Any chance of ex parte on these grounds.....

[dipper]

Soc,

In January, BM retained custody of son.  First time this particular judge heard case, GAL was fine with son moving in with me, son expressed this desire.  Both attorneys thought the judge would be in favor....However, this judge was old and traditional in  his ways.

The judge felt son was trying to manipulate where he wanted to live - and he was "not going to give him his wish."   The judge also saw that son was destined for serious trouble, ordered counseling.

IN February, son and mother kicked out of apartment for nonpayment.  They are living with her parents and adult gay brother.  Son is sleeping on sofa in the living room.

This put son in different county, which his mother told the school.  Son has been in continuous trouble at school and was kicked out today.  He will have to go to the county he is now residing in.

Son was in the school system here in my county until the move two years ago. He has friends, a cousin, and a stepsister in the same grade he is in here.

BM has violated the court order several times in the past couple of months..

Soc, considering in three months time they have lost their apt, he is sleeping on sofa, and is now having to switch schools completely....

Is this enough to request an ex parte hearing tomorrow so that I may enroll him in school here?


My lawyer was a one-time fee for the one show....so, I basically have no representing lawyer - would I be able to ask for an ex parte pro se?



Any suggestions going forward?

[socrateaser]

>Soc,
>
>In January, BM retained custody of son.  First time this
>particular judge heard case, GAL was fine with son moving in
>with me, son expressed this desire.  Both attorneys thought
>the judge would be in favor....However, this judge was old and
>traditional in  his ways.
>
>The judge felt son was trying to manipulate where he wanted to
>live - and he was "not going to give him his wish."   The
>judge also saw that son was destined for serious trouble,
>ordered counseling.
>
>IN February, son and mother kicked out of apartment for
>nonpayment.  They are living with her parents and adult gay
>brother.  Son is sleeping on sofa in the living room.
>
>This put son in different county, which his mother told the
>school.  Son has been in continuous trouble at school and was
>kicked out today.  He will have to go to the county he is now
>residing in.
>
>Son was in the school system here in my county until the move
>two years ago. He has friends, a cousin, and a stepsister in
>the same grade he is in here.
>
>BM has violated the court order several times in the past
>couple of months..
>
>Soc, considering in three months time they have lost their
>apt, he is sleeping on sofa, and is now having to switch
>schools completely....
>
>Is this enough to request an ex parte hearing tomorrow so that
>I may enroll him in school here?
>
>
>My lawyer was a one-time fee for the one show....so, I
>basically have no representing lawyer - would I be able to ask
>for an ex parte pro se?
>
>
>
>Any suggestions going forward?

At present your case is still in the old county. You could ask a court in child's new county for an emergency order, but it's not completely obvious that the child will suffer irreparable harm if the order isn't granted, so you will still have some difficulty making this case. If you can't get an emergency order, then you will have to go to the old county and move for a change of venue, before you can file anything in the child's new county.

[dipper]

Soc,

We are in county A, mother and son moved to county B, and now are in county C....

I was thinking the irreparable harm is not physical in this matter, but there is damage being done here - any school he goes to is going to see that he has been kicked out two years in a row, there will be a biased toward him going in the door.  We all know the type - trouble maker, keep your eye on him....And with six weeks left of school  he is to go to a completely new school.  That will probably not help the behaviors.

So, you are saying we want this heard in county C?


Would the court consider the emotional/character harm being done?

[notnew]

Soc & Dipper,

Just a thought, but don't most jurisdictions have time periods that you have to be living in a certain place for X amount of time before residency is established?

Seems like it may be easier to request the court to order that the case be heard in county A since mother is flighty and moves about so much. I would think if they change the venue every time she moves to a new county, it will be like starting a whole new case over and over again.

Ex-parte change in custody usually requires the child be in immenent physical danger (stupid in my opinion. When do abusers ACTUALLY plan and announce that they are going to beat you up?).  In my experience, the emotional/character harm is not a factor, but it is up to you to decide what you want to do.

