father's rights

[rabyrne]

my son has a daughter who is not living near him. his ex girlfriend moved from the area and is not telling him where he can reach his daughter. she is not letting him see her or talk to her.  

He would very much like to try for custody, but not know how to go about it.  They never married and his name is on the birth certificate.

He also has reason to belive that she is living in a very bad situation.  any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[4honor]

have her served with paternity and custody papers. The longer he allows this to continue, the less urgent the Judge is going to think your son feels about this.

If paternity has not been established, that should be his first goal. Once paternity is established, he needs to file for a set parenting plan. Have him ask for the moon and be willing to settle nothing less than a good fair plan.

He needs to keep his daughter's best interests in mind at all times and learn to use that phrase. He should only care about DD being in a bad situation because of the damage it will do to her... the safety issues, the possibility of BM getting arrested and DD being put into the foster system... the damage to her mental health that will likely occur if her relationship with her father is not immediately re-established and maintained.... etc.

It is likely that a PI could be hired to find her in a very short time for a few hundred dollars. How does your son speak to BM anyway? If he has a phone number for her, that could help.