Custody Question

[lovindad]

Good Afternoon Soc.

All parties in GA.

In March 2003, initial custody set at Joint Legal and Physical.

Mother went back in March 2004, requested and received Sole Legal and Physical with reasoning being "keeping the children on a schedule".

Since March of 2004, CP has:

-Been Married for a period of 4 weeks and Divorced

-Moved the children to a town 200 miles away and waited 2 weeks to notify NCP.  Following a divorce 2 week later, she moved back.  This entailed taking the children out of school, starting them in a new school, and then re-enrolling them in their old school.

-Had the Police and DFCS visit her home for abusing then-husband in front of the children.  No charges filed, but the Police Report states she was a fault.

-Been fired from 3 jobs (embezzlement, no charges filed; absenteeism).

CP has now been fired from her 3rd job in 3 years.  She has also quit 3 other jobs before being fired for absenteeism.  I have numerous tape-recordings demonstrating the fact that she was absent from work for 6 separate un-approved vacations, showing that absenteeism was not a result of unforseen circumstances.

At this point, she has been out of work 1.5 months.  Children are complaining about having to drop out of extracurricular activities and eating cereal every night.

1. Is her persistent inability to maintain a job, along with the above-mentioned occurrences,  any type of grounds for a Custody Reversal?

[socrateaser]

>1. Is her persistent inability to maintain a job, along with
>the above-mentioned occurrences,  any type of grounds for a
>Custody Reversal?

If this marriage and DFCS incident were within the past 60 days, I'd say you may have something. Otherwise, the judge will probably not give it much weight -- because you didn't do something while it was fresh.

If you could get a copy of the job termination which actually states that the parent was fired for embezzlement, that could be something also. But, if charges were never brought, then I seriously doubt that the file actually contans that sort of defamatory charge. Too much risk to the company for a defamation action, if the file every reached the public.

The court only cares about how well the CP cares for the kids on a day to day basis. So, if all of these problems doesn't actually cause the children distress, then it won't get the court's attention.

If you can show that the children are suffering as the result of CP's routinely bad decisions, then that would make a case. But, I can't assess that without knowing every minor detail in chronological order, and knowing what you were doing during the same period of time. After all, if the CP sucks but you suck just as bad, then it doesn't really matter what the CP's been doing.

[lovindad]

No, the marriage and DFCS incident occurred 2 years ago.  I only found out by happenstance, nearly a year later.  

I have had many heated conversations with the DFCS office, and have been told time and time again that since CP is the custodial parent, they had no reason to appraise me of the situation and that they had no legal obligation to do so.

At the time, CP and the children were living 200 miles away (during the course of the short-lived marriage).

During "this period of time", as well as all other times before since, I was making my twice weekly court ordered phone calls to the children and exercising every possible moment of visitation.

Once the divorce was final and she moved back here with my children, they lived with myself and my wife for 4 months while she attempted to find a job.  She saw them one time for 1 hour.

I am assuming, based on your last post, that the Judge won't care since so much time has passed, even though I was never relayed this information in any capacity since I am not the Custodial Parent.

[socrateaser]

You need fresh meat for the grinder.