ANY school the boy goes to will catagorize him based on his school record IMHO. I am not famaliar with your situation, but it seems there is a lot going on with your son that screams for a stable situation.

You have a case on-going it sounds like to me. I know it is hard to sit by and wait while the slow wheels turn at the court, but it seems like they don't want to address these types of situations when you have an on-going case. You should keep the GAL advised on what is going on. It is his/her job to represent the child.

Being that I am not an attorney, I can only offer my opinion based on  my own experience. You have to make the decision to go in on your own or with an attorney. You may have an issue too if your attorney for the one-time shot entered in as your representative. If the court is recognizing you have an attorney, you will need to go through proper channels to let the court know that you are going Pro-Se.

Good Luck!

[dipper]

Soc,

In January, BM retained custody of son.  First time this particular judge heard case, GAL was fine with son moving in with me, son expressed this desire.  Both attorneys thought the judge would be in favor....However, this judge was old and traditional in  his ways.

The judge felt son was trying to manipulate where he wanted to live - and he was "not going to give him his wish."   The judge also saw that son was destined for serious trouble, ordered counseling.

IN February, son and mother kicked out of apartment for nonpayment.  They are living with her parents and adult gay brother.  Son is sleeping on sofa in the living room.

This put son in different county, which his mother told the school.  Son has been in continuous trouble at school and was kicked out today.  He will have to go to the county he is now residing in.

Son was in the school system here in my county until the move two years ago. He has friends, a cousin, and a stepsister in the same grade he is in here.

BM has violated the court order several times in the past couple of months..

Soc, considering in three months time they have lost their apt, he is sleeping on sofa, and is now having to switch schools completely....

Is this enough to request an ex parte hearing tomorrow so that I may enroll him in school here?


My lawyer was a one-time fee for the one show....so, I basically have no representing lawyer - would I be able to ask for an ex parte pro se?



Any suggestions going forward?

[socrateaser]

>Soc,
>
>In January, BM retained custody of son.  First time this
>particular judge heard case, GAL was fine with son moving in
>with me, son expressed this desire.  Both attorneys thought
>the judge would be in favor....However, this judge was old and
>traditional in  his ways.
>
>The judge felt son was trying to manipulate where he wanted to
>live - and he was "not going to give him his wish."   The
>judge also saw that son was destined for serious trouble,
>ordered counseling.
>
>IN February, son and mother kicked out of apartment for
>nonpayment.  They are living with her parents and adult gay
>brother.  Son is sleeping on sofa in the living room.
>
>This put son in different county, which his mother told the
>school.  Son has been in continuous trouble at school and was
>kicked out today.  He will have to go to the county he is now
>residing in.
>
>Son was in the school system here in my county until the move
>two years ago. He has friends, a cousin, and a stepsister in
>the same grade he is in here.
>
>BM has violated the court order several times in the past
>couple of months..
>
>Soc, considering in three months time they have lost their
>apt, he is sleeping on sofa, and is now having to switch
>schools completely....
>
>Is this enough to request an ex parte hearing tomorrow so that
>I may enroll him in school here?
>
>
>My lawyer was a one-time fee for the one show....so, I
>basically have no representing lawyer - would I be able to ask
>for an ex parte pro se?
>
>
>
>Any suggestions going forward?

At present your case is still in the old county. You could ask a court in child's new county for an emergency order, but it's not completely obvious that the child will suffer irreparable harm if the order isn't granted, so you will still have some difficulty making this case. If you can't get an emergency order, then you will have to go to the old county and move for a change of venue, before you can file anything in the child's new county.

[dipper]

Soc,

We are in county A, mother and son moved to county B, and now are in county C....

I was thinking the irreparable harm is not physical in this matter, but there is damage being done here - any school he goes to is going to see that he has been kicked out two years in a row, there will be a biased toward him going in the door.  We all know the type - trouble maker, keep your eye on him....And with six weeks left of school  he is to go to a completely new school.  That will probably not help the behaviors.

