Oregon Child Custody Legal Questions

The child's mother needs to file an action to establish the parental relationship between the mother, the father and the baby in the Oregon county where the baby was born. That action would also seek to establish a parenting time schedule for the father which would be one of the factors in determining the appropriate amount of child support he would be ordered to pay. He would also have to get served with those papers. Once there is a judgment in place in Oregon, the other state where he lives is under a legal obligation to enforce and collect the child support (as Oregon would be for a child support order from that state).... Read More

In Oregon, the Circuit Court in the county in which the parties have lived for the last six months is the court that has jurisdiction over dissolution of marriage and child custody/parenting time and support issues. If husband were to move to another county in Oregon and file his dissolution petition within six months, he could only apply for a legal separation then move to amend the original petition after he has been in the new county for more than six months. Also, the court would defer jurisdiction on the custody, parenting time and support issues for the kids to the last county in Oregon where they has lived for more than six months. All in all, the husband is better off to stay in the county where he and the wife had lived and file his dissolution in that county. Further, if he were to move to another state, he could face some adverse consequences if wife accuses him of removing the kids from Oregon so that she could not have any contact with them.... Read More

You have full legal custody of your daughter, but does your daughter's father have any court-ordered parenting time? Normally, a judgment concerning child custody also determines the amount and timing of parenting time for the non-custodial parent (along with child support and some other issues). If your daughter's father has court-ordered parenting time, there is probably a provision in the judgment that requires you to give the non-custodial parent either 45 or 60 days? notice of your intent to move more than 60 miles further away or out of state with the child. In addition, even if your daughter's father is only getting informal parenting time, a sudden, unannounced move out state would probably subject you to sanctions and possibly loss of custody. You should consult with a local attorney and bring the existing judgment with you to that meeting.... Read More

If you have lived in Oregon for at least six months and you do have a custody/parenting time order that grants her custody of the kids while you have visitation rights (parenting time), then you can bring an order to show cause to modify custody based on her plans to move away with the kids. In order to make such a move, a custodial parent would normally have to either get a written agreement from the non-custodial parent or bring a motion to allow moving the children in the face of the non-custodial parent?s objection. Get a lawyer on this ASAP.... Read More

DHS is a government agency staffed by administrative personnel that are not necessarily qualified to even render an opinion as to the effect of what they may believe is PTSD you have from trauma in your childhood. You need to get a lawyer on this matter ASAP to find out what is really going on.... Read More

Even if the father of the child (or children) signs off on any parental rights, that does NOT end his obligation to contribute to child support. The only way that can happen is for the mother to hook up with another partner who does want to help raise the child and applies to the court for adoption of the child.... Read More

What you need is a Petition for Guardianship. Your father would have to have obtained a guardianship at some time in the past in order to have ?custody? of your sister. If so, you need to apply for an amendment of the original guardianship in that same court in order to become the new guardian. Check around in your area to see if there are any attorneys doing pro bono (no fee) consultations on these matters. Also, the court may have some persons whose job it is to help folks with these kinds of issues.... Read More

Once a child support order has been entered it stays in effect until it is terminated or modified by order of the court that issued it or the child reaches an age at or over 18 when he or she is no longer a ?child attending school. Your child?s father cannot just stop paying child support because he happens to be sleeping in your bed. On another point, is he currently working at a regular job? If so, the Division of Child Support should be deducting the child support amount from his pay, one-half twice per month. If he is not employed, that sounds to me like he is mooching off of you and not making any contribution you you, your home or your child. In that case, you should tell him to hit the road.... Read More

In order to answer this question, we would have to know which state has jurisdiction in the case in which custody, parenting time and child support were determined. Unless a motion for change of venue has been granted by the original court, that court would have jurisdiction for anything concerning the child until he reaches age 18 (or age 21 if her continues to go to school through that age). I am assuming that an Oregon Court issued the original judgment and that it retains jurisdiction. In custody matters, the court can change the original judgment if there has been a material change in circumstances. If the child's mother has started to refuse to allow Dad to have his parenting time (or even any contact with the child), that would certainly qualify. In that case, Dad needs to retain counsel and get a Motion for Order to Show Cause Re: Modification of Custody, Parenting Time and Child Support filed with the Court. Once the motion is filed and the order is granted, the next step is to have the Mom in the other state served with the papers by the local sheriff in the county where she lives. Once she is served, she will have 30 days to file a response after which the Court will set a hearing to modify the judgment to provide for sole custody for Dad, supervised parenting time for Mom in Dad's county of residence in Oregon and child support payable by Mom under the standard child support formula. If Mom does not file a response, Dad will get custody by default and the local sheriff in Mom's county of residence would assist in recovering the child.... Read More

