Father Lost Custody Change Battle Today-Thought Sure Win!

[BLAIR DAD]

Have been divorced over 3 years.

Mother got full custody during divorce, not because I wanted that, but because my attorney at the time said we had too many financial and property issues to handle, we would 'take care of custody later', which was A MISTAKE.

Ex-Wife has been in contempt of court re: Parenting Plan 3 x this year.

We were granted G.A.L.  A professional/expert who has been doing parent investigations for 20 years and is well thought of.  In written report and on stand he testified the two girls (5 and 8), needed to be removed from their mothers custody and given to me IMMEDIATELY.  

Judge heard custody change in less time than normal due to G.A.L. report.

Our testimony STRONG.  Her's weak.  Attorney and GAL thought it was a slam dunk.....TODAY I LOST THE CUSTODY CHANGE...NOW WHAT?

WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS?  WHAT DO I DO NEXT?  CAN I APPEAL?
URGENTLY HOPING FOR HELP
BLAIR

[Peanutsdad]

What was the judges ruling exactly on why he denied the motion?

[BLAIR DAD]

>What was the judges ruling exactly on why he denied the
>motion?


Thank you so much for your quick interest.  Unbelievably after what was testified by me, my mother, and others...besides the Guardian Investigator....The Judge Stated:

No Evidence of Harm to the children
No Evidence of Mental or Physical abuse to the children
Children seem to be doing okay in school

* She lies to them, the girls have stated their mother is a liar
 * When my mother (their grandmother), or myself, or close family friends give the girls gifts or clothing, she takes them away and gets rid of them.
 
* She says horrible lies about any one connected with me.  She has told my nanny for them and my mother they are not to touch their hair or do their fingernails.
* She makes it clear to the girls they are NOT to love anyone but her
* She says horrible things and lies about my mother, who is a wonderful person and grandmother

* She refuses regular phone calls, although they are court ordered
* She refuses to talk to me to discuss any thing at all
* She has been held in contempt 3 x

The girls are told not to tell me anything and are scared to death to accidentally tell me anything, including if they went to a movie!

She yells at me when I call to talk to the girls right in front of the girls and continues to bad mouth me.  The girls beg Not to go back.  The girls have told me and a close female family friend who babysits them that they wish She was their mother.

I dont understand.  I am still in shock.  There is so much I am leaving out.  I am struggling to find what to do next and my rights as most forums are discussing getting ready to fight, not what happens if you should have won, have a REAL CASE, and lose!

* She has lost all monies given to her and their home goes up for auction May 5th....I have never been late with a payment $1,000/month...
*I have a very stable home, very stable job, and stable and healthy personality.  My girls respect me, they love me dearly, we talk about everything....my one daughter gets horrid stomach aches which have to do with nerves and her mother states she goes to a councellor.  The 8 yr old has cried to me over school and stated she wants to be home schooled.  She hates school,  she has severe anxiety...

[Peanutsdad]

Ok, I think I begin to see a lot of the problem with your case.

It SOUNDS as if a lot of the testimony was family for you,, or he said/she said type of testimony.

The courts barely even acknowledge family as witnesses due to bias. He said/she said is pretty much treated the same way.


So in eseense,, the judge told you that you presented no proof indicating a need to change custody.


http://www.deltabravo.net/cgi-bin/search.cgi?Terms=+evaluation

One of the first things you'll hear is "Document, document, document!". Having good records is crucial, and these pages will help get you started (some of these pages will apply more than others, but they all have valuable information):

Tips For Getting Started
http://www.deltabravo.net/news/10-19-2000.htm

Hiring An Effective Attorney
http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/effective.htm

Success Factors In Obtaining Custody
http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/tips.htm

General search on 'documentation':
http://www.deltabravo.net/cgi-bin/search.cgi?Terms=documentation&Match=1&Realm=All


Also, get yourself either the Parenting Time Tracker (PTT) at: http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/tracker.htm or the OPTIMAL Custody Tracking service at: http://www.parentingtime.net. The PTT is free, but the OPTIMAL service is better.

[Peanutsdad]

What was the judges ruling exactly on why he denied the motion?

[BLAIR DAD]

>What was the judges ruling exactly on why he denied the
>motion?


Thank you so much for your quick interest.  Unbelievably after what was testified by me, my mother, and others...besides the Guardian Investigator....The Judge Stated:

No Evidence of Harm to the children
No Evidence of Mental or Physical abuse to the children
Children seem to be doing okay in school

* She lies to them, the girls have stated their mother is a liar
 * When my mother (their grandmother), or myself, or close family friends give the girls gifts or clothing, she takes them away and gets rid of them.
 
* She says horrible lies about any one connected with me.  She has told my nanny for them and my mother they are not to touch their hair or do their fingernails.
* She makes it clear to the girls they are NOT to love anyone but her
* She says horrible things and lies about my mother, who is a wonderful person and grandmother

* She refuses regular phone calls, although they are court ordered
* She refuses to talk to me to discuss any thing at all
* She has been held in contempt 3 x

The girls are told not to tell me anything and are scared to death to accidentally tell me anything, including if they went to a movie!

She yells at me when I call to talk to the girls right in front of the girls and continues to bad mouth me.  The girls beg Not to go back.  The girls have told me and a close female family friend who babysits them that they wish She was their mother.

I dont understand.  I am still in shock.  There is so much I am leaving out.  I am struggling to find what to do next and my rights as most forums are discussing getting ready to fight, not what happens if you should have won, have a REAL CASE, and lose!

* She has lost all monies given to her and their home goes up for auction May 5th....I have never been late with a payment $1,000/month...
*I have a very stable home, very stable job, and stable and healthy personality.  My girls respect me, they love me dearly, we talk about everything....my one daughter gets horrid stomach aches which have to do with nerves and her mother states she goes to a councellor.  The 8 yr old has cried to me over school and stated she wants to be home schooled.  She hates school,  she has severe anxiety...

[Peanutsdad]

Ok, I think I begin to see a lot of the problem with your case.

It SOUNDS as if a lot of the testimony was family for you,, or he said/she said type of testimony.

The courts barely even acknowledge family as witnesses due to bias. He said/she said is pretty much treated the same way.


So in eseense,, the judge told you that you presented no proof indicating a need to change custody.


http://www.deltabravo.net/cgi-bin/search.cgi?Terms=+evaluation

One of the first things you'll hear is "Document, document, document!". Having good records is crucial, and these pages will help get you started (some of these pages will apply more than others, but they all have valuable information):

Tips For Getting Started
http://www.deltabravo.net/news/10-19-2000.htm

Hiring An Effective Attorney
http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/effective.htm

Success Factors In Obtaining Custody
http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/tips.htm

General search on 'documentation':
http://www.deltabravo.net/cgi-bin/search.cgi?Terms=documentation&Match=1&Realm=All


Also, get yourself either the Parenting Time Tracker (PTT) at: http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/tracker.htm or the OPTIMAL Custody Tracking service at: http://www.parentingtime.net. The PTT is free, but the OPTIMAL service is better.