So, you are saying we want this heard in county C?


Would the court consider the emotional/character harm being done?

[notnew]

Soc & Dipper,

Just a thought, but don't most jurisdictions have time periods that you have to be living in a certain place for X amount of time before residency is established?

Seems like it may be easier to request the court to order that the case be heard in county A since mother is flighty and moves about so much. I would think if they change the venue every time she moves to a new county, it will be like starting a whole new case over and over again.

Ex-parte change in custody usually requires the child be in immenent physical danger (stupid in my opinion. When do abusers ACTUALLY plan and announce that they are going to beat you up?).  In my experience, the emotional/character harm is not a factor, but it is up to you to decide what you want to do.

ANY school the boy goes to will catagorize him based on his school record IMHO. I am not famaliar with your situation, but it seems there is a lot going on with your son that screams for a stable situation.

You have a case on-going it sounds like to me. I know it is hard to sit by and wait while the slow wheels turn at the court, but it seems like they don't want to address these types of situations when you have an on-going case. You should keep the GAL advised on what is going on. It is his/her job to represent the child.

Being that I am not an attorney, I can only offer my opinion based on  my own experience. You have to make the decision to go in on your own or with an attorney. You may have an issue too if your attorney for the one-time shot entered in as your representative. If the court is recognizing you have an attorney, you will need to go through proper channels to let the court know that you are going Pro-Se.

Good Luck!

[dipper]

Thank you for your thoughts.  The only way I can think we would benefit from changing venue is that really this county seems so out of touch with the advances of the rest of the world.

The court order from January is due to be signed any day as the attorneys have consented for judge only signature.  Now, once that is done we have 10 days to appeal from J & D to a circuit court and get a completely new hearing.

However, of course, son will have already been put into another school situation.  As he normally cycles, and will have a honeymoon period of sorts, he may not get into trouble in this one - only six week or so of school left.  

Son has had no punishment at home for his problems.  I have him six days a month, so there is nothing I can do except talk to him at this point.  He is undergoing court ordered counseling, but the mother is manipulating that by telling the counselor it is all my fault -we have the counseling notes.

It is interesting, last spring - the dates varying only by 2-7 days in either direction.....He got in his last trouble in school in Feb and was kicked out......he got burned badly in April

this spring, they got kicked out of their apt. in Feb, and he got kicked out of school in  April.

Have put in a call to the attorney from January - he is in court, but hopefully will get back with me before noon.  

[dipper]

If anything happened at all.  Today, I had put in a call to the GAL, but all I got was an aswering machine.  Left message there.

Then I was able to get in touch wiht lawyer from court in January after noon.....when I explained the situation to him, he said - You bet there is something we can do....the judge hasnt signed the order yet, or has within the last day......I am calling the GAL right now!

So, I had to go pick up my son two hours away.  Before I left, I called the lawyer's office in case I was needed.......and the secretary told me he was unavailable, but he had faxed papers to the GAL.  And, he was mailing papers to us.

Now, BM had to withdraw son from school today.  He was attending by variance since they moved out of that county.  The school simply told him not to come back, then called bm and told her to withdraw him today.  She is to enroll him Monday at other school.

BM has not told me any of this.  I have only heard from ss...and contacted the school and the principal emailed me and called my home after I had left today.  

Any thoughts as to what the lawyer thinks can be done by the GAL at this point?

