Child Custody Legal Questions

I think that it would be possible for a court to grant you joint custody with your mom by agreement. I don't believe that would be a very likely result if it was contested. I think what any lawyer would want to really dig into with you is what exactly the goal is. If you're living in a home with mom, I would think that pretty much your time with the child is not being restricted. if your mom is not discussing decisions with you about your daughter, that might be an issue, but if you're being included, then it seems like you are really already exercising joint custody, even if that's not what the paper says.Especially with a 16-year-old, there is not an agreement, she's liable to be something close to 18 by the time you could fight this in court and go to trial.That takes me back to the beginning; if your mom would agree to redraw the papers so that you and her had joint custody, I think a judge would approve that. If it was some kind of fight, I think either you would have custody or she would have custody, but not both.... Read More

More details are neceaary; it is not clear what kind of guardianship was done, or how much time has passed, all of which is relevant.  For background information, see here.  If the legal proceedings were in Nevada, then you should consult with a Nevada Family Law specialist about revoking the guardianship and regaining custody of your children -- there are multiple cases on this subject, but it is unclear exactly what was done here, and therefore precisely what you must do at this point.  You need a consultation with counsel, and the sooner, the better.... Read More

   So, this is the second question I've respopnded to for you- and it appears that your husband beat you to the courthouse and filed for divorce! That said, you are looking to change venue, not jurisdition, meaning the county where the case is filed.  A divorce is typically filed in the county where the parties last resided together as husband and wife.  If that was Pasco then that is the first ground you allege.  The second ground is to move venue is because Palm Beach is an inconvenient forum.  So, for example, you and the child are in Pasco. You reside there, potentially work there and  your child, the child's school, friends, doctors, etc. are all there.  It would be inconvenient for you to participate in a case in Palm Beach where there are no marital ties.   From your question, it does not even appear that your husband is living in Florida, and therefore, whether the case is in Pasco or Pinellas (or any other county) would not matter as he would have to potentially travel from Wisconsin to participate in the case (unlsee we keep doing Zoom for all of your hearings).    You need to file a motion to change venue (not jurisdiction) and set forth all the reasons why you have no ties to Palm Beach and it is inconvenient to litigate there.  Moreover, your hsuband has no ties to Palm Beach either. Good luck, Cindy S. Vova Law Offices of Cindy S. Vova, P.A. Brwoard/Palm Beach 954-316-3496/561-962-2786... Read More

Dear Ms. Chenal:    It depends what you want to do.  Under Florida law you can apply to get "support unconnected with a dissolution of marriage," meaning child support without an accompanying divorce.  You can also ask for retroactive support  to cover the time since your husband left.  Howoever, the retroactive support can only be awarded for up to 24 months, so each month you delay allows your spouse to get away from his responsibility.    You can seek to do this through the Florida Department of Revenue, or through a private attorney.     Your second option is to file for divorce, unless there is a reason you are continuing the marriage.  Even though your husband lives in Wisconsin, the Florida court should have jurisdiction over him since the last place you resided together as husband and wife was Florida.     As to him coming and getting your child, although you both have equal rights (in the law) to the child at this point,you can obtain an order from the court prohibiting your husband from removing the child from the state.  However, you must have filed a divorce case to file for this protection.    Best of luck to you, Cindy S. Vova  Law Offices of Cindy S. Vova, P.A. Broward/Boca Raton 954-316-3496/962-2785 info@vovalaw.com   ... Read More

Yes. You may move.  My advice is that you take yourself out of danger and file a police report about the violence.  While you are still married you may live anywhere you like with your children.  If your husband prevents you from taking the kids, he will not get in trouble for that. You would have the right to leave without them. If you get away with the kids and your husband decides he wants the children back, he may come get them from you. Neither one of you has a stronger or better right to the children while you are married and there are no court orders.  If you contacted the police, the police may decide to let your husband take the kids, or the police may decide to leave the kids with you. If, however, your husband files for divorce or files a suit regarding the children in Texas within a few months of your leaving, and he asks the court to order that you return the children to the county, the court is likely to grant your husband's request.   A domestic violence incident that is unreported is difficult to use in court in your favor to protect you.  Please report any and all incidents immediately.  Please also keep you and your children safe.... Read More

