Am I being irrational???

[jcs904]

I am recently divorced and we have been given shared parenting but she is the custodial parent.  I consented to this because I assumed she would be okay to make more of the common decisions and provide for our two young children through her own income and child support that I am paying.
Recently she lost her residence (which was our home) because she wasnt making the mortgage payments and I also had to step in several times to pay her utilities to keep them from being shut off.  She has also lost her auto insurance twice because of writing bad checks.  I am not understanding how she has been unable to pay even basic utilities when she wasnt paying rent or a mortgage.  Now she has moved back in with her parents and her and our children share a single bedroom there.
She has also voluntarily enrolled our oldest in a school ranked in the low 30's (out of 100) by the State of Ohio.
Because of these circumstances I am considering an attempt to make myself the custodial parent because I believe she is not capable of taking care of even the basic needs here.  I have a stable home where they have there own bedroom, all the bills are paid and the schools are ranked in the high 80's.
Is this appropriate for me to do and am I likely to succeed?

~Jon

[joni]

of course you are, but all of us here know that in family court, that doesn't count for much.

since it seems like you have a good relationship, you could sit down with here, trying to be rational, and offer to take the kids until she gets her act together....hope that the kids are with you 6 months...and file for custody based on that.

or you could just consult an attorney and put pressure on her to do this.  if she doesn't, take her to court.

you have to be careful, don't let the kids sit at grandma's too long or if something happens to mom and you have to fight the grandparents for custodial custody, you'd probably lose.

[Peanutsdad]

Ok, was her income sufficient to cover the bills? If so,, then you really need to discover what happened. Since the home was forclosed,, was your name on the mortgage? If so, you are entitled to know why this happened,, after all it just dinged the hell out of your credit also.

I would seriously be looking into this and taking action.

Tips For Getting Started
http://www.deltabravo.net/news/10-19-2000.htm

How To Hire An Attorney
http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/hiring.htm

Hiring An Effective Attorney
http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/effective.htm

Success Factors In Obtaining Custody
http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/tips.htm

http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/missed-visit.htm

Suggestions When Falsely Accused
http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/falseacc1.htm

Dealing With Threats Of False Allegations
http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/blackmail.htm

URL: http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/guide.htm


http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/pplan3.htm

One of the first things you'll hear around here is "Document, document, document!". Having good records is *crucial*. Get yourself either the Parenting Time Tracker (PTT) at: http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/tracker.htm or the OPTIMAL Custody Tracking service at: http://www.parentingtime.net. The PTT is good, but the OPTIMAL service is definitely better.