Pennsylvania Child Custody Legal Questions

possibly.  you should talk to an experienced custody lawyer right away.  whether she moves or not, you have the right to establish and maintain a relationship with your child as soon as the child is born.  there's lots of ways to do that, so consulting with a custody lawyer will help you to sort out both your rights and your obligations.  good luck!... Read More

i don't know what county you live in, so i can't comment on the particular procedures of your local court.  but in general, you have to file a petition with the court asking the court to issue an order that says your son has primary physcial custody of the child.  even if mom and date sign a notarized statement saying dad has custody, a court order that confirms the notarized statement is important. good luck!... Read More

She can try but as a father you have legal right to have custody of your son unless you are or historically have been an unfit parent. You can go to family court and file a motion to have custody. However, if the child doesn't want to be with you or is not that familiar with you, you may want to work things out gradually starting with visitation or periodic overnights.... Read More

If there are no court orders and no court case filed at all, then you can move with the children. You are required to make sure the other parent knows where the children are living and has a means to contact you and the children. If a court case is filed, you will have to show that what you did was reasonable and in good faith and that having the children remain with you is in the best interests of the children.... Read More

if you want more physical custody of your daughter and you and your ex cannot agree, then you have to file a petition with the court.  becuase your daughter is 14, the court will listen to what she says about where she wants to live, but they don't have to agree with her.  for example, if she says she wants to live with one parent becuase that parent will let her stay out until 2:00 a.m. on weekends, the court probably won't be too impressed by that reason! i can't tell you what the odds of you winning are; i'd need to know a lot more about your situation.  but if you're serious about obtaining more custody, you should act on it by filing the petition with the court; custody cases can take a while, so the sooner your file, the sooner you can get things started.... Read More

the older your child is, the more willing the court is to listen to what he has to say.  but, no matter what he says, if there is a court order currently in place awarding your ex custody, then you are in violation of that order if your son comes to live with you. and the police WILL enforce the order.  the solution is to immediately file a petition to change the court order.  see a lawyer right away.  ... Read More

I'm not certain what you mean by 'getting her rights pulled'.  it sounds like you already have full custody.  are you saying that you want to have her parental rights terminated so that she is no longer legally their mother?  if that's what you mean, that's a difficult thing to do unless you have remarried and have a new wife who is now willing to adopt the children.  if you have a current custody order in place then i'm also not sure what advantage you or your children would have if biological mom's parental rights were terminated.... Read More

Unless the biological father agrees to voluntarily relinquish/terminate his parental rights, you cannot stop him from being a parent barring his death or abandonment. You could sue for support now that he is out of jail. You could offer him to waive support if he relinquishes his parental rights. If he decides to pursue visitation or custody, the court will start slow. At best he will likely start with supervised visits, maybe twice a month or once a week. If he demonstrates he is an interested and loving parent and consistently visits, the court could increase his visits in increments, upon his request. Your attorney can ask the court to order an evaluation or ask that the father take parenting classes.... Read More

If there is a current custody Order of Court in place, then you can agree to change it.  Have an attorney  ( or i suppose you can do it yourself, but that's often tricky) re-write the Order so that it says what you both agree it should say now, have everyone sign the new Order, and then file it with the Court in the PA county where the original Order was filed.  If you are moving to New York, you may also want to take a certified copy of the new PA Order with you, and then file it in the county that you are moving to in New York.... Read More

Does this child live with you?  If he does, then perhaps you should schedule him for both psychological and physical examinations. It's not always easy to determine why a child acts the way he does, and sometimes the cause can be fixed by appropriate medication or therapy.  I know that it's often hard  to do this with children that age, because you can't always make them do what's best for them.  if the child does not live with you, and you think the parent or guradian who the child lives with is not helping the child, then you may want to file a petition with the court to request that these services be made available, and/or to transfer custody.  Good luck!... Read More

If the social worker, probably a DHU/CYF caseworker is ignoring you, you may need a lawyer. Based on what you said, I am suspecting this child may have been adjudicated dependent by the court. The courts favor kinship placement over strangers. With an attorney you can get before a judge and assert yourself as potential caretakers.... Read More