No one has custody, what are my options?

[Jay]

I'm 25 years old. My child is 5 years old. Right now my child has been 3 weeks in Florida with me. He lives in New Jersey with his mom, granmother and aunt in a 2 bedroom apartment. His mom is illegal in this country. Currently i have a permanent job with the aviation authority and I own a home with my wife. I' m planning to take my child back to his mom on Sunday. His mom had threatened me many times stating I wont see him again and many other things over the years. Every year is a mission to be able to see my son, and during the year she bearly lets me speak with him. His mom moves constantly and for me is really hard to track her down beacuse of her illegal status, I'm afraid she will dissapear my son when I least expected. Since he is here with me know in Florida, can I go to court and file for custody. What should i do. We were never married, we lived togheter for almost 2 years. I have his birth certificate wich shows me as the father. What can I do?

[Giggles]

BUT remember to follow his guidelines!!

My best guess (and I am not a lawyer) is to file for a Temp Emergency Custody order.  Gather proof of her instability (if possible) and illegal status.

[bae2006]

You ahve the advantage right now in many ways. You can go to your courthouse and file a petition for custody. You can also call an attorney for a free consultation to weigh your options. What is important is the best interest of your son. Good luck. Please check your state law regarding custody.

[CustodyIQ]

Hi,

I don't think Florida has jurisdiction unless you can demonstrate a clear and convincing threat to the child's welfare.  The state with jurisdiction is where the child has been living the past 6 months, so your battleground is likely NJ.

It doesn't make sense to waste resources over a jurisdiction fight, when it's likely you'd lose that fight.

If you have clear orders about when you're to spend time with your son, and if the mother violates those clear orders, you need to start filing contempt motions in NJ.

If you don't have clear orders, you need to get clear orders.  Again... in  NJ.

I think a judge would likely make orders that the child cannot be removed from the USA without the consent of both parents or further order of the court.  So that addresses your concern about her flight.  If she disappears across the border, you'd have cause to get authorities immediately involved.

You have a couple of challenges in prevailing at a custody change.

A) You say that she's made many threats over the years about taking him away, but she's never done it.  So, where's the validity of those threats?

B) You did not state a single thing wrong with her parenting abilities.  At best, you said she moves often.  Unless she's moving every 4 months for years on end, you probably don't have much of a case.

For a court to change custody, you first need to demonstrate that the current arrangements for the child are exceedingly harmful to the child's welfare.

Finally, I don't think anything can be done within the next few days, without convincing evidence that the child is going back into a very dangerous situation.

After he goes back to his mother, build your case and then plan on arguing it in NJ.

Consult with an attorney, of course... in both states.