PLEASE HELP (BF) WITHOUT CUSTODY OR VISITATION…

[mOe_Leezy]

   My wife and I split up; and while we were apart, she dropped my daughter and stepson off at a caretaker's house for two weeks.  The caretaker called Social Services and they put the kids in foster care for neglect.  This all took place on or about the summer of 1995; which custody was then awarded to the maternal aunt (my spouse's half-sister) to reside in California.  At that time I was stationed in North Carolina (Camp Lejeune) doing my best to keep in touch with my daughter, paying the ordered child support, sending gifts on every possible occasion to both my stepson and daughter.

   It is now 2005, I am now re-married and being a father to my wife's children.  We  are now stationed an hour and a half away from my daughter, and the only visitation that I have per the court order is supervised visitation with the maternal aunt's presence.  What I'm asking is what can I do to try and get this 10 year order modified so that I may be able to establish a more stable relationship with my daughter?  What am I entitled to?  Every weekend, every other weekend, holidays, or what?  Money is an issue, are there any recommendations as to whom to hire, or better yet what I can possibly do?  Any information will be greatly appreciated.

[socrateaser]

I'm guessing you're at Camp Pendelton, or El Toro. If not, please advise. If so, then you will quickly discover that hiring a family law attorney in Orange County, CA is going to run you a minimum of $300 per hour and a $5,000 advance payment. So, while I can recommend someone, you may not be able to afford him/her.

As far as your rights are concerned, in order to reasonably advise you, I need to know just exactly how much contact with this child you have had during the past year, and an honest evaluation from you as to how close of a bond exists.

Because if you're pretty much a stranger in this child's life, then you're probably wasting your time trying to change anything, until such time as you can prove a strong bond exists and that the child wants to spend more time with you.

How old is this child?

PS. You need to review the Mandatory Forum Guidelines, Rev 1.2. If you continue to post without following the format, I won't respond to you. Thanks in advance.