Custody wrongfully taken away.?

Question

I recently had full custody of my youngest two children taken away from me. I now have to share partial physical custody with my ex-husband's parents, which only allows me to have 6 hours of visitation a week at their home. My problem is, I have no idea why my parenting is being questioned. I have never raised my voice to my kids. I concidered myself very lucky. They are too well be-haved for their ages (2 yrs/ 6 mo.). The only thing that happened was that I was physically, verbally, and emotionally abused by their father (none of which happened in front of the children). As much as I would love to bad-mouth my ex, I have to admit that he has never harmed our children in any way. Starting 3 weeks ago, his parents have been coming up with ways to be gone during my visitation hours, usually leaving me with 1 hour a week on an unscheduled day, or in most cases, weeks on end without seeing my babies. What kind of help is available to me to get my children back where they belong?

There was never any report of abuse or neglect because there was NEVER any abuse or neglet towards the kids

And apparently they CAN take kids away without telling you why, because that's exactly what they did to me. Being a mom was the only thing I was good at.

That's why I was asking, because I'm here going through hell not being able to hold or even see my babies when I never did anything wrong to them in the first place. I'm the type of person that cries when they get their shots for Christ's sake. I just don't understand what the hell happened and I don't know where to go for any answers. Nothing seems to help. So this was a last resort thought up by my boyfriend who's trying to help me out.

The thing that pisses me off the most is that my ex's parents have them and they lost custody of my ex when he was a child. AND he was the one that was abusing ME. I was just wondering if this seemed odd to anyone else. And if anyone went through the same thing.

And yeah, we should start a support group. That's the best thing I've heard so far.

Answer 1

well, the children were taken from you because the judge felt that it was in their best interest for you NOT to have custody. i'm not agreeing or disagreeing, but thats what custody orders are based upon.

if you want to do something, you have to file a petition with your local family court. The grandparents are violating the court order by denying your visitation, and the only way to address this is to get them back in court.

if your situation has changed (as far as living with the abuser goes), i would also suggest that you petition them to regain custody. if you are being truthful, i dont understand why the courts wouldn't give it to you. if you're still unsuccessful, you'll have to file an appeal(and for that you'll need a lawyer; although most family court matters can be handled pro-se, appeals get tricky).

it seems like a lot, but they're your children and they're worth it.

Answer 2

You need a good attorney. If you don't have much money there are legal aid organizations in most cities.

In order for your ex's parents to get custody, they would have had to prove that you were "unable or unwilling to care for your children." That's the law. Most judges will rule in favor of the natural parent in lieu of grandparents unless some sort of abuse or neglect was found.

Was there a report of abuse or neglect?

Answer 3

Now wait......you don't make any sense. First of all, children are not taken away without the parent fully apprised of the reasons. Secondly, why do his parents have them and not the ex? How did the kids get to the grandparents house? instead of asking here....get on the phone and call an attorney.....take every paper the state sent you stating the reasons the kids were taken. Your lawyer will have to file a petition to regain custody.

Answer 4

You need to see an attorney. They are keeping you from seeing the children and thus are in contempt of court. I suspect that their reason for doing this may be so that their son does not have to pay child support and they were able to get custody under new laws in some states giving visitation rights to grandparents but they shouldn't have been able to get the custody. Go to legal aid if you can't afford one but get an attorney as quickly as you can. Good Luck to you.

Answer 5

Yes, it seems very odd. Courts don’t take custody away from parents and award it to non-parents (even if they’re a relative) without a reason. You SHOULD know what the reason was--I assume you were in the courtroom--so what was it?

Answer 6

Please read my recently posted question in this section. Maybe we can start a support group of people who have been screwed over by the court system making decisions to give custody to the wrong parent.

Answer 7

get a lawyer