The Grinch stole my kids

[po3tree]

The facts:

My wife and I along with our 3 boys moved in with her parents in CT in July of 2007. We moved from Nashville, Tennessee where I lost my job as an IT consultant and my house. I filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy in May of '07 to get relief from the house debt which happened to be my only asset. I am still unemployed and the living arrangements in CT became an impossible situation. My mother-in-law wanted me out, so I did the only thing I could and moved here to MI on December 23rd. My wife and kids took the trip with me to spend the holiday with my family here and I believed everything was okay.

Until yesterday, my wife told me she was going to pick the boys up from the movie theater where they went to a matinee with my mother. This was under the pretense that my mother did not have a car seat for our 3 year old. She also said that she was going to go to Target to pick up some things for the trip home which was supposed to be today, 12/28. She never returned. She stole my kids and I didn't get to say goodbye.

The thing is I was completely blindsided by all of this. She left just enough stuff lying around to give the impression that she was coming back, but upon closer observation she took everything that would be essential to a long road trip with 3 young boys, i.e., video games and coloring supplies.

Questions:

What are my rights as a father in this situation?

What should be my next course of action?

Where can I find a good, cheap lawyer? (I understand that this may be an oxymoron.)

Thanks for listening to my sob story.

Po

[ocean]

Since you just moved, court will be in CT. You need to file in CT for joint custody and parenting plan. You can do this yourself at the family court near your old house.

[Davy]

Unfortunately, for your kids sake, you need to be as close to the kids as possible.  Any legal filings for issues involving the children will need to be somewhere in CT but not necessarily in your mother-in-laws home town.  In other words, you won't be limited to one geographic area in seeking employment.  Employment is a necessity even if it is out of your chosen career.  I don't know the distance from CT to Wash. DC but the word is that the FEDERAL job market is good. 

Read thru the article section on this site.  It's important to learn to interview attorneys and it is always possible to handle the filings yourself in fact you may be better off.

Best to you and the kids !!!

What b_tches !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!