Fatherj's rights

[wehmeyer]

My brother has a son who will be one in March.  His ex girlfriend filed a restraining order against him to be vindictive she states in the order that she feared for her safety and their son's safety.  He went to go see his son on christmas day it was a sunday so it was his day to see him they were not home they left.  He is not to conact the house  but that is where his son is and is supose to give a 24 hour notice to visit his son.  He wants to get custody of his son becuase he is in a home where there is on convicted child molester which is her brother and the step father who has a suspision of child molestation.  When they lived here at my house my brother was the one who took care of their son.  He is a good father and she made false alligation about abuse to get the restraining order.  There has been two different times when she has showed abuse toward my brother on of whcih the police were called but she was not taked to jail becuase my brother did not want her to go to jail while she was pregant.  I guess my question is what can he do to try to get custody of the child.  He loves his son and wants to have a relationship with him and missed him very badly.  He has been in his son's life since conception up until she filed this restraing order now he has on seen him one time.   Everytime he tries to see him and they find out about it they leave the property.   What can he do and what are his legal opptions since they live in different states

[evalisto2005]

I can't say much because I'm in a fog myself. Bogus restraining orders

happen ALL the time.

Sex offenders have to register. Find out if he is registered at that address.

CPS never really does anything. They might in this case but the child's father

does not want them to just take the child away. You can have some one make

a call to the police and ask for a welfare check and tell them the situation.

But if the police do anything they still would refer it to CPS. He needs to

get a lawyer yesterday. If he can't afford one I think he should file for

emergency custody and an emergency restraining order against mom and the

two alleged sex offenders. He should have all the proof he can beofrre he

goes to court. If he can't afford a lawyer maybe he can afford to pay one

just to write up the petition for him.

I'm far from being an expert but that's what I'd do if I was him.

If he called the police abouit a sex offender living there maybe they would

do something. They can't change custody but it's possible that if they

arrested a sex offender for being there with a child that they'd allow him to

take the child, especially if no one else is home with the child when it

happens.

About mom's abuse, the staute of limitations may not be up. He may still

have time to press charges but I don't know if that would help anything; it

could actually hurt. He needs to se a lawyer.

[CustodyIQ]

He needs to file a paternity action in the county where the child resides.

He should take a polygraph exam to deny the allegations of abuse.  It's not admissible in court, but if his attorney offers to enter the results of a polygraph into evidence; and the other attorney objects, then the judge will already know what the results say.

That can be done at a hearing to dismiss the restraining order, on the grounds that there is no merit.

He should simultaneously be able to file a motion to change custody in that the child is residing in the home of a registered sex offender.  Get the evidence of that too.  He may or may not be successful with that, but he at least should get an order restraining the mother from allowing the child to have contact with the sex offender.

If he can retain an attorney, his chances of a positive outcome are dramatically increased.

If he doesn't retain an attorney, he needs to be smart enough to be able to read a book like "Win Your Child Custody War" by Hardwick (I describe it on my website) and follow some of the guidance in it.

Finally, it would help him to move to be close to where the child currently resides.  That by itself can increase his chances of at least getting more time with the child, if not custody.

Financially speaking, he may spend $5k on attorney fees over the next couple months to try to improve the situation.  That is money well spent, regardless of anyone's income.  If it requires loans and credit card debt, so be it.  Spending several thousand dollars today to prevent many years of chaos and conflict is a bargain.