Custody Issues

[jb9080]

Here are the facts of the case in chronological order.  This is very long, I have omitted as much of the unnecessary information I thought possible.

DD born in 93

Father made aware of birth of the child after 5 years, took paternity test and he was determined to be the father.

2/98 mother was in Ohio, father in California.  The order have mother Full Legal and Physical Custody and ordered child support and a judgment of back child support in the amount of $10,000.  No visitation order was put in place.

8/98 father and wife moved 3.5 hours away from child in Indiana.  Mother let father meet child and they started weekend visitations.

3/99 father filed for court ordered visitation because the mother was not letting father see child on a consistent basis if father voiced any sort of concern about the child.

8/99 father received court ordered visitation and child support was raised.  During the summer of 1999 mother moved herself and the child about 30 minutes away to live with mother's mother in Michigan.

10/2000 mother became involved with a man, who later that month was arrested for possession and pandering of child pornography.

3/2001 father found out about the arrest and subsequent charges against mother's boyfriend.  Father found out from mother's father and step-mother, the same day he also found out from child's elementary school and mother at an IEP meeting for daughter.  That day mother offered to have daughter move in with father while things settled down with boyfriend, father accepted and made arrangements.  A week later mother said no the child will be staying with her.  One week later father filed for change of custody in the Ohio court.  

10/2001 a hearing in front of the county magistrate took place.  

The father presented his case that mother and daughter were living with her boyfriend and father of a child born earlier in the month and it would be in the best interest of the child to change custody.  

Mother's attorney argued first that Ohio had no jurisdiction over the case because mother and child lived in Michigan.  The mother may spend overnights in Ohio with boyfriend, daughter is never alone with boyfriend and she spends those nights with her grandmother at home in Michigan.  Grandmother testified that mother and daughter live with her in Michigan.

1/2002 received the judgment from the magistrate ordering that since mother and daughter do not live with in Ohio that Ohio does not have jurisdiction over the case.

At that time we discussed opening a case in Michigan with a Michigan lawyer and he looked through the evidence and said that this will be a hard case to prove and advised father to stay active in daughter's life, keep an eye for any sign of abuse.


10/29/2005 – Mother called and asked if daughter could go and live with him.  Daughter was failing classes, acting out in the neighborhood (breaking car windows and other things).  The daughter was about to be kicked out of her school in Michigan because the school knew from other community members who complained to the school that daughter did not live in district.

11/1/2005 – Daughter moves in with father, father's wife and other children.  No talk of legal change of custody was brought up at the time.  Father did not want to spook Mother.

Please note – the following agreements made between mother and father was made over email conversations, with the original emails saved on the recipient's mail server.

1/2006 – The support that was being taken out of his check was brought up.  Mother agreed to credit child support paid for payment of back child support.  They would discuss further when back support was payed in full.

8/2006 – Back support paid in full.

9/2006 – Agreement made to start paperwork to get back support cleared.  Any mother offered that any money she received after this time is money she will send back to father.

10/2006 – Back support filed as paid

As of now mother still has not sent back any monies paid to her for child support.  She has not paid any money to support her child since child moved in with father.  She has given a million reasons why she has not sent any money back, but still there is nothing.  She is now blaming the child support enforcement agency.

Child has spent a total 2 weeks in 12/05, 1 week spring break 2006, 4 weeks during summer break, 2006 Thanksgiving break and a 1.5 week Christmas break 2006 with mother.

Mother calls sporadically calls daughter.  It is usually once every 2 weeks.  It has now been over 3 weeks since she dropped off her daughter at the security checkpoint at the airport for daughter's first airline trip back home to father.  

Daughter is doing much better in school; she receives A, B, C's.  She has a therapist that she sees on a weekly basis for the last year.  

Father wants to file for physical custody of daughter.  He as been afraid to do this because he thinks that mother will take her away if he tries to do anything permanent.  He knows for the mother it's about money not about the daughter.  She as expressed many times that daughter is too much work and doesn't understand how father does it.

Father knows that daughter has lived in Indiana long enough for it to be her state of residence.  Father will be seeing an attorney at the end of the week to get their opinion on the merits of the case if the mother decides to fight change of custody.

1.   If mother tries to take child back to Ohio/Michigan after served with custody case, is their anything father can do to stop it?

2.   Do you have any strategies that you would share with your client?

[socrateaser]

>Father knows that daughter has lived in Indiana long enough
>for it to be her state of residence.  Father will be seeing an
>attorney at the end of the week to get their opinion on the
>merits of the case if the mother decides to fight change of
>custody.
>
>1.   If mother tries to take child back to Ohio/Michigan after
>served with custody case, is their anything father can do to
>stop it?

Ask for a temporary order to keep the child in Indiana pending the outcome of the custody action.

>2.   Do you have any strategies that you would share with your
>client?

If you've had de facto custody for more than six months, and you can show that the child is happy and doing well in school, then the case is over before it ever starts.

[jb9080]

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