How to Get Custody of Your Child
Getting divorced is never a fun. Things can get even more complicated if you have children with the person you are divorcing.
This is especially true if the other partner is going to fight for custody of the child.
If you’re going through a divorce (or about to) and need legal advice about how to gain custodial rights (or how to get visitation with your children), talk to a local divorce lawyer today.
An attorney can examine your unique situation and advise you on the best
Complete this free form to ask an attorney your custody questions.
Nancy’s Custody Question
Nancy from California asked…
I just divorce my husband because he didn’t want to be married any longer. We were married for six years and we have a four-year-old daughter that we are both love dearly.
I am recently unemployed and he works at a big name law firm. He works way more than 8 hours a day. I don’t think he’ll be there enough for her. He’s fighting for sole custody of her, but I want sole custody. What can I do? Do I have a shot?
Here’s an answer to Nancy’s question. But remember, every case is different, so we suggest you contact an attorney in your state for legal advice on your specific situation.
Nancy, you do have a shot. Everyone does. It’s clear you love your child, and that can help your case. The fact that you do not have employment is going to have to be rectified. Being unemployed means that you are going to have to solely rely on your ex-husband’s spousal and child support.
It could help your custody case to obtain employment somewhere before the hearing so that you can have it on paper that you have a steady income to support your daughter.
Karen’s Case and the Role of the Other Parent
Your ex-husband may have a strike against him in the custody case. Being employed more then 8 hours a day means that you are not going to be able to spend as much time with the child as someone who works less.
Also, it sounds like he holds an important position there. If he could be called away at a moments notice, that is another thing.
Despite the possible strikes against him, you are going to have to show documented proof that you are a good parent to your daughter.
Another area of concern is the type of divorce. Was there infidelity, abuse, neglect, etc? These things need to be brought up in court hearings to gain custody of your child. The mistakes that couples make are numerous. How to get custody of your child follow these simple steps:
Information About Your Child to Have for Your Custody Case
- Have a report of your child’s activities during the day to show that you have been watching them and show the judge that you have an active role in your child’s life.
- Show the pictures that you have taken of your child to show the frequency of the care that you take in your child’s development.
- Be sure to bring pictures that your child has drawn.
- Bring a pre-school schedule (if any) with you.
- Bring witnesses to testify of your care that you give to your daughter.
Information on your Husband to Have
- Any police reports (if any) on Domestic Violence
- Work schedule of your husband before the divorce.
- Amount of time spent with your child before the divorce
- If there is Alcohol, Log how much your husband drinks
- Your husband’s behavior toward your daughter before the divorce
You are going to want to spend time preparing the proceedings of your case with a divorce or family law lawyer.
Your ex-husband wants the custody to be solely his for many reasons. Whether or not he loves your daughter is not in question. Many husbands want custody of children as a sort of trophy from the divorce. Keep that in mind and you will do fine in your child custody hearings.
Be sure to cover all the facts in your paperwork so that you won’t stumble through it.
Custody battles can be brutal and you cannot trust anything that you hear from your ex-husband regarding your child. Get a lawyer on your side. I wish you all the best of luck to you and your case.
I went through a legal battle with my ex-husband about a year ago for custody of my daughter. After all of the depositions and requests to produce and GAL visits were completed, it came out that basically him saying I’m not a good mom to the court were found to be untrue. We’ve done well at co-parenting since then. Until he got orders (active duty military) and we started working on our new agreement. Which was going well until a week ago. About a month and a half ago new my husband got his second DUI. I didnt inform my ex-husband because I was embarassed and since my daughter wasnt around when it happened. My daughter was not with him when he got his DUI or even in my custody at the time. He also does not drink when my daughter is with us. I know what he did was wrong and I’m not at all saying DUI is ok.
My ex has now added all of these stipulations that we have to go to family counseling, and my husband has to hand over all of his personal information so he can investigate him or he will take me to court. This wouldnt be a problem except I dont have anymore money to fight him off. I’ve already spent $13000 and his wife is a millionaire and pays for everything. Is this something I should worry about ?
MY ex fiance is pregnant with (potentially) our child. She lied on numerous occasions, like, calling into my work telling the operator, then the directory of HR that she had lost the baby. The previous night, her 8 yr old son left me a voicemail on my phone saying “You made mommy lose the baby, I HATE YOU”, I’m not 100% certain she is pregnant now, but I am certain she WAS pregnant, but she had many complications. Also, she had me arrested on a battery charge, when in fact, I watched her mother beat her up… yes, this is the truth…. Me, being a nice guy and very willing to do things for people, had cosigned on a car loan with her long before we even became engaged, since she has left the state and I’ve been arrested, I have no idea where she is and I have hired a PI to locate her, return the car (so I can sell it and stop paying on it). I’m not sure what I’m going to have to pay for child support, but I’m sure she’s going to try and come after me for every last penny (which has been spent on the bail bond, the lawyer, the bondsmen, her car, and her engagement ring, which I’m still paying off…) I don’t know what chance I have to get full custody of our child, for best interest of the child, as she tells her son now that he’s getting fat (when he’s not remotely fat) she obviously had told him to leave the voicemail I stated above, Isn’t this child abuse? I currently live in Georgia, and will be moving back home to RI/southern MA and I believe she is living outside Orlando. Does anyone have any insight as to what my chances are for gaining sole custody of the child? I know the courts favor the mother, but this situation is out there. Thanks for any help.
