Do I have a case strong enough for full or equal custody?

[DavidDel]

    My ex and I split up before our daughter was born, now she is nearly a year old, and her mother