child lives with mother and her boyfriend. No court involvement. No child support. Provide with all clothes and medical bills. Much support from my family. Took care of the child from 1year to 3years by myself, living with me. Dropped child off today with sketchy behavior from boyfriend. Took child home with me. what rights do i have to go to court and have full cusody permently. Single dad. No court involment to present. what are my odds in winning custody. Any preprarations I shall start doing now?
2006-12-19 17:43:31 · 8 answers · asked by called to action 1 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Other - Pregnancy & Parenting
Contact the Department of Children's Services and let them handle it. You will be granted custody immediately after they take the child from the home. You will have to have grounds in order to take a child and using a government agency is the fastest, easiest and cheapest way.
2006-12-19 17:47:18 · answer #1 · answered by Trollhair 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have a right to try to get custody. You may have no choice but to get the Children's Services people involved to handle it.
There is the chance that there could something in your living situation or background that could make a judge decide to have your child live in a temporary foster home until the authorities can look into your situation; but there is also a chance you would be given at least temporary custody until further investigating gets done. There is also the chance they would consider placing your child with someone in your family if there's some reason they won't give you custody right away.
They try to keep children with family if at possible.
Maybe the wisest thing you could do would be to make sure you say nothing to anybody. If you decide to contact authorities it would be good if they could do whatever needs to be done with as little warning as possible to the boyfriend.
There is the chance they could leave your child with the mother if the boyfriend gets out. That's another possibility. It depends on how much she thinks his behavior is ok or how much he's doing something she can't stop even if she would like to.
There is also the chance - if the court took the child from the mother but decided you aren't able to care for your child properly right now - that the court may place the child with someone in the mother's family.
Other than making sure the information you have is correct and maybe talking to your child to see what additional information could be provided that may help prove the boyfriend's drug use, the only thing I think you can do to prepare is prepare for some ugliness to go on.
You may want to call an attorney, either at a legal services place or else a private one who'll talk to you for a half hour for free or just a little fee, and find out what you should do next before you call any Child Services people.
2006-12-20 02:12:20 · answer #2 · answered by WhiteLilac1 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not gunna pretend to be an expert but I'm sure that if you can prove there was drug use in the house while the child was there and that that is not a safe environment for the child to grow up in that they would go with you in a custody case if you know someone who is a lawyer ask them of get a phone book there are lawyerts who do free consultations see what they think a lawyer will know how to prove your case
Good luck
2006-12-20 01:53:43 · answer #3 · answered by what? 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You should document what you saw today. Your memory won't be as sharp down the road. Also, if the mother or the boyfried have had drug issues in the past, note that.
You should call your local friend of the court and explain the situation. They may be able to tell you a little but they never help a lot. It's not their job.
I would also start making a list of all you spend on the kid...to prove you're supporting him in some fashion.
2006-12-20 01:47:50 · answer #4 · answered by ssssss 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Take your child and don't let him/her go back unless the bf is gone. You never know what he could do to your child in his intoxicated state like physical or sexual abuse. Your best bet on gaining custody is to take the first step in obtaining it based on the reasons you have given. Also, if you are on the child's birth certificate and the child is in your physical custody then the child cannot be removed from your custody unless the mother can prove through documentation that she has custody. Physical custody when there is not a custody order in effect is a major factor.
2006-12-20 02:02:59 · answer #5 · answered by micg 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why are you waiting on people to reply before you do anything?
Go see a lawyer, Get all your facts before you do anything legal.
Make sure that if you do win custody you have someone to help you with looking after your child when you have to run errands or work late.
It good to see a father who care's about his child, but dont take child out of one situation and put them into another.
2006-12-20 02:40:35 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
first off i would call child protective services. and the police and report it. then find a lawyer adn petition for full custody and if she gets visits try to get supervised only
2006-12-20 10:30:58 · answer #7 · answered by jennifer 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
see a lawyer and go over all your options!
you have to be able to solidly prove there's drugs in the house to use that against her. you could try calling the cops but i think most of the time they need a really good reason to check it out, i don't think they have right to go in and search.
good luck to you.
2006-12-20 01:51:14 · answer #8 · answered by Mandi 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