Ok my name is Marie, my exboyfriend is a recent explayer in the nfl. He wants to decrease my childsupport and when I decided to take him to court he now threatens that he wants to take my child away because he can support her better. I have a new baby and a boyfriend with a criminal record, he had this record before we got together. My exboyfriend now threatens that he can take my child because of this information. I’m not working, my I’m a full-time student. Do he have a case against me? Can he take my child away?
I am currently looking to leave my co-parent. I am hesitant to leave because I will be devastated if the child custody arrangement doesn’t go the way I want it to. As selfish as it sounds it is in the best interest of my daughter, or at least I think so. My boyfriend hasn’t been very involved with our now 11 month old daughter since she was born. I have gotten up with her through the nights, and taken care of her during the days. Even when he lost his job and i was working at 5am, he still refused to take care of her during the night. I don’t think there has even been a day where he has watched her for longer than a couple hours, and complains and calls me the whole time when he is. He doesn’t want to be involved with her swim lessons, or going to the park, or anything “family” oriented. It seems like his bigger focus is drinking and smoking weed, and no he does not have a medicinal marijuana card. He works 12 hour days, and then spends the nights with his friends. I’ve asked, begged, and feel i’ve done everything to get him more involved and to spend more time with us. He also does not have a drivers license. I’m working part time right now, 4 hours a day, and my daughter is in daycare for that time. He also has a temper, and mentally abuses me during those fits. I’m very scared if I leave him that the court will make us do 50/50 with her. I don’t want her to never see her dad but I don’t trust him to tend to her needs, and not use drugs while they are alone. In a perfect world, I would like custody and for him to see her every other weekend, but supervised by his mother or someone. I don’t want him to have her overnight or alone until he can prove he can stop using drugs and take care of her during the night. I just want to know how realistic my wants are. please help.
I feel like I’m a good asset to society. I’ve had the same job for 4 years, no criminal background, no drug or alcohol use since i got pregnant, not even after she was born, and I’m a full time student and will have my Associates Degree within the next year.
He on the other hand has a criminal background, it was as a juvenile but it’s still there, he uses marijuana regularly, and drinks frequently. As a juvenile he got 2 counts of residential burglary, and he is currently as an adult has a pending charge for possession of marijuana. He has no plans, or desire to return to school, and he can’t get a better job than fast food because of his criminal background.
I Have a 2 y old daughter, my baby daddy was never around to help me or supported his daughter, it was all me n my mom that supported her, all he cared about was going out with friends to drink, gambling which was his number one priority. Now that we’re not together, i am filled child support n trying to get full custody of my daughter. Now that i did file all this he wants his daughter, y should i even let his see his daughter wen he was never around?? Now he thinks he can win sole custody of her? What should i do?
My son was born at the end of December last year. And the father was denying him. The father and his parents got a dna test done. Well after my son was a month old me and my mom had a few issues and I moved out. And me and my son was living with his dad and other grandparents. I lives there for two ir three months. Ans then they asked for temporary custody of my son. Of course my sons father agreed to sign his rights over. I argued and argued and they got a lawyer and everything and I didn’t have a job or anything so I was pretty much forced to sign my rights over. And the papers from the court say I get generous time with my son. But I get to see him maybe four times a month. If its raining out they don’t allow me to see him. And now me and my boyfriend got an apartment with two bedrooms so my son will have a room ans everything. I want to get my rights back. What can I do?
I have a question. My husband has decided he wants a divorce. I have found out he has been unfaithful two times before he deployed. He is in the service. He wanted to take the kids for his 2 weeks leave. I agreed. While he our children he assured me that he would have the phone where I could get a hold of them. The whole two weeks I could not reach him and when I did he got an attitude. Finally when I got the children back, I found out that he had taken the to a drinking party where he left them alone while he had sex with a so called friend of mine. I confronted him about it. He stated that he was sorry and that he regretted what he did and the risk he could have put our kids in. He then returned overseas and called the children only three or four times the whole time he was gone. Which was almost a year. Now that he has finally made it back home, he filed for divorce and got the kids for Thanksgiving. Then he has the nerve while he has the kids for Thanksgiving to tell them that he has found a new woman and she is in the military. He wants them to meet her for the Christmas holidays. We aren’t even divorced yet. Then my son got a hold of his dad’s phone and read all the texts he sent to this woman and him. Explicit sexual stuff that they had done. He asked my daughter what I thought about his new girlfriend and she told him that I stated that she is a whore. Because any married woman that is going to be and sleep with a married man is one, in my book. He then stated to her that I was the whore. I have never been unfaithful to him. Then he tells me that he wanted to tell me about his new woman. I feel he is mentally unstable. He has anger issues and is not very dependable when it comes to the kids. I’m really concerned for the welfare. I want to claim full custody with supervised visitation. I don’t know what to do. My kids don’t want to see their dad anymore. He has destroyed them emotionally. My son is 11 and my daughter is 9. What do I do?
