QUESTION
Does a father automatically lose parental rights when he is still married to the mother in Ohio?
Asked on Jul 11th, 2013 on Child Custody - Ohio
More details to this question:
My wife left me with our three children in 2011 and has little to no contact with our children since then. This past weekend she took them and never brought them back. I went to her mother's house where she was staying to check on them and her mother had me thrown in jail on a made up assault charge. I have two witnesses saying that this never happened. My concern is that the police told me that in the state of Ohio even though I have been the only one in these children's lives and the mother and I are still married that since she left me she automatically gets full custody without a court document just because she is female and I am male. Is this accurate or can I still get my children back? If I were to pick them up from someone who is not the mother, will the police have the right to remove them from their home and take them back to the mother?
1 ANSWER
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James F. Lentz Attorney & Counselor at Law
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The most important of anything I could say is this: you need a lawyer. The assault charge (more likely domestic violence) is serious. Do not try to avoid this issue or represent yourself. You also need a lawyer to figure out your other issues. It sounds as if the children were premarital. If that is the case, MAY be that your wife has complete authority over them as the residential and custodial parent. But I do not know those are the facts. See a lawyer. You need legal help in the worst way.
Answered on Jul 11th, 2013 at 8:03 PM