move out last Dec., that she is entitled to compensation. The father bought her a car, paid 3 months for an apartment for her besides taking care of his little boys financial needs and also making sure the visitation was agreeable with the mother! Please let us know what this new law is all about????
My 17 year old daughter began spending a lot of time at my dad’s house. My older sister lives there as well and spoils my daughter and encourages her to ‘babysit’ my elderly father while she goes out with friends and on trips.
Now my daughter refuses to come home.
I have sole physical and legal custody of all of my kids.
Any advice?
I have joint-custody of my daughter. I am the custodial parent and her mother refuses to return her. the police won’t enforce the order. they say it is a civil mater. i know there are ways to file to have them enforced but can’t find the forms. I have a lawyer filing contempt order but he is dragging his feet and hasn’t returned my call. It has been 10 days already and will be over a mth before this is resolved I would like to get her back before that. what is the best way?
Patrick- Good luck with the papers.. (go to the courthouse and ask the clerk for the forms you need.) I just did that to get my 3 year old back. It took almost 3.5 weeks to get him back b/c you have to file them, then serve your ex, then get a court date. I was going out of my mind for those 3.5 weeks. To top it off, it cost me $2500 in a lawyer as I had just started a new job and did not have time off to do the paperwork myself. (Plus I felt it was to risky not to have legal representation.) I had to file a motion for return of the child. (It was not a contempt of court b/c our custody agreement said liberal visitation even though I had primary physical and sole legal.)
Needless to say, visitation will not occur again until we resolve the visitation schedule to be exact dates and have an enabling clause for law enforcement if neccessary. I will not make that costly mistake again. My son was very upset and keeps telling me he would cry at daddy’s and want to come home but daddy would say no. When I showed up he hugged me and wouldn’t let go..not even to hug his step siblings or dad goodbye. All he kept saying is “I want to go home to Virginia”. I think it was rediculous to make a 3 year old wait almost 4 weeks for a hearing. The first week home he refused to talk to his dad on the phone and would curl up in a ball when I would put his dad on speaker phone and try to get him to say hi. Now that he knows he is home and not going anywhere he will talk to him again.
I just don’t understand how you can keep a child away from the only home they have ever known and think it is not going to hurt them. Had his dad ever made an attempt to visit him here, maybe he wouldn’t be so scared..but he will not put forth the effort and then wants a 3 year old to be happy to come and stay for months at a time with practicly a stranger (He only sees him at Christmas and summer when I bring him to Michigan).
When he picked him up from my parents, my son ran in terror into their house..screaming and crying that he did not want to go..so he just strong armed him into the car. My mom said she will never again have his dad pick him up from her house b/c she felt like she was the worst person in the world when he was crying for grandma to keep him because he did not want to go.
JNR i feel ya
My X takes mine every holiday…..and weekend, I barley have seen mine all summer! After raising mine 6 days a week for 10 years he suddenly decided he needed farm labor….except hes always took them at random on holidays and not returned them of course his momma had christmas he never did.
I went to the school to pick them up for our Labor Dayu drive to my folks (5 hours away ) and find out he had picked them up YESTERDAY (he had them from yesterday from my house from school) and took them to MINNESOTA!!!! 15 hours away!!!! I AM TICKED!!! I have to hire an attorney another prob couple thousand…ive already spent 22,000 in 10 years on this jerk for what? ? Why ? IF they cant do anything why do we have a decree? it makes no sense. THE USA LAW IS A FRAUD
I lost custody of my now 10 year old daughter in April 2007. I had moved out of state without permission. In the last 10 years, I have had to call CPS 3 times for accusations made to me by my daughter of physical abuse by her step-mother, her unusual behavior and describing ‘sex’ acts she had seen. (?) Out of all 3 of these investigations I received letters stating that ‘no evidence was found.’ On several occasions I have also, within the past 2 years, had to call our local Sherriff to order my ex to obey the court order for my weekend and summer visitations . My daugther’s Principle has also had to contact the Sherriff because I came to the school to pick up my daughter on my schedueled court ordered visitation and my ex was there to stop me from doing so, stating that it was Halloween and he wanted her. Because Halloween is not a State Holiday and is not in our Court Documents, I was given my daughter for that weekend. I have taken my ex to court 2 times within the 3 three years. Once because I was not allowed to have my daughter for my court ordered summer visitation, (I filed this motion on my own) the judge ordered us to go to Mediation, we did so and I won my case. The secound time was because they wouldn’t allow my daughter to ride the school bus to my home. After attempting to Mediate, to no avail, the judge ordered my daughter to be allowed to ride the bus to my home on my court ordered visitation days and weekends. I have finally HAD ENOUGH!! On my last visitation, 2 weeks ago, I had to, yet again, contact the Sherriffs office because my daughter’s step-mother had taken my daughter out of town (knowing ofcourse that it was my weekend). The Deputy contacted my ex at work and ordered him to have my daughter back right away. After 4 hours I was on my way home with my daughter for my weekend visitation with her. However, she spoke to me in such a tone as she had never done before, screaming at me that I “ruin everything” because she and her step-mother were going to stay at a hotel and were going swimming! She also screamed at me that I was a “liar!” My daughter and I have always been very, very close. Now, it’s as though she does not want to be around me! I filed a Motion to change custody 2 months ago. Today I received (from a different judge than we’ve had in the past) an Order Denying Prima Facie Case For Evidentiary Hearing. CPS has also been called by my ex, stating that I have told my daughter to lie, am calling the Sherriff went it is not necessary and abusing CPS. My daughter had previously told a CPS worker that had come to my home this last summer (after I called them) the same thing she had told me, my husband, both of my sons, her aunt, grandmother, cousins and 2 of my friends. This was that she (her step-mother) spits in her face, slaps her face and hits her with objects. Again, I received a letter stating that no evidence of obuse was found. Now, my ex has called CPS, accusing me of telling my daughter to lie. And now my daughter is telling CPS that she lied and that her step-mother never hit her! I have gone online and found a man (also a police officer) that gives Polygraph tests. I know that they are not admissable in court. However, CPS has agreed to accept it. The bottom line here is this: With all that has happened in the last few years, why did this judge deny my motion? And what should I do now? My daughter desperately needs help, but no one seems to care. She needs to get out of that house! I have no idea what she is being told (this I am sure is for the most part her step-mother) or what is happening with her. I don’t sleep and I am terrified of what will happen if she remains with her father. Thank you so very much for your prompt time and consideration.
My Heart goes out to you!!!! I so so so feel you
I almost feel your heart beating in mine
My 13 year old daughter comes from her Daddys house the Princess her sweet smile downturned, into a skowl, her attitude so hateful to me, her sweet tender touch jerking away from me ….i dote on her every move, i spoil them both rottten, (hes 11 and loves electonics)…hes not quites so bad but hes turning from sweet Mommy boy into selfish selfcentered me me me daddy. it hurts my heart