I am 20 yrs old and have been married for almost 3 yrs already. we have a 2 yr old and I’m 5 months pregnant. Ever since my son was born my husband has been very abusive, verbally, mentally and even physically. I’ve never reported him since he would always promise to change but now he’s gotten way out of control and I’m really worried about our safety. What can i do? He had a serious problem with alcohol and i don’t want my son around him because he yells at him and even spanks him at times. Can i get full custody of my kids? Please HELP!
Hi, my girlfriend has a 7 yr old son who lives 50% with us and 50% with his dad.
recently he has started acting up beyond normal, saying words he shouldn’t, knowing words he shouldn’t from SouthPark and other TV shows that his dad has Tivo’d or watching movies like Zombieland at the age of 7 with HIS FATHER!
his dad drinks on a daily basis and often drives drunk, alone and with her son in the car…
we are a much better home, two full time working parents, no alcohol, no drugs no roommates like at his dads house.
we want custody but the divorce was final 2 yrs ago.
can we use any of this hear say again the dad to receive custody?
his dad doesn’t usually do the homework with the son and it is either turned in incomplete or we have to pick up the slack.
the father either works noon to 8pm or 6am-230pm at a local grocery store as a butcher.
i am a personal baker and my girlfriend works on the corporate side of a grocery store m-f 8-5. we have grandparents in town on both sides of the child’s family.
what can we do?
I think it is ridiculous that the mother (in most cases) gets custody. I have been in the Marines for seven years and in most occasions it is the wife who is the cheater or the aggressor. It is horrible how society has changed its view to side with the woman, regardless of the circumstances. I am not saying it is always the woman’s fault, but they should also have to evaluate their faults and shortcomings in regards to their relationship. In most cases that I have seen, the mother has cheated on their husband. They did not hide it from their child, yet they would bring their child in front of this estranged man. Almost every case these immoral people would some how get custody. I sympathize with those who have been wronged by there husband, but to try to keep your husband out of the life of child is wrong. You should be ashamed of yourself if this is your goal. Also from being in the Marines I have met many men and women who grew up without their fathers in their lives, and they could all tell you that they are messed up because of it. I am a great father and I have done everything for my wife. This even includes saving her life when she almost overdosed. Yet she has wronged me over and over. Then she tells me if I leave her she will move away and never let me see my daughter. I am not trying to receive sympathy from anybody, I just think it is wrong to promote a website that could be used to harm good people. I am not trying to villanize women, and I do not believe they should downplay the role of a man.
My name is Samoya. My fiancee has a 3 year old daughter and he cant get a hold of her grandparents to be able to see her. He wants to try to get custody of her but don’t know the way about it please help…
A few years ago my father and step mother went to court and filed for custody of my minor children while I was in the hospital since I was not told about this court hearing. I was not able to contest it. The magistrate award them temporary custody based on false alligation against myself that they told on the witness stand. I have went through parenting classes, and drug test and everything came back good on behalf. In the meantime I have since then gotten a new apartment and have lived here for over a year, and I am going to school online. I do get visit every other weekend but here recently my dad and step mom have been putting up road blocks and interference to keep me from seeing my children, they even relocated to another county that is four hours away from me. I have taken pictures of my child who has been abused by their children as well. I am wanting to go back to court to get my kids how would I do that?
Hello so here it goes — We were young when we got pregnant never in a relationship I told him I was pregnant he denied he was ever with me he denied her we got paternity test to prove he was it came back positive. He then came to meet her once he is a known heroin user I have police reports proving it asking stating he has been steering several narcotics charges. I have another report on how he wore a bandana over his face and robbed McDonald’s he was charged with two counts of larceny 6th and 4th degree another report on how he was dunk and attacked his girlfriend’s sister and boyfriend and held his 6 week pregnant girlfriend against her will and tried to pick up a knife and attack his girls sister and her boyfriend but instead picked up a metal pot and was swimming at them. This was all over 135 dollars and he pushed his girlfriend that was pregnant. Their are other times he’s been arrested but they could not release them to me I have a report on how many tikes the police have been Tobias house this year that equals 31 times he was jumped 2weeks after he got out of prison which I was told was the initiation to get into a gang .he violated a protection order which was against his girlfriend. He has been in and out of prison he just got out last year his girlfriend was also in prison several times she just got out in 2010 he lives with his mother in a bad part of town and girlfriend and their son in a two bed room apartment he has never been apart of my daughters life until now because I fold him I don’t trust her over his house his mother was a prostitute her oldest son pimped her out he has been in prison for 5 years for heroin and is getting out soon but cannot parole in that house because they have all been arrested for several things I have tried to find him throughout the years to have him be apart of her life but was always out getting messed up in jail he wants joint custody and for her to sleep there I do not feel it is safe I am afraid for her life I don’t know if their will be fighting like they do I’m afraid for their son he has been in and out or rehab several times. My husband and I have children together I’m a stay at home mom and take care of my children I’m fully involved in my children’s life her school I give my children the world I love them more than anything my husband has a stable job out of state he is staying with family and he and parents are buying a house for us he doses not want her to leave state but the schooling is great its a stable environment for her we can give her everything plus I’m always home and 100% involved with all of my children id like to be a stay at home mother to grow with my children. Until they are old enough to move out and then I will work. What should I do and what are my chances of winning court is Tuesday and I don’t have a lawyer.
