I want custody!

[rookie2]

I have been divorced around two years. I am one of those text book cases of fathers that did not fight hard enough for the custody of my children. I could give alot of excuses or reseans why,but it doesn't make a differance. short and sweet! What i can i do to get my children out of what i think is a bad situation! Exwife has live in boyfriend on and off! boyfriend verbally abussive to her and children! I have evadence, only my childrens comments. And as normal I have no money to fight with.
I pay 195.00 dollars per week child support,Texas. She keeps telling my oldest son that she is going to send him to live with me only as a threat to him and never follows through.

[mistoffolees]

>I have been divorced around two years. I am one of those text
>book cases of fathers that did not fight hard enough for the
>custody of my children. I could give alot of excuses or
>reseans why,but it doesn't make a differance. short and sweet!
>What i can i do to get my children out of what i think is a
>bad situation! Exwife has live in boyfriend on and off!
>boyfriend verbally abussive to her and children! I have
>evadence, only my childrens comments. And as normal I have no
>money to fight with.
>I pay 195.00 dollars per week child support,Texas. She keeps
>telling my oldest son that she is going to send him to live
>with me only as a threat to him and never follows through.


Start by reading the threads here and the articles on the home page. That's going to help more than asking a very broad question since most of the things you need to know are here.

Several highlights:
1. You need to be able to prove some change in circumstances to get a change in custody.
2. If you have evidence that abuse is occurring, you need to report it. If you don't have evidence, it might as well not have happened. Young children's statements will not be sufficient - first because they're not credible and second because your testimony is second-hand. Even if they're older, kids are very hesitant to testify against a parent, so you may well get a lot of "I don't remember". Basically, you need hard evidence.
3. 'Verbal abuse' is pretty tough to prove anyway. Just what is abusive and what is just bad parenting? With physical abuse, it's usually clear (although there IS a gray area). With verbal abuse, the gray area is a mile wide.
4. Under these circumstances, I would say that your odds are slim - even if you have a good attorney. Doing it on your own is probably a lost cause (unless you have hard evidence of truly abusive behavior, but even then it won't be easy).

I would suggest:
1. If you really think you have a chance after reading the articles here, scrape together the money for a consultation with an attorney.
2. Unless there's something you haven't explained, or unless the verbal abuse is extremely severe, I would suggest that you spend your money, time, and energy maximizing your time and your relationship with the kids and being as large a part of their lives as possible. In the long run, that would benefit everyone more than a hopeless court battle.

[rookie2]

Thank you for your reply.
I agree that reading some of the available info. is best.
I was pretty sure no court would listen to child and that is why i have not reported it.
I try to talk to my Ex. about these things only to get their deffenses up.
I have sense posting original message, gone back and read some of the others on this board.
I really interested in the shared custody, 1 week alternating!

[mistoffolees]

I think I've given you my view on that. With what you've described, it is very unlikely that you're going to get a change in custody. You need to show a significant change in circumstances AND that it would be in the child(ren)'s best interest.