A temporary restraining order was entered by a judge in one county in your favor, which temporary restraining order also gave you temporary sole custody of your daughter. And, since the entry of that temporary restraining order, you are now staying in a different county and want to know if you can file an application with the court for continued sole custody of your daughter. The short answer is that there is nothing that precludes you from filing that proceeding as part of a divorce matter (FM proceeding) or through a complaint for custody (FD proceeding). The bigger picture though is what are you looking to accomplish?  Are you afraid that the other parent will be abusive to your daughter if he is given unsupervised parenting time with her or are you looking to prevent him from having any contact with his daughter? If you are looking to put in place a supervised parenting time setting for him with  your daughter, you would need to show a court that he has engaged in behavior that is directly harmful to her and that would put her at risk. The fact that you have filed a domestic violence complaint against him because he has engaged in behavior directed towards you that violates the domestic violence laws, does not automatically mean that he would do anything harmful to your daughter. If you believe that you have facts to support a claim that he poses a danger to your daughter if he is left unsupervised with her, then you have a right to seek restrictions on his parenting time with her. Alternatively, are you seeking sole custody because you do not believe that you and he can talk constructively about important decisions for your daughter and therefore your focus is on the decision making ( as opposed to parenting time)? In that setting, especially if there is a final restraining order entered in your favor, you are in a stronger position to argue for sole custody but again be prepared to present proofs as to the inability to communicate constructively on important issues in your daughter’s life.   ... Read More

Under these facts you can likely get additional parenting time and reduce his parenting, but the increase in child support (unless the original order had deviation) is unlikely. If there was a deviation in the original order of support, you can potentially have it removed which will result in an increase. Otherwise, unless he makes significantly more money now than he did at the time of the support order, it's unlikely that you will receive an increase in support.... Read More

The place to start is in Arizona.  See if there are any court orders regarding the child.  Was your sister married? Where is the father of the child?  Has the child been taken into foster care?  You should contact the child welfare agency in the city or county where your sister and her daughter lived in order to let them know you are interested in taking care of the child. You may want to contact the bar association for the county to request a referral to an attorney who handles custody matters.  Normally if the father was around, he is entitled to raise his daughter.  You would need to serve him with the petition to establish custody if you start a suit to do so. You also need to check to see if your sister left a will or had created any kind of trust for her daughter. You will likely need to travel to Arizona to take care of this case, but the courts may also be willing to work with you via video conference due to the Covid-19 outbreak.... Read More

  You should request in the suit that is pending for child support for your child's name to be changed.  Most of the time the court will not remove the father's last name as the child's last name.  If you try to bring a separate suit to change the child's name, you have to serve the father of the child with the suit to change the name.  If he doesn't want it changed, he will likely participate and object to the name change in that suit.  If the father just fails to take care of business with the court, then you may succeed in getting the name changed by default.  Nine months is a very short time in which to determine that a parent has dropped out forever.  He may step up to the plate either now or when the child is older.  That is not discouraged by the family courts though it is not optimal for you or your child.... Read More

You, the maternal uncle and the maternal grandparents all have a right to seek custody.  The basis is that you are a blood relative of the child and leaving the child with your brother (the father of the child) will risk significant impairment of the child's physical health or emotional development.  This language is found in the Texas Family Code at Section 102.004 (a)(1).   You may have a leg up over the maternal relatives if your brother will consent to you bringing suit to establish custody of the child. That is Section 102.004 (a)(2). It is possible that you and the grandparents or you and the uncle could all be named conservators of the child, but the court would name one party the managing conservator who has the right to determine the primary residence of the child.   If you think the child would be better off with you, then you should act quickly to bring a suit for conservatorship.... Read More

Interesting. That question to me seems governor and more by the ethical and professional rules of your profession, not the legal profession, but I can contribute. Just like for me to do a proper analysis of someone's legal situation, I need to see all the evidence that contributes to that situation, it would seem to analyze an adolescent who deals with issues from a divorce, whether directly or indirectly, you would have to see the evidence. I would think the key part would be making a clear and simple explanation to the parents of the therapeutic need. It seems they've taken the step to bring the child or adolescent to you, so they aren't therapy resistant, necessarily. Obviously material in your office is confidential just like in their lawyer's office. I think if you are confident and present your needs to them, the professionalism you show will put them at ease... Read More

Unfortunately, the courts are closed during this pandemic and will only hear emergency matters.  The issue of what constitutes an emergency is a factual question, which can only be decided once the case is filed.  As for giving your parents rights, this is not going to be easy because when a non-parent seeks custody it is regarded as a third-party action.  These cases impose a higher legal burden on the non-parent to demonstrate why it is in the child's best interest to divest a parent of fundamental rights to provide for the care and custody of a child. Lawyers.com provides general information and not legal advice.  Consequently, your question cannot be answered in this forum.  I suggest that you contact an experienced family lawyer in your area to discuss all options, based upon the facts in your case. Please note that most lawyers charge by the hour for an initial consultation.  Therefore, you should discuss this matter upfront to avoid any misunderstandings about fees.  Best of luck~... Read More