Here is a good place to start. Are you on probation right now? If so, do you have any conditions in place that bar you from contact with any specific children or any children in general? On another point, do you and/or your girl friend have any other children in your household? If you do, and there are no probation provisions in place that bar you from having any unsupervised contact with them, you are probably OK. Lastly, DHS would need some evidence of a very specific threat to your new child (when born) in order to even seek an order barring you from any contact with that child. If DHS does show up and tries to use your conviction as a reason to even monitor your contct with your new baby, hire a lawyer and get the matter in front of a judge ASAP.... Read More

I assume that there is a judgment in either a dissolution or custody case that names you as the custodial parent and his other parent as the non-custodial parent. If so, there is probably a provision in the judgment that you receive child support from the non-custodial parent based on both parents? respective incomes and the number of annual overnights the child spends with the custodial and non-custodial parents under an order for parenting time that is included in the original judgment. If this is the situation, the non-custodial parent can go back to court to file an order to show cause why the child custody, parenting time and child support provisions of the original judgment should not be modified to order a change in custody so that the non-custodial parent becomes the custodial parent and you get some number of overnights with the child and you get to pay child support based on the new parenting time order. Also, you need to keep in mind that child support lasts until the child reaches age 18 and is no longer in school, but it can last until the child reaches age 21 if he or she continues to go to school (college, trade tech, whatever). You should probably talk to a lawyer about this situation pretty soon.... Read More

We need to understand what you did to give my parents guardianship of your children. If you just signed a letter that was prepared by your father that says you were giving your parents guardianship and there is no court order signed by a judge, that is not good enough to grant guardianship to your father or both of your parents. In that case you should see a lawyer or call the Oregon Department of Human Services in Bend and tell them that you parents have wrongfully taken your children.... Read More

If your marriage has deteriorated to the point where your wife has taken your three-year-old daughter to live with her and her new boyfriend, you need to retain an atorney to file a dissolution of marriage and bring a motion for an order determining who gets custody of your daughter, how much parenting time the non-custodial parent gets and how much child support the non-custodial parent pays the other parent.... Read More

Has Mom been convicted of the drug charge yet? If she has been convicted and has or is going to be sentenced to jail time, then the father should get sole custody unless he has other prior convictions for things that would imply a danger to children. In that case the court might ask DHS to place the child or children with a foster home for a while. Generally, the natural parents have the top priority for getting custody. If they are both living a normal life without accusations of criminal or abusive behavior, then the Court should determine who gets sole custody based on the best interest of the child. Once the Court determines which parent should get sole custody, the other parent is entitled to parenting time, usually based on a Standard Parenting Plan adopted by the local court.... Read More

In most states the amount of child support is determined by the respective incomes of the parents of the children and the amount of time the children spent with each parent (usually expressed in number of overnights per month). Other costs like health care and special needs are also considered along with travel costs if the parents are not in the same community. The courts will normally not consider your new spouse's income as a reason to reduce or otherwise modify child support, but there would likely be some changes if you have new children with the new spouse.... Read More

There are some factors here you can consider. First, if the guy you are dating does not have a history of multiple drug charges and he has successfully completed whatever drug testing/counseling programs that were part of his original sentence, that would be a good thing. Second, does he have any history of domestic violence or any FAPA restraining orders arising from prior relationships? If not, that's a good thing. If he does have such a history, you need to know about it anyway if you are getting into a serious relationship. If your new friend has done what he had to do to get past the conviction and he has no history of domestic violence or harassment, then your ex would be wasting his time to try to terminate your custody. The rule is that he has to prove that there has been a material change in circumstances in order to change custody in which case he would have to prove that there is a significant threat of harm to your daughter if the guy stays in your life. On the other hand, if you have a joint custody order, you should talk to a lawyer and tell him or her how you managed to agree to that in the first place. In Oregon, the normal custody order is for sole custody to one parent with the other parent getting some amount of parenting time plus an obligation to pay child support.... Read More

The issue of which parent gets sole custody of the children is resolved by the Court on the basis of ?best interest of the children as opposed to specific conduct of the parents. While the Court would certainly consider your wife?s marijuana use in resolving this issue, a number of other factors would probably come in as well. For instance, if she has a medical condition for which she has a medical marijuana card and she does not use marijuana in the presence of the children, the Court would probably not rely on her use of marijuana as the primary factor in determining the custody issue. On another point, the Court may find it hard to believe that you do not have a history of marijuana use given the number of years you have been together while she has been using that substance. Your best course here would be to retain counsel for your dissolution and go over all of the potential custody factors before the petition for dissolution is filed.... Read More

