Dear Soc

[wendl]

This was posted by LeFeauox on the custody board

"Dear Socrateaser"


           My ex wife is an alcoholic and hopeless drug addict. After years of abusing and neglecting my children she finally relenquished physical custody to me. Now she is renigging on her promise to sign over legal custody to me. The children are 14 and 15 and neither wants to see her ever again. I am on a very, very limited budget and cannot afford expensive legal council or court fees. What can I do?

 
 


**These are my opinions, they are not legal advice**

[socrateaser]

>           My ex wife is an alcoholic and hopeless drug
>addict. After years of abusing and neglecting my children she
>finally relenquished physical custody to me. Now she is
>renigging on her promise to sign over legal custody to me. The
>children are 14 and 15 and neither wants to see her ever
>again. I am on a very, very limited budget and cannot afford
>expensive legal council or court fees. What can I do?

In the absence of a signed court order to voluntarily relinquish custody, the court retains jurisdiction. Your facts show that the other parent has rescinded her promise to release custody. Since the subject matter of this agreement is a child, and you cannot buy/sell children, there is no consideration, and therefore no real contract. If you had any provable out-of-pocket costs associated with her original promise, and if you can prove that she originally consented and later changed her mind, then you would be entitled to compensation for your costs (such as if you rented a bigger home for the kids and now you can't get out of the lease without paying the landlord until he finds a new tenant).

But, as far as the actual agreement to release the kids to you, you have no case whatsoever. Until the court signs an order modfying custody, custody remains as per the prior order, regardless of what the parents may agree to or how many times they change their minds.