I just want to give hope to all the fathers out there. I got custody of my 2 boys age 14 and 12 I done this by doing this I talked her into giving them over to me till court and she did and usually the one parent who has the kids when they goto court ends up with the primary custody. I got joint custody with me being the primary parent and she has visiting rights to the boys which I don’t mind as long as she is sticking to what she agreed on. Equl rights is what we have and as long as you haven’t done anything wrong then there shouldn’t be a problem. I say this also Men are more than able to care for a nurture there kids as good or better than the mom most of the time better because we can better protect our kids.I love my kids all my heart and I am so glad I got custody of them. It takes 2 to have kids we fathers are every bit as much apart of our kids life as the mothers out there. The only reason woman most of the time end up with the primary custody is because when they leave you they take the kids with them without regard to the fathers feelings and to me that is wrong. What if we fathers start doing the same thing as women do? I will tell you there would be more men having custody of there kids.Hope this helped you fathers out there I am rooting for you. God Bless.
I am a mother of three beautiful children of the ages 7,3, and 2 but I have been battling for custody for a long time with three separate parties. I have no child protective service cases, I have not been judged as an unfit mother and I am excellent around children. Its a long story on why I don’t have my children but I will tell you that it has been due to family and friends turning their backs on me and lying about alot to make my life miserable without my babies. I have recently moved to Wyoming and my children live in new York and I would like to know if I can gain custody quicker being here and if so what steps can I make to get the whole reason I live back?
I got a divorce about 18 months ago. Which we both got 50/50 parenting time. My ex wife has brain cancer. Which she’s had surgery and radiation treatment prior to our divorcee. Which I was with her through the first stint and then she asked for a divorce. Anyways she has been back multiple time to the cancer treatment facility in Tulsa ok. My problem is that she is suppose to tell me about any medical conditions that change but she keeps telling me everything’s ok. Which I know is not true because when we were still together they told us if everything was going good that she would go from every 3 months to 6 months to every year for checkups as long as everything was fine. Also just within the last month my daughter has told me that her mommy has been very sick and had sores all over her body and had also fallen down when carrying my daughter and hurt her. To top it all off when my ex-wife passes away she will fall into a coma. My baby girl us only 4 yrs old I’m scared to death what could happen to her if she was with her mom alone. This is just a little bit of the story but I’m just trying to figure out how to get a judge to at least monitor her health condition. Also the average time for this type if disease is 4 to 5 yrs. It’s going on 4.5 yrs .
I have been married for a little over a year now and me and my husband have a 3 month old baby. We have been constantly arguing during our whole marriage. i always leave to my moms for help but he always comes back and works things out with me making promises. But then he breaks his promises as soon as he wants to do his own thing. He works 24/7, if not working he’s outside working in the garage or going out with his friends. He only helps me with our baby when the baby is already sleeping, i feed, bath, change his diapers and provide anything he needs such as food clothes or diapers. I have finally got to the point were i know we can’t work things out becuase he has been talking to other girls, even though he says they are just friends but he hides it and when i catch him he says its not a big deal they aren’t even old enough to date him, or its his best friends girlfriend. . then he tells me i’m crazy and need to see a dr because i confront him of his cheating. I want full custody and take all rights away from him. i don’t need for him to pay child support. i work a full time job and can support my baby and i alone, i have somebody who watches him , my mom and she also helps me by stuff for my baby. I just don’t want to lose my baby but i am tired of trying to make this work when my husband doesn’t even try.
