My Son Is Almost 2000 Miles Away.

[TerryMel]

Hi first I will let you all know my situation.

Four years ago I was with a girl who had my child. We lived together in Ohio, her family lived in Arizona, My son was born in March and in April she wanted to go visit her family. I had to work and could not go with her. I bought her a round trip ticket but she never came back. I contacted a lawyer who more or less said I would be wasting money to fight because she had every right to take him since she was the mother.

I stayed in contact with her family, received photos, tried to do my part as much as possible being so far away. Then the photos stopped, the phone # had changed and no known address.

3 years ago I married a woman who since day 1 has tried to help me in every way to see my son. We had a court date for child support, which is ordered by the state of OHIO, since my living situation had changed. The court tells me that Ohio has no jurisdiction over my son that I will have to go to Arizona to establish visitation. What I dont understand is how can the child support be ordered by the state of Ohio but they have no jurisdiction?

I cannot afford the trips to Arizona, as I know it would take more than 1, to start visitation. And I cannot afford to have a laywer go for me, I am now supporting my new family also as well as my son.

My question is, is there any way to get around the jurisdiction issue?

A little insight on what has happened to my son in his 4 years of life. I had had no contact, phone or mail,  for over 2 years since they have seemed to drop off the face of the earth. My wife and I decided to check into CPS in Arizona since all else failed when we tried to locate them.

What we found out is there have been reports filed on the mother since my son was a year old. They let us know that on the report it was filed as father unknown, which is a lie, she has had our address, phone #, all my information. My son is severely underweight, deaf in 1 ear since the age of 2 possibly going deaf in the other, speach problems, his 4 front upper teeth are all rotted out. I don't understand why he is still in his mothers care.

I know we have a good case for custody since upon all that the mother also has an arrest record, this is the latest news we found out. Now that we have her latest address, I was told that we should send her a certified letter (letting the post office know that we need updates on her address, since she has moved so often) asking for all my sons information (doctors name & address, school/daycare info) since it is my right as a father to have that. Then if she declines to give it to me that we can file in the state of Ohio holding her contempt.

Can anyone let me know if I could really do that?

Thanks for allowing me to write this all down, i feel alot better, and for actually reading it. Thank You, Terry (daddy to Isaiah)

[Ref]

First of all, I don't think you can get around the jurisdiction issue. If the child lives in a state for 6 months, that is where the jurisdiciton is. I'm not sure why it is different w/ CS.

Second of all, you would not be sending a lawyer to Arizona. You would need one that is in Arizona, preferably a family law attorney with experience in father's rights.

You say you can't afford one. You need to get one. If you can't afford to fly there yourself regularly to represent yourself, you really don't have a choice. Many attornies take credit cards. You need to find a way.

Do you have a court ordered visitation schedule? Do you have a court order besides CS order?

As far as filing for contempt over not giving you info on your son, if you don't have an order in place, there is no contempt. Don't worry though. This will be enough to kick start your modification.

I have never worked with the child protection agency before, but I imagine you can contact the one that the reports were file in and at least speak to them explaining that you just received the reports and are worried for your child.

What was the mom's arrest record for? It may or may not be relevant to a change in custody.

Good Luck
Ref

[TerryMel]

Thanks ref I was afraid of there being no way around the jurisdiction law.

Is there any way to hire a lawyer in AZ without actually going there? meaning are there signs to look for through phone conversations, email, etc. to know he/she is the right lawyer for the case?

No there is no court order for visitation the CS is the only order in place But since there was paternity testing done it is ordered that I have the right to any and all information on my son and anyone who fails to release that information to me will be held in contempt. I have made copies of that order in preperation to send along with any certified letters I may send.

We have called the CPS in AZ after reviewing the facts found about my son, from them, but they told me that I myself need proof, they would need my son to tell me himself that his teeth hurt and that he is being mistreated, without that information there is really nothing more they can do. The problem is that I am not seeing my son, it is clear the BM wants me nowhere in my childs life except to pay the child support.

The BMs arrest record was for shoplifting which has since turned into a warrant for her arrest for failure to appear and comply. I got this information from the Arizona online records, I can make copies if need be.

Thank you for your response if any more info is needed please let me know. Thanks again, Terry.


*All I want is to give my son a good life, one that he needs & deserves*

[msme]

Go to  //www.martindalehubble.com & search for Family Law attorney in AZ. Then look for Board certified Family law & Custody Specialists. When you get some of those, call & ask these questions.

1. What percentage of their firm's clients are Father's seeking custody & visitation?

2. What is their success rate in defending these types of cases?

3. Is the first conseltation free?

When all the answers feel right, make an appointment for a telephone consult. They should give you some good info & hopefully, you will find the one who will help you rescue your son.

In the mean time, you need to sock away every penny you can. You will have to go there eventually & the lawyer will not be cheap. Remember that a cheap lawyer is like a cheap tatoo. They usually are not very good & it costs a lot to undo the damage.

Good luck & God bless.
You never get a second chance to make a first impression!