That does not sound good for your daughter at all.  For her sake and safety, try to talk to her Dad to find out when he is home and able to be there to enjoy his time with your daughter.  Maybe he needs his possession periods to be adjusted, which you could do by agreement.  You may even want to offer to bring her to him when he gets off work.  Although he is allowed to use a competent adult for transportation, his possession periods are supposed to be exercised by him.  If you cannot work out an agreement you may want to try to file a suit to modify his possession time to periods when he is not working.  You may also want to talk to your ex about how uncomfortable your daughter feels when she is left alone with his male friends.  ... Read More

If there is a court case pending regarding your child, then you need to get involved in it.  You may file what is called a Petition to Intervene.  If there is not a court case, then you need to start one.  If you signed an acknowledgement of paternity or have been adjudicated to be the father, and CPS has written notice of your current address, they should be providing you notice in the proceedings.  There may even be an attorney who was appointed to represent your interests if CPS has alleged they could not find you.  You need to act quickly to obtain a copy of the court orders and be sure that you are a party in the case.... Read More

It sounds like paternity was never established and that's why you aren't getting anywhere. You will need to file to establish paternity, which you will need to do through your local CSEA office. After paternity is established, you can move for custody and parental rights and responsibilities through the juvenile court.... Read More

File a simple motion with the Court asking for permission to relocate. The court will set a hearing on this and you will have to convince the court that relocating is in the best interest of the children. This will likely also require a modification in the parenting plan set by the court. ... Read More

If you don't think there will be a fight about anything, you can just allow him to go live with his grandfather without any kind of court action. If you want to be formal about it, you will need a petition for custody filed by the grandfather with a signed consent by you. The Court will need to notify the biological parents and will likely hold at least one hearing. So long as all parties are in agreement, you should be able to do with with an agreed judgment entry signed by yourself and the grandfather.    ... Read More

One of the things you can do is bring this to the Court's attention before he does. If he is filing police reports you can assume that he intends to use those reports in your custody dispute. Turn that around on him. Bring the reports to the court's attention especially if they are numerous and frivilous. Courts are familiar with this kind of gamesmanship.... Read More

Generally speaking Ohio's stay at home order says that you cannot use the threat of coronavirus as an excuse to avoid parenting time. That said, if you have a high risk child and a doctor's note saying that she shouldn't be moved, it is extremely unlikely that a court would find you in contempt for refusing to allow her to see her father. READ THE DOCTOR'S NOTE CAREFULLY BEFORE ACTING ON THIS. Does it actually say "should not be moved" or does it say something else?   I'm curious as to what paperwork you wanted to file. If the father is not challenging your actions then there shouldn't be any need for paperwork. Has he already filed a motion against you? If so you will need to oppose it. ... Read More

Unfortunately you are allowed to write whatever testimony you want for people. Whether the person will actually testify to that is a completely seperate matter. If your mother is an attorney, my speculation is that what she is having your sister sign and execute is actually an affidavit, which is a sworn statement. These statements can be used to support procedural maneuvers like motions for summary judgment or, more likely because you mentioned adoption, as supporting documents to the probate judge to allow for full adoption.   It is HIGHLY unusual for a parent to lose custody to another family member. I can count on one hand the times that I've seen it happen (and one in which I represented the aunt and uncle in successfuly getting custody). The number one reason for a non-parent succeeding is that the other side just gives up.... Read More

Assuming they were serious, it is a direct and unwaivable conflict of interest to seek employment with a lawyer that you are litigating against. She should absolutely find new representation if she things there is even a chance that the attorney is attempting to go work with the other side.... Read More

While it is true that having money to pay for legal representation helps immeasurably in a custody case, there is simply no way that a judge said that he's going to win because he has more money. You do not pay the judge as part of a custody dispute. The court uses a "best interests of the child" analysis to determine custodial rights and parenting time. While money can play a part in that, as it allows for things like food, clothing, and shelter, it's just one of many factors that a court looks into when determining custody.    So will they win because they have money for lawyers? Not necessarily, but what a lawyer CAN do is make the case that it is in the best interest of a child to stay with one parent over another better than any lay person.... Read More