I am currently trying to get custody of my son. I missed court for the divorce between me and my ex husband and he got 100% of everything including my child and i can only see him during supervised visitation. His father never loved my son the way I do and was never involved until now. the only reason he wants him is to keep him from me. because he had gotten everything i was left homeless with no licsence ( because he never let me get it and refused to teach me how to drive). I was told by numerous people to get on my feet before filing anything and now i am trying to file and no one will help me. i have tons of back child support and I just want my son back but i don’t know if i even stand a chance. i haven’t been able to go to supervised visits because i have not been able to afford them. the way the florida courts work, no one is legally allowed to help with anything or point you in the direction of what motions to file or anything and i ended up filing a motion that was outdated and i just don’t know what to do. I just want my son back and i need to be pointed in the right direction for some help. please
Hello everyone. My husband and his ex wife have joint custody of my stepdaughter who is 6. His ex wife has had DFS called on her 4 times in the passed 6 years, has had numerous boyfriends, and is married now to an abusive man who has HIS children in dfs custody for the past few years. She has 1 other child age 8, and has lost complete custody of her because of her drug use of heroin and other silly pills she is “prescribed” to. She also has an alcohol problem and is in poor health because of a liver disease, but doesn’t seem to care. We gave her a chance last year to enroll her in school and the child got kicked out of 2 schools! PRESCHOOL! i might add. Now we have had ENOUGH of her behavoir and want complete FULL custody with her only having supervised visits. I’m a worry-wart and am extremely worried of the effects this will have on her and her sisters(my children) as well. We love her and want whats best for her and her mother cant seem to get that into her head, she has too big of an ego. I guess I’m just wondering if it will be fairly easy to ask for full custody with the mother only having supervised visits? We even have her own family members willing to testify for us also if that helps. and She keeps threatening my husband that hes a bad father because i punish her? my stepdaughter gets the same punishment as my children no different, spankings (when bad words are involved) or standing in the corner. am i wrong to do this? my husband has given me permission and i have been involved in her life since she was 5 months old. I’m so STRESSED! I just need some reassurance please! Thank you so much.
I am 19 years old and am going to have my first baby boy any day now. The father of my son is 21 we were never married and he has not helped me financially or been here throughout the pregnancy. He lives at his friends parents house has no job doesn’t attend school and abuses alcohol and marijuana daily. His family has no respect for me and doesn’t even believe the baby is his even though Ive known him and we have been together for years. At the moment I live with my mother and I’m not able to go to school but plan to be a full time student once I heal. I want so badly to give my son a better life and I am terribly worried about the bad influence of his father. What can I do to keep the father and the fathers family out of my sons life?
I never married my child’s father, but i lived with him for months when my daughter was 9 month old. He left and I never heard from him again. Now my daughter is 4 yrs and I was wondering if i can apply for full custody even though i don’t know her biological father’s address.
Hi. My fiance and I are trying to get full custody of his daughter. Her mother is a good person but she plays favorites between her daughter and son. My fiances daughter only has a mattress and dresser in her room where opposed to her son whom has a fully decorated bedroom. We believe that his daughter is ADHD and the mother refuses to have her looked at by a doc. She also calls us several times a week asking if we can take her (when its not our days to have her) because she needs a break for her own daughter. His daughter does have some behavioral issues but they seem to get better when shes with us because all we do is play and have fun. But as soon as she goes to her moms shes right back to not listening. She has tried to set her moms house on fire in her room (which the mother is still making her stay in without repairing damages) she disobeys her mom and she does at our house to for a little bit until she realizes that she has our attention. my fiance doesn’t think that we have a case but I’m almost positive we could win full custody. The only reason her mom wanted her in the first place was because my fiance was paying for all of her bills plus child support when they first went to court. she today still doesn’t have a job and doesn’t help provide for her daughter. it doesn’t even seem like the child support money isn’t going towards their daughter because all of her clothes are old and she rarely give their daughter a bath or brushes her hair. I honestly don’t know where to go with this there is so much more i could write. please help!
My ex boyfriend and I have 2 children, 2.5 yrs and 4 yrs. I reside in Oklahoma and he resides in his parents home in California. They just went to visit him for the summer and upon my return to retrieve them his father served me with child custody paperwork. I am a stay at home mom and my current spouse supports all of us. Although we fully support them in our own residence we don’t have barely any of the extra money hiring an attorney costs, the father has one paid for by his parents. I’ve been doing all the paperwork and attending the hearings (1 so far) but not sure if I’ll be able to win this. Any advice? I submitted a heavily detailed response to the petition he served about our history and my care for the children while they’re with me including the fact they are residents in this state and also have had their pediatrician here since 2009, also stating they have received all of their medical care while in my care only. Him having an attorney is making me nervous and he’s also, of course, trying to make me look bad. The judge actually ruled we can each have the kids for two weeks at a time up until the next court hearing in Oct providing the father pays for all travel expenses. If anyone could give me some sound advice I’d really appreciate it!
