Nebraska Child Custody Legal Questions

The allocation of time with the children is part of the divorce. Custody is not at issue in WA, residential time and decision making authority is. Where there stuff is is irrelevant. As soon as one of you files a Petition for Dissolution, you can make a motion for temporary orders and get a temporary parenting plan and child support in place and have their stuff whereever they are the majority of time. I suggest you get a lawyer.... Read More

The court will determine when and where he sees the child and both of you will have to share the cost of long distance transportation. Given his failure to pay support, which you should make known to the court, the court could require him to pay for all of the transportation until he is current in his support.... Read More

Terminating your parental rights is a bit more complicated than signing them over. There is a court procedure called in many states Termination of Parental Rights. Consult a family law attorney about whether you have grounds for a voluntary termination. Remember that courts would rather that parents pay support for their children rather than have the County pay.... Read More

If a divorce or custody case has been filed and served, or if there are custody-visitation orders that have been ordered a court order to return the children may be obtained. In some cases the District Attorney may help to locate and return the child(ren). If there has not been a divorce or custody case filed yet, either parent may take the child(ren) to another state. Failure to IMMEDIATELY file a case to return the child(ren) may result in the other state acquiring jurisdiction over the child(ren) to your peril.... Read More

First things first: you need an experienced family law attorney. Don't hesitate: it's almost always worth the investment. Your lawyer will probably tell you that whether you marry the children's mother or not, your rights as to them are not changed. (Not unless you adopt them, and that takes time.) You can get married with one party in the county jail: it's just a bit more complicated. The people at City Hall who handle marriage licenses can give you the details. While a Power of Attorney for care of the children sometimes works, it is likely to be far less effective than a guardianship, ordered by the Circuit Court. I am impressed with your concern for the children. Find a lawyer and get down to business. Be sure to keep your fiancee informed of every step you take, and be sure she consents.... Read More

Your husband needs to hire an attorney. The attorney will objectively assess what can and should be done as to custody. He potentially has a protracted, expensive course of litigation to terminate her rights and effectuate the stepparent adoption. Much easier would be to leave her with limited, professionally supervised visitation at her expense with a requirement to get mental/drug evaluation and treatment before getting more rights.... Read More

First things first: consult a lawyer experienced in divorce matters. What he or she will probably tell you is that after two years from the last final order regarding Custody or Placement, you can move to amend the judgment on a showing that (a) circumstances have changed substantially, and (b) the change is in the child's best interest. This might not all that hard to show. Good Luck.... Read More

Depending on the geographical distance, it seems unlikely he can actually exercise joint physical custody or that a court would grant the same. Whether you would get sole custody is heavily dependent upon both the facts of your specific situation and the judge assigned to your matter. Clearly, having an attorney familiar with both is of great advantage in custody cases. Best wishes.... Read More

I think I answered this question yesterday. Wisconsin laws permit grandparents to petition for visitation. But courts are rather reluctant to grant such rights over the objections of one or both parents. Try to talk to the parents and see what their problem with your visitation really is. It may be something which you can readily resolve. If that fails, consult an experienced family law attorney.... Read More

If you are in WA custody is not the issue, residential time with the child and decision making authority are the issues. How residential time is divided depends on a long list of factors. Decision making authority is usually joint unless there is domestic violence or other reasons why this is not in the child's best interest. Get a lawyer who should be able to help you understand the law and how to try to get what you want.... Read More

You can do nothing as you are not their parent and they have two parents. If you have reason to believe they are being abused (based on current facts,not your experience) you can call CPS. In the absence of that, and it sounds like the court did not find any issues, there is nothing you can do but be a good older brother.... Read More

File a petition for parenting plan and child support or a parentage action if you are not on the birth certificate. Once you have established your legal paternity, you both have the same rights and it becomes a question of what arrangement is in the best interest of the child, given each of your limitations. I suggest you get a lawyer.... Read More

I think you are talking about placement, rather than custody, which are not the same thing. Consulting a skilled family law attorney would be a good idea. The 45-minute trip twice a day is likely to weigh in favor of the other parent. But a lawyer would be able to tease out additional facts and circumstances which might help our case. It's almost always worth the investment. Good Luck.... Read More

It's important to distinguish between the concepts of custody and placement. Courts have not used the concept of 'unfit mother' for about forty years. The question is always what is the best interest of the child? Drinking may or may not play a major role in that decision. In custody/placement disputes courts try to use experts to advise them. They also can appoint a Guardian ad litem to represent the best interest of the child(ren). You would probably benefit from hiring an experienced family law attorney Good Luck.... Read More

I don't have enough facts about the child's father to answer your question- but unless your child is doing poorly in school, etc.-you have a good chance of retaining custody IF you hire an experienced attorney which will involve a Retainer fee to the attorney usually around $3, 500.00.... Read More

WA does not have custody as such. We have a parenting plan. In it there is a clear description of what you must do to relocate. Once you have given written notice of relocation, with all the required information, you or he can ask to modify the parenting plan. If the father has no contact with the child and has not used the residential time he has under the parenting plan, the amount of time you can ask for in the modification can be less and as long as the child is this young, can be in the new location. Eventually, parts of school vacation etc. will be where ever the father lives, if he chooses to exercise his time.... Read More