I need to know how can I start a lawsuit against my ex husband, his mother, CPS, School district, and local PD

Question

I do know they're lawyers that will for free and take their cut at the end. I just don't know where to start or what to do. My children went on a vacation with my ex mother n law. She never returned them. Using a guardianship paper I never knew she had obtained illegally without my knowledge. Since shes had them she has beaten them on a daily basis with wire hangers, belts, books, shoes and pretty much anything she can get her hands on. My children told me so. My daughter called CPS and they did nothing. I called the police to examine her bruises and welts they did nothing. I requested school couselors get involved. They assured me they would and they did nothing. She told the courts I was an unfit mother without any kind of investigation. She says she is going to give them to their father who had a restraining order against him because he threatened to kill the children and myself. They live in MD. I'm in WA. I had custody. Will email more details if needed. My children need help!

First off I have never used yahoo questions for anything. Second of all this is not a fantasy or made up story. Until it happens to you then dont be so quick to judge. Third of all I have contacted many people about my case, including the lawyers, media, and anyone else that would listen. My children were kidnapped and in danger. And some of you are right. You don't have all the details and i'm very happy to send them you if you request it. I basically only needed to know if I should use the same lawyer for family law that I would to sue for the emotional strain and damage this has caused my children and my family because of the NEGLECT of the schools, cps, and PD. If you want to believe this is a BS story then so be it. But I assure that it is not! I am not a rich woman and I was seeking help for my children. I cannot afford high priced lawyers. Please don't judge unless you do know the facts. My question is what kind of lawyer would I seek in order to see IF I have a case?

Oh and I should mention that I barely found out my kids were being abused a few weeks ago and I assure you that they are not getting the help they need!

Answer 1

I live in Maryland and have good connections with CPS of my county. Your story sounds bogus. MD CPS are not tolerant of child abuse and investigate every report of it. Yours is the first time I have ever heard someone complain that they under reacted to a complaint of physical abuse.

Your story likewise falls apart in other ways. If you didn't know of the guardianship paper, how can you know about how it was obtained?

I guess I won't get the Best Answer for this. But your story sounds like a complete fantasy - Even so, Maryland would still investigate it.

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Updated 3/15/2007 12:15pm

First. I didn't say your story was bogus or a fantasy - just that it sounds like it on many levels. If your story is truthful, I am doing you a favor by letting you know that you aren't doing yourself any favors in the way in which you are acting or in the way you are telling your story.

Second. Few Maryland lawyers will take on Child Protective Services, any County Public School System, or any State/County Police Department without a very solid case. All three of these kinds of organizations are very tough adversaries in court. People do take them on and win, but they have good solid cases.

But, if you are interested:
http://www.lawyers.com/child-custody/Maryland/Charles-Co./law-firms.html

Some questions I have: (You should email these items to maintain their privacy)
When and to whom did you report your case(Names, dates, times, Case IDs)?
Police (Maryland, Washington)
Courts (Cases, restraining orders, etc)
School - (Principal, counselors, teachers, PPWs, etc.)
Media (Washington, Maryland)
Child Protective Services Investigator
Doctors/ER

If you send this stuff to me, I will forward it on.

Answer 2

I would contact any newspaper, tv station, or talk show that I could reach to expose what has happened. After making the afternoon news, you should get some kind of feedback from some of the people you hadn't heard from.

Good luck on filing a lawsuit and first, obtaining a lawyer. Going against cps and the police department is like fighting against cancer. You can give it your all, but for some, it will be a battle that they will inevitably lose. CPS and the police department have so much immunity that they are almost, if not all together above being sued.

The other poster was right, sure you can sue these agency, but be prepared to lose, unless you have your facts straight, and you find a lawyer willing to go against anyone of them. If you get the local media involved and it sounds legit enough for them, then it may bring forth some lawyers who will try to help your fight.

Expose them first and go from there, good luck.

Answer 3

You need to speak with an attorney. This dilemma does not sound like the type that an attorney will take on contingency (where they take a portion of the settlement). There isn't likely to be a monetary award that the attorney could get paid from.

If the ex mother in law obtained guardianship of the children without your knowledge, was this ex parte? She must have told the court some bad things and claimed the children would be in danger if returned to you.

You are going to be fighting a custody battle in family court. There is no easy fix for this problem.

Answer 4

All I can say is that I feel sorry for what you and your kids had to go through...as I sit here wiping away tears. First of all what you need to do is document everything while it is all fresh in your mind and dates are important. Tomorrow morning contact your local legal aid office and they will help you obtain a lawyer free of charge. if unsure how to get ahold of them contact CPS and just ask them for the phone number. Your other option is to call a Family Law Lawyer in your area and they will do a free consultation and the majority of them will not charge up front. I hope I have helped in some way...if You have anymore questions or need help finding who to contact...please just let me know.