HI, my name is Nicole. I have 2 boys with my ex boyfriend (never married) and I want to get full custody of them so my husband can adopt them. The father has been out of the picture for about 2 years or so and hasn’t even tried to contact me or his children. I was getting a whole $57.00 a month for child support but i stopped it a few months ago cause it wasn’t worth it plus I was told it was a form of contact. My ex lives in NY and I’m currently living in IL. My husband is in the Navy so me and the children moved with him. My older son is scared of his father and my youngest son does not even remember him all that much. My ex and I fought often and hes threatened to kill me. I went to the police and had a order of protection for 14 months before the 2 years of no contact. I want him out of my children’s lives forever and out of mine too. What do i have to do to get full custody of my children when we live in 2 different states? Do I have to go through it in NY where he lives and do I have to do it in the city or county he is in. What if I don’t know where he is? If you have any questions please ask away. Whatever helps me get my boys away from him and safe. Thank you
I have recently broke up with a guy who i have been dating for 5 years we have a beautiful 2 year old together..before the break up i am the one who took care of everything he did nothing i made sure i filled everything out for him to go to school paid for trade tickets and so on …in the last couple of months i started working and he was watching her while i went to work. in the meantime he had been cheating and eventually i kicked him out about 2 weeks ago..the girl he is now dating has lost 2 of her children for good for neglect and deemed in competant to take care of children and he is living in a home where drugs are sold. he is also a pot smoker. now he has not taking my child or seen her in 2 weeks he wants me to take my child to where he is with his girlfriend the reason i am not is because she poses a danger to my child..in my eyes if she did things to her own children mine is no different weather he is there or not. i am just wondering when going to court will i have any trouble making sure these people are not allowed near my child.
Hello, my name is Jessica and I am 14. My parents have been divorced since ’05 i believe. My parents have joint custody and I only get to see my father when our school has breaks. My mother and I do not get along very well and I no longer want to live with her. We live in Owensboro, KY and my dad lives in Pittsburgh, PA. How can my dad gain full custody of me? What does he have to do? Also, if he gets full custody of my sister and I could he give/have joint custody with my grandfather? Please write back.
My ex wife and I got divorced almost a year ago. Im remarried and so was she. She is now getting another divorce and with both me and the other guy she has had domestic abuse charges. We have joint custody of our children, but the past 3 months she can not care for them so my wife and I have them. She lives with a lot of people in a 3 bedroom house so she sleeps on the couch or floor (whichever is available). I want to get custody of my kids, but I deploy in a little over a month. Can my wife and I get custody? Also have my wife take them while im gone?
my fiance and i have been livin together for 8yrs now i have 3 kids of my own whom he has taken responsibility for he attends all meetings all hospitals or doctors appts as well he is in all there recordsas emergency contact because the biological father has never even bothered to call recently i called him askin him to sign over his rights to my fiance because my fiance has been the one doing th raising and loving and supporting of the children and he cant claim them on his taxes as his own to him they are his own but legally they are not and the biological father says before hell freezes over can we fight this and get full custody my fiance and i together ..i have papers where the biological father signed over his rights to me only yrs ago when he got out of jail after doing 7yrs he has a criminal record please tell me my fiance can finally feel at ease knowing his daughter is his shes 13 now and hes been with us since she was 4..
2 months ago my ex spose and I split. She was cheating on me for over a year with the man she is with now. We were never married but have 2 children together. I have been fighting disability for the last 3 years, and have been the main care giver such as ( feeding the kids breakfast, lunch, and dinner, getthing the oldest off to school, spending all day with them ) while she was always on the phone, computer or had her nose in a book she never spent the time with the kids. I have 5 neighbors that wrote statement on my behalf telling that she was really never in there life. What are the chances of me getting custody of them. These kids are my life!
I am currently pregnant 8 months. The father wants half custody. I am open to visitation i.e. every other weekend, once during the week, and alternating holidays. But I am not comfortable with 50/50. He works on call and his schedule and income is therefore unpredictable. He lives with his parents and his father is an alcoholic. His parents support him. They also rent out two of their rooms to strangers. The first 4 months of my pregnancy he pressured me to abort. We were never married nor did we live together. He has no experience at all with children. He doesn’t want to pay for child support at all. He is 21 and I am 35.
I do not work. I am a fulltime college student in my last year. I did rent a one bedroom apt to prepare for my new arrival. I will be living with my daughter alone. I do have experience with children. I support myself. I am currently going to counseling to help me with all this. I did try to negotiate child support and he said I couldn’t make him pay if he didn’t have a job. I tried to negotiate numerous times. In addition, I did offer him the above visitation arrangement and he still harps about wanting 50/50.
What can I use in my favor to get sole custody and give him this visitation? Is there any thing I can use against him?
my ex and i have a 5 year old daughter together, when we spereated she moved to puerto rico so i couldnt be with my duaghter. she would let me talk to her on the phone once in awhile. i send money every week. now that i have a new women in my life she dosent want me to have contact with my daughter or see her when i visit p.r. from new york. dosent allow me to take my daughter for holidays or weekends. i dont know what to do and im desperatly need help!!!!
my husband and i are getting a divorce and he knows that our son mite not be his even tho he is on the birth certificate. the real father paid for a dna test and proves that he is the father and not my husband. now my husband wants custody of my son and i want him to delinquish his rights so the real father can put his name on the birth certificate. my husband is also a heavy drinker and has threatend me w a gun when my son was in his care. what can i do to help my case?
My sisters husband recently was arrested for domestic violence against my sister. He hit her numerous amount of times and threw her in the middle of the highway and was arrested. His bail was 10 grand & was recently released. She just filed for divorce 2 days ago & they have two kids together. What are the chances she could get full custody of the children? How does this work? How often would the husband see her kids. What could she use against him to win full custody? Any advice on what to expect & any info she should present in court? Help! We love these kids & are scared for their lives, please help!