[socrateaser]

>If anything happened at all.  Today, I had put in a call to
>the GAL, but all I got was an aswering machine.  Left message
>there.
>
>Then I was able to get in touch wiht lawyer from court in
>January after noon.....when I explained the situation to him,
>he said - You bet there is something we can do....the judge
>hasnt signed the order yet, or has within the last day......I
>am calling the GAL right now!
>
>So, I had to go pick up my son two hours away.  Before I left,
>I called the lawyer's office in case I was needed.......and
>the secretary told me he was unavailable, but he had faxed
>papers to the GAL.  And, he was mailing papers to us.
>
>Now, BM had to withdraw son from school today.  He was
>attending by variance since they moved out of that county.
>The school simply told him not to come back, then called bm
>and told her to withdraw him today.  She is to enroll him
>Monday at other school.
>
>BM has not told me any of this.  I have only heard from
>ss...and contacted the school and the principal emailed me and
>called my home after I had left today.  
>
>Any thoughts as to what the lawyer thinks can be done by the
>GAL at this point?

I don't really know, but I'm wondering why you didn't inquire as to what the lawyer intended to do. It's your child and you are the lawyer's employer, so you're entitled to know the status of your case.

[dipper]

Soc, I got a copy of the letter the lawyer faxed and mailed go GAL yesterday.  He wrote of how he had argued in court that this would happen and the worse case has happened...that bm and son had been evicted and son has no room where they are at.  He also put in there that son has been kicked out of school.  While the court feels son is manipulating, and to a degree he may be - but in fact, son may have reason to manipulate as something needs to be done to protect him.

Lawyer stated that GAL is the only one who can help son at this point.  He basically asked the GAL to consider requesting emergency hearing by the judge who ruled in January....or an emergency hearing in front of the appeal judge as he stated we do intend to appeal court order.

[socrateaser]

>Soc, I got a copy of the letter the lawyer faxed and mailed
>go GAL yesterday.  He wrote of how he had argued in court that
>this would happen and the worse case has happened...that bm
>and son had been evicted and son has no room where they are
>at.  He also put in there that son has been kicked out of
>school.  While the court feels son is manipulating, and to a
>degree he may be - but in fact, son may have reason to
>manipulate as something needs to be done to protect him.
>
>Lawyer stated that GAL is the only one who can help son at
>this point.  He basically asked the GAL to consider requesting
>emergency hearing by the judge who ruled in January....or an
>emergency hearing in front of the appeal judge as he stated we
>do intend to appeal court order.

Your attorney's trying to work with in the constraints of the system set up in your jurisdiction. It sounds like a pretty strong argument that "enough is enough." But, your attorney needs a second voice, because the judge doesn't want to listen.

We shall see what happens now.

[dipper]

Soc,

Quick recap - Court in January - judge ordered that BM retain custody.  Part of our fight was that she was not financially stable and that son behavior was escalating out of control in  her care.  Judge did order counseling for son - to be chosen by GAL.

Since that time, order has still not been signed - her lawyer would never sign, has been relegated to judge only signature - he has not signed; bm and son evicted from their apt and son sleeping on sofa in her parent's home for two months;  Son kicked out of school and had to enroll in his grandparent's county - hold up because they had no proof of residing in that county; BM started counseling and will not give me information regarding appts.

My lawyer filed a motion to reconsider this week after requesting GAL to do so.  Motion listed 1) court expressed reservations when allowing her to remain PC 2) as foretold, she and son had been evicted and son had been relegated to sleeping on sofa for past two months, and 3) son kicked out of first county and not able to enroll in other county due to residency issues

Residency issues have been resolved and son only missed 4 days of school due to transfer.   ( He is still sleeping on sofa at grandparent's home)

GAL traveled 188 total miles to visit son today and see living conditions.  Took tour of house and then walked outside and down road to talk to son privately.  

Lawyer did not site all the violations and refusals to provide information since the court hearing in his motion.  I have considered sending her certified correspondence and copying to court - she never notified me about school situation.....she has relied on son to do this.  Using son as messenger is a court ordered no-no; other numerous refusals to share information, and direct violations of court order.

AS it is not mentioned in the motion, would the judge be able to view my letter concerning violations?


IF judge should reverse custody and give BM same visitation rights I now have,  would it be appropriate to request son not visiting for six weeks time during summer (unless she gets her own residence) as he would be on sofa again?