Answer 5

Ummm, so I find it hard to believe that your ex-mother-in law is beating the crap out of your kids and no one is doing anything about, especially if there are visible bruises. However if somehow this is true, then call a lawyer, or the cops, don't ask people on Yahoo answers.

Answer 6

All you need is a Competent Lawyer and tell him or her that you wish to file a Class Action Lawsuit Against CPS .Also you need to seek Custody in your state of residence ,that will give you a legal order that cannot be contested except in court ...Pictures are worth a thousand words...Show those
in a court of law and you will be with your kids in no time flat

Answer 7

First off child protection would investigate as would any school counselors. you didn't say age of children but my guess they are not toddlers.

i do not know if this is a story or not but if it is serious then contact the child protection again. if you are in contact iwth school. or anyone else in Maryland. get names of neighbors, ect. if children are old enough and tell them to tell everyone and anyone.....

talk to police. but myself.... i say i don't know if i do believe the story unles s you are given a stor and you believe the kids.

you have to be served any guardianship papers and have to be given also availablity of showing up at an hearing.

guess from what reading would need more details

Answer 8

I've seen enough of these cases to know that we're only getting one side of the story and most likely it is highly flawed. You can sue anyone for anything, but rest assured...you_will_lose.

Answer 9

What are you waiting for to get legal advice?You need to stop wasting time on this site and speak to some legitmate attorneys!

Answer 10

I was just informed this question was on this site, and I am telling all of you that this indeed is happening in Charles
County, Maryland.

Dave, I dont know who you are or maybe you would like to make yourself known since you have contacts in CPS and not be so cynical and offer help. I am beginning to think that maybe you know of this case since you live in the suburbs of Maryland.

I am the grandmother of these children, however if your don't have the funds, your dont have the rights - no matter what abuse is happening. As I told the grandmother, being poor is not a sin, but patient is a virtue. I have more than enough for all family involved.

We have contacted, met and begged every court, free legal clinic, district attorney, state attorney anyone who would listen in CA, WA and MD. Indeed, we received help, however when they showed up on the doorstep of this woman, she showed paperwork that supposably had preference over my daughters. We recently found out what that was, 2001, 2003 guardianship papers. How that could be is beyond me, my daughter had a restraining order against this womans son beginning 2001 for severe abuse and terrorist threats against the children and herself. He was not allowed to even contact the children, not even through his mother.

We found out that guardianship papers were filed in MD in 2001 when this woman was guarding my grandchildren at my request on account of severe abuse being done on a Kentucky military base, and she was closer to their home. At this time she and her son filed for guardianship when my daughter was living in a safe haven home after being released from the base hospital with a broken jaw. I would call this illegal.

My daughter would have never signed over her children, however it is very easy for an addicted military son to sign over guardianship when there is monetary awards from a mother who declared she must change these spanish children. Spanish Children? please...... Even old money cannot help someone learn cultural, we are Americans of Latin descent. She has failed to acknowlege, or perhaps is oblivious to the fact we are all descent of another culture. Sounds a little racist to me.... sounds illegal to me. White versus Brown, guess who will win in MD, or maybe I should say, WE WILL.

These children and my daughter lived with me in CA since 2001 only visiting their grandmother annually for 1 month in Maryland. During these times she violated a standing restraining order against her son however involving her and always in CA. We only found this out by researching the courts, its seems this great son was arrested in the city these children happen to be visiting. Sounds illegal to me...

Surprise, Surprise it seems that court hearings were conducted during these times and supeonas sent to addresses that just happen to be a family member of the paternal grandmother. Sounds illegal to me...

The last time my daughter stepped foot in the fine state of MD was in 2001 to pick up the children and return to CA.

We are not rich, that is why my daugther asked the question you all answered. What she failed to mention and possibly forgot, is that these fine residents of MD have three attorneys, one in each state these children have lived in. We cannot afford to have the same.

Our money goes toward caring for our families and like most of you, we live paycheck to paycheck. The woman involved additionally came from the same neighborhood as us, however our two families are different. We do not abuse the system and she does. I did not marry into weath and she did, her boss from MD. She was very knowledgeable of the system in CA and now is an expert in the system of MD. She will not return to CA for a very long time, mmmm, lets see, sounds it might be something illegal to me.

I, as well as my daughter have contacted White Plains law enforcement, school districts, and CPS to help my grandchildren. Those of you who have not been in our shoes, please do not judge. You have no idea how it feels to have a child begging you on a long distance call, all the while in the closet begging for you to call someone or come get them. You have no idea!!!