My mother and father are debating divorce. My mother does not have a job, however my father has neglected my mother and us knowing that she does not have a job. He has neglected us by: not even helping to pay my mothers bills or buying us new clothes for school, we live in a broken down apartment even though we have shown him many apartments better than this one for the same price. He even won’t pay for our medicines leaving us begging for outside help. We now believe he’s having an affair. My mothers numbers are on all of our schools emergency contacts and she has always been a chaperon to almost everything we do.She is the best parent to take care of us .Will this help her gain custody of us? If I tell this to whoever I need to will it help her gain custody? We really don’t want to live with our dad! HELP US!
permanent custody was never given to ether parent
i need help, my brother got married to a women while she was prego, he signed the birth cirtificate and the biological father still has not came forward, but him and the women got a divorce and temporary custody was given to her, but she left the state leaving the child behind with non related people, how can my brother get his little girl back the mother has been gone for a good while???? please give as much detail as possible… i live in kentucky
im 12 years old i live in ohio i have been living with my father since i was 4. i dont get along with my stepmother and my father works on the railroad. he is not home but a few days a month. i want to live with my mother who also lives in ohio. she had a past history of drug abuse but is now sober. she is still on probation but has a stable household. she owns her own home and has been living with her boyfriend for 11 years (which i consider a wonderful father figure). my youngest sister lives with my mother. do you think there is a chance she would be able to gain custody of me back? its almost like a cinderella story with my stepmother. when my father is away she is very difficult to get along with and of course my stepsisters come first to her and they can say whatever they want and that is just how it goes. please help
I am trying to help out a friend… He has been dating his now ex-girlfriend for 3 years. During this time, they had a daughter together who is now just over a year old. She packed up all her stuff and moved back home with her father. She works as a bartender at a bar that is near the fathers house (almost an hour away from her father’s home). I know she is the birth mother and therefore she is more likely to gain custody; however, the father really wants to make sure he is able to see his daughter. He is a farmer and can sometimes work long hours; however, he is also one of the parties that runs the farm and can work his schedule around many events if needed, but there are a couple of busy times of the year where he works almost around the clock. His sister, parents, grandparents, and two aunt/uncle families all live within five minutes of him. In other words, he has an extensive line of support that over the last year has been the primary source of assistance/child care when needed. The father of the child’s mother (confusing) is also a nurse at the local clinic.
Oh, and they live in Wisconsin.
How should he go about obtaining 50/50 custody at least? Or is this improbable?
My Husband has a 10 yr old daughter with his ex wife. I was wondering if she ever went for a reassessment for more child support would the judge grant it to her? Also would these be things that could get my husband to have full custody?
The ex-wife doesn’t have a job, so there is no steady income on her part, relies on child support and had to move back in with her mother 2 times. She is currently living there with her mother/step father, her and her boyfriend and my husband daughter. She is always complaining to my husband that she doesn’t have any money, but more then few times my husband’s father (husband’s dad and ex-wife live in the same town) has seen her at a local convenient store buying scratch offs. She is also a smoker and she filed for bankruptcy 2 yrs ago
She gets 800 a month for child support and lives at home with her mother and at most pays 500 for rent, food and utilities . Her and her boyfriend share one car and they recently had their cell phones shut off and most likely will not pay for them to be turned back on.
I live in Az. My kids father and I were never married, but lived together. He went to prison 6 yrs ago and should be getting out soon. Fraud..his 3rd or 4th charge. He claims he has been saving $$ for quite some time so he can go for joint custody and pay no child support. It’s like he gets a free ride while in prison..free legal paperwork, free representation, no responsibility of his children, but he can still fight for joint custody and unsupervised visitation as soon as he gets out. I want to know..what happened to my rights as a good mother and caregiver. I have had sole custody for just over 6 yrs since he’s been incarcerated. How do I convince a court to keep it that way? I can’t afford an attorney. He is even suing me for furniture that I’ve sold that we bought together. Isn’t there a crime in filing one frivolous lawsuit after another. Can I get harrassment charges also since he sends letters with threats constantly?
I am in Michigan By the way.
The father of my child and I have never been married. We don’t have an exciting case with the courts right now but he has been paying child support out of pocket and he has visitation with my daughter every other weekend. (4 days a month) But he made it so that her main Doctor is where he lives. Which is 100 miles away. He refuses to change her doctor to where She lives with me. Plus now he wants to start taking her every other week. She has never lived with her father and he also claimed her on his taxes for 2009 and he only had her for 28 days for the entire year. I was wondering what I should file for as far as custody and should I file for full or joint?
