Here's the scoop, and I could really use whatever advice I am given.
My husband's ex has complete physical and legal custody of their 8 year old daughter. This happened during their divorce. She filed for full custody and he did not fight it. Mostly, because he had broken his back at work and was going through rehabilitation. She served him with papers that he did not understand, and of course was too stupid at the time to research anything. She never paid her court fees and neither did he. So they both owe the court money. Once she had custody (when the daughter was around 2 1/2) she moved and did not give him her new information. Unfortunately, he lost track of his daughter for about 3 1/2 years. Meanwhile, he was paying child support all that time.
When I met him, I asked him if he would still like to find her. Of course he said yes. So I did an internet seach and we did find her, here in our town. The mother told him that he could have been seeing her this whole time, but he told her that he didn't know where they lived. Now we get her every weekend and sometimes during the week.
Here is the trouble. The mother is living on the wellfare of the children. (She has a daughter who is older than my husband's daughter.) She has been in trouble with the law and drugs on numerous occasions. When we found my step-daughter, she was underfed. She is now 8 years old and is doing terrible in school. Her mother has questionable people living with her all the time, including abusive boyfriends. We took my step-daughter away from her for a few months last year while she was going through drug counseling. While she was with us, she turned in all of her homework and did very well in school.
We want to file for full custody, but my husband is afraid that they court will rule against him and make him pay more child support, because we both have jobs. Any advice you can give us would be helpful. We just want to give her a chance at a normal life, instead of one filled with neglect and drugs.
My husband's ex has complete physical and legal custody of their 8 year old daughter. This happened during their divorce. She filed for full custody and he did not fight it. Mostly, because he had broken his back at work and was going through rehabilitation. She served him with papers that he did not understand, and of course was too stupid at the time to research anything. She never paid her court fees and neither did he. So they both owe the court money. Once she had custody (when the daughter was around 2 1/2) she moved and did not give him her new information. Unfortunately, he lost track of his daughter for about 3 1/2 years. Meanwhile, he was paying child support all that time.
When I met him, I asked him if he would still like to find her. Of course he said yes. So I did an internet seach and we did find her, here in our town. The mother told him that he could have been seeing her this whole time, but he told her that he didn't know where they lived. Now we get her every weekend and sometimes during the week.
Here is the trouble. The mother is living on the wellfare of the children. (She has a daughter who is older than my husband's daughter.) She has been in trouble with the law and drugs on numerous occasions. When we found my step-daughter, she was underfed. She is now 8 years old and is doing terrible in school. Her mother has questionable people living with her all the time, including abusive boyfriends. We took my step-daughter away from her for a few months last year while she was going through drug counseling. While she was with us, she turned in all of her homework and did very well in school.
We want to file for full custody, but my husband is afraid that they court will rule against him and make him pay more child support, because we both have jobs. Any advice you can give us would be helpful. We just want to give her a chance at a normal life, instead of one filled with neglect and drugs.