You have no ideal how it feels to hear them struggling with someone and then a hang up, only to be not able to call back for many days because the phone is busy. Better yet, have the grandmother force them to call you at all hours of the night telling us they are on there way to a foster home. Or she calling a heartbroken mother yelling "i am giving your children away, have the courts find them" You have no idea..... Sounds illegal to me... maybe abuse?

Just recently, my grandchildren were left alone at the home. My 13 year old grandson was left to care for a younger sister and a 38 year old disabled violent uncle cerebral palsy.

He called me and while speaking with him, he informed he that he was going to attempt to drive the family van and ordered my grandaughter into the car. He wanted to show the police her welts and bruises, and was being a big brother and was going to make a stance. I would not get off the phone as I listened to him grind the transmission, he never left the yard. I had to make a very difficult decision and called the local police on my cell phone to protect them from being hurt or an innocent one on the street. At this time my daughter on her cell phone with my grandaughter in the same car. I informed my grandchildren that I was sending the law enforcement over and please do not be afraid and just show them all the bruises. After much hestinancy, they agreed.

For some reason, an uncle shows up beforehand and the matter is taken care of. We are not sure if he is from a law enforcement agency or perhaps has a scanner. Hey, Dave, maybe you know?

At this time I also called CPS to ask them to please go to the home "right now" to check on their well being and check them for bruises/welts. I was forced to leave a voice mail because no one answered, also the after hour number listed on the internet was disconnected. Nor did the police call my daughter back. It has been a week and we have not heard from any agencies sworn to protect children. You have no idea how we feel...... Dave, maybe with your contacts, you know why have not received an answer?

We do not care how many times we have to call CPS, the schools, or the police, we will continue until we get some type of resolution. We are not allowed to see the children unless we stay in her home, however we are not allowed in her home. She will not allow us to speak with the children and they wait until she leaves to call us. However, after each episode of police interaction, she will allow them once to call us. mmmm....

I have left messages, emailed information about me, I have given my name my DL#, SSN, employee and any pertinent information needed as an interested party. Your right Dave, I did receive a call back on one occasion, I was told they could not tell me if these children were in police protection, even if they there. I understand this, it is the law.

However, it makes me believe that some of those who work at CPS are not so educated because I was told that "when a child is in a foster home, we do a research on geonology history "thinga something", ok please tell me what does this have to do with abused children. At least here in California, when a child is in a foster home, the attempt is always made to give them to the next of kin, granted they are a sane and safe relative. When I questioned this, I was told "Mam, this is law of Maryland, and we do not care what interest you have on any children in our foster care system". Oooooh, that was an answer I was impressed with....

It would be very easy to get on a flight to MD, however, by arrival, more papers have been filed and more resistance is met. Additionally, Charles County and or other MD courts are the only courts I have come across that charge for everything, and I mean everything. Want a mediator, hand over money, want supervised visits, hand over money, etc. So again thank you to those who stated to get maybe a state funded attorney or help, but this does not help in Charles County Courts, you need money. My daughter has applied for every agency known to man in three states. All denied.

Dont judge my daughter who was only asking for advice not money. She asked for help, out of desperation. We both live in separate states and with her having a disabled child it is very hard for her to make a cross country flight without a plan and vice versa. It makes me angry to hear some of be so cynical, however it warms my heart to hear some of your offer the best advice you can. We have already tried it all.

My daughter was granted sole, legal and full custody of these two children in 2005 and allowed to relocate. This was granted when the father no longer wanted rights to his children, after a 4 year restraining order expired.

The courts were not aware that the paternal grandmother had a signed, stamped MD guardianship papers. She later attempted to use this in CA courts and it was thrown out.

It is ironic she received applied and papers in 2001, had them revoked in 2002, received again 2003, revoked 2003 and then took the children in 2005 and was granted guardiansip in 2006. All this time the grandmother knew that the children lived in WA, however her attorney sent supeonas to interested parties to addresses of maternal relatives, making it seem like we all have been advised and were no shows. Sound illegal?...

Thank you and even though she has only been on this site once and now wants to get off, I will not allow her too. Somewhere out there is a good person who can offer her the best advice possible. Those of you who are critical, only make me stronger, I am her mother and grandmother of those two in MD, and like a cat I grow stronger by this injustice. I am patient also, which is a good asset in a woman of color.

Please do not judge, however, if you wish bring it on, I have answers to all your questions and am not as intimidated as my daughter. She spoke the truth, it is not a movie or fantasy, it is a bonofide case. Hasta luego....