Regarding change of domicile/legal residency for my 5 year old daughter that is in Michigan to move to Kentucky with mother. I have been the primary parent for more than 3 years. Her father is over $7,000 in back child support. I recently had to leave the state of Michigan due to the fact that I have no place to go and lost my employment. I tried to do a change of domicile on my own but didn’t have enough evidence to support the change. Can I look for a job in Kentucky and change my license over? Can I tell my daughter, father, and Michigan case workers that I’m living in Kentucky? Will they use abandonment against me even though I came to Kentucky to avoid being homeless on the streets? If they do how can I turn it around? Should I let her father claim my daughter on state assistance even though she is still under mine? How long will it take to get a change of domicile? How much would an attorney charge for services? Do you think that I have a good case?
I am a 20 year old woman and my fiance has a 7 year old daughter. The girl lives with her mother and sees her father every other weekend. The mother just recently had another baby with a man that she does not live with. we have tried to reason with her for us to take care of the child. we have a company and we work from home. we would be there for the child 24/7 and care for her needs and we have a very clean home in a lovely neighborhood. the mother refuses. the child and her mother live in a dirty apartment complex where there are drug dealers and convicts. the mother works 8 hours and the child is in school from 7am to 5pm. the child is constantly sick, asthma, ear infections, pin worms, viruses, and she currently just had a bell palsy due to so many ear infections. the father pays child support and medical bills on a regular basis. not once has the poor girl ever stopped taking asthma treatments, pills, or medications. its not fair, she comes to our house with dirty torn clothes and very long dirty nails. what can we do?? the state of florida is mommy state and the judge already stated that we can have the child only if her mother is on drugs or if the child were to be raped. this is horrible!
I am a single mother of two beautiful girls. The father of one of my girls has not been in the pic for 7 yrs. His name is not on the birth certificate, I have never went after him for child support. Just a couple of months ago he decides he wants to be a part of her life, which is fine. He asked to keep her for a weekend and I said absolutely not. He thinks he has a right to make that decision because he is her biological father. He is a stranger to her and she does not want to go. Technicaly he has no rights…correct!!
I have been separated from my wife for 3 years. We have one minor child. I wanted to file for divorce, here in Florida, and thought that my wife would cooperate. However, when i sent her the documents to be signed, she hired an attorney and moved out of state. She never signed the documents, and I don’t know where she nor my daughter live. I have filed a petition at my county court and I wish through the process to gain custody of my child, being that the mother is unreliable and denies me contact with my girl. I’ve been told that I have to serve her a copy of the petition, but I don’t know where to serve her. I don’t have her address, and the only information I have is of her attorney. I tried contacting the attorney to obtain her new address and was not given a response. Is there a way to force her attorney to give me her address? can I serve her attorney instead? do i have other options?
Shortly after my daughter was born i gave temporary custody to my parents. I have lived with my parents and helped raise my daughter. My mom died five years ago. My daughter and I have stayed with my dad. Who still has temporary custody of my daughter. He has become abusive to me. I haven’t called the police but i want to leave my dads house and take my daughter with me. Can i legally take her with me? I don’t want to leave her there because i am scared of what he might do to her. Do i have to go through the court system before i can take her with me? I don’t want to leave her there but i can’t stay there anymore because i am afraid for my life. But as her mom i don’t want to leave her there. Please help me!
Read this article http://www.lawadvicenow.com/law/family-law/going-through-a-divorce/. You want to focus on Temporary exclusive occupancy part. You can kick out your spouse and in many cases, (almost all) if you are working, you are going to get sole custody of your child.
My husband and I fight all the time and i have been with him since 2005, I tried to leave and it only lasted a week not enough time to bring in divorce papers. So he suckered me back home, and decided he would change the way he treats me. Its been another year since i left and he still talks down to me, he comes home from working 8-10 hrs and grips about everything. I work nights so i sleep during the day, and I am a full time college student. He doesn’t care that my education should be important. We have a 3 year old son, who has had some brutal behavior towards the teachers at daycare, I am not happy no more my husband makes me feel ugly, all he wants to talk about is sex and promotes sexual conversations in from of my 3 year old. I hate this and don’t know if this is an abuse to my child obviously its not good for him, we want to leave but now don’t have a vehicle. My husband has threatened me saying he will take my son away from me and i won’t ever see him. In 2007 we married and then 2008 his ex wife wanted divorce papers signed. Should we be filing taxes together or seperately. Will there be a divorce that will have to happen or can it be a legal seperation and i get full custody of my son? I am devistated here and i want to get out asap.
I am sorry to say that once you are dead, the children always go to the birth parent. The courts are going to decide whether or not you can do this or not. You are going to have to deal with it all in the custody hearings. You are going to have to either:
1. Have your husband relinquish his rights as their father.
2. Have your husband be found to be unfit as a father
However, in many cases of which I have heard, the husband is never the big care giver until the wife is no longer there. Then they change and take care of the children. Best advice I could give is to see what happens. Good luck
i have a brain tumor. my husband has asked for a divorce. he has hardly been involved with the children. i want to terminate his rights and set up for adoption of my children once i have passed. my parents are older 78/80 and would not be able to care for the children. i do want them to be able to see the children.