The answer depends on whether there is an existing custody order. If yes, you cannot remove the child in violation of the existing custody order but you may ask the court to enter an emergency order to protect the child. If there is no existing court order for custody, then you may take precautions to protect your child from imminent danger. You should confer with an attorney for more detailed advice.... Read More

Given the statement that father recently got arrested for failing to pay child support, I am assuming there is an administrative or judicial order that he pays child support to Mother. If so, that order probably contains a finding that Mother does have custody and that Father does get a specific amount of parenting time (child support is based in part on the specific number of overnights the non-custodial parent gets with the kids every year). If this is the case, Mother should be able to take that child support order to the police and request that they enforce the parenting time provisions thereof (by giving the kids back to Mother). Mother can also file a motion to hold Father in contempt for violating the parenting time provisions and seek sanctions against Father including attorney fees. If for some reason there is no order providing for custody, parenting time and child support, Mother needs to get a Petition to Determine Custody, Parenting Time and Child Support on file in the County where she lives with the children and have Father served with the papers by the local sheriff. I would suggest that Mother contact an attorney as soon as possible.... Read More

Your best answer to this question is to allow your son the use of his cell phone at specific times so that he can speak with his Dad AND get Dad on board with the idea of limiting son's cell phone use as a consequence for bad grades and violating the school's rules re cell phone use on campus. While Dad bought the phone and pays the bill, he should be receptive to limiting the use of the phone when that is appropriate because that means the bill should be smaller. Even though you have sole custody, it is in the best interest of the child for both parents to be supportive of consequences for inappropriate behavior as well as applauding good behavior (like good grades). You are both still parents and your son needs to know that he cannot play one parent off against the other.... Read More

We need to know more before we could answer this question. If father has custody of the children under a valid court order or a judgment of dissolution or affiliation, and the DHS has removed the children from his home for reasons related to the way they have been treated, then any attempt to allow his aunt to adopt them would require him to file a motion for modification of the original judgment and that motion would have to be served on the mother of the children. The standard the court would apply is "best interests of the children" and the history of both parents' relationships with the children would be under examination by the Court. The only was the Court could give custody to someone other than one of the parents would be if it found that both parents would present a threat of inappropriate conduct with the children. If the Court did find that it was in the children's interest to be placed with the aunt, that would probably be a temporary guardianship with the possibility of review after one or both of the parents' circumstances had changed.... Read More

If your daughter is living with her child and the child's father and they are not married, the police can do nothing if she leaves him but she shoiuld file an action for filiation, custody, parenting time and child support with the local circuit Court. If the child's father is threatening to hurt her or the child or is threatening to take the child from your daughter, your daughter needs to file a FAPA domestic violence action against him to prevent domestic violence and keep the child with your daughter. I woulsd strongly recommend that you help your daughter get in touch with a local attorney who works in domestic relations.... Read More

No problem with the language you used. In Oregon custody proceedings, it is the court's job to grant sole custody to one parent or the other based on the "best interest of the child." The only way the parties can get joint custody is if they specifically agree to that language in the judgment for dissolution of marriage or custody, parenting time and child support. The language you used grants you sole custody of your daughter with specific parenting time to her mother.... Read More

Save that text message. As it happens, the only basis for "joint custody" in Oregon is when the parties agree to that ruling and continue to agree during the child's minority. While she would be in contempt for refusing to follow the agreement, you would be better off trying to work with her for a while to see if she is going to follow the agreement most of the time or if she is asserting parenting time above and beyond what the agreement says. Once you have a pattern of her violations of the agreement, retain counsel, file an OSC re Modification of Custody and have her served. Under a "normal" custody order, one party gets sole custody, the other party gets parenting time on a specific schedule and child support is calculated based on the number of overnights the non-custodial parent gets along with the parties' respective incomes. Under the sole custody rules, if the non-custodial party wants to ask the court to change custody or any other aspect of the original judgment, he or she has to show that there has been a "material change in circumstances." On the other hand, if you want to change a joint custody order, the "change in circumstances" you have to allege is nothing more than "we don't agree any more."... Read More

When you "filed for custody in Oregon," did you file a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage or a Petition for Filiation, Custody, Parenting Time and Child Support with the Circuit Court in the county where you resided at that time? Also, were you represented by an attorney? The problem I am seeing here is that if you only filed for child support with the state Division of Child Support, you would have an order that requires your child's father to pay child support but no court order granting you sole custody of your daughter. The history of the case you filed in Oregon, specifically the actual orders and/or judgment entered by the Court, would tell us what we need to know to answer your question.... Read More