QUESTION

do i have a case to get cutody from mother?

Asked on Sep 12th, 2011 on Child Custody - Virginia
More details to this question:
I had custody of my 12 year old daughter for 8 years. 6 months ago the court awarded joint legal custody with physical custody being with the mother. During that case, i brought up the fact that the mother''s other 14 year old daughter had issues involving sex with older men. I made it clear in court that i felt that the best place for my daughter was not with her mother due to the fact that she could not control her 14 year old daughter and that i did not want that to happen to my daughter. Just two days ago, the mother had to call the police to locate her 15 year old daughter, and when they found her she was with a 26 year old man, and also the 15 year old is pregnant. Do i have a case to get custody back. The reason the court took physical custody away from me was due 1 bad progress report from school.
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1 ANSWER

Majessire Smith
There are two things that you need to know in response to your question. First, in order to amend an existing custody order you need to prove that there has been a material change in circumstances that justifies the change. That means that the judge will probably not consider evidence of things that were already presented at a previous hearing six months ago. The circumstances have to be something new, that changes the situation in a material way. Secondly, typically there is no one factor on which the court will base a custody determination. So it is unlikely that the progress report was the only reason the court changed the custody arrangement six months ago. Joint custody is the arrangement that court's in Virginia favor. Usually the courts are willing to order joint custody unless there is some specific reason why it would not be in the best interest of the child.The court would have chosen this arrangement based on all of the factors taken as a whole. In order to determine whether the facts you stated above create a material change in circumstances to justify a change in custody is a fact specific determination that ultimately will be made by the judge. It is difficult to predict the outcome as every case is different. Your best best is to consult an attorney in your area to discuss your rights in this matter.    
Answered on Oct 28th, 2011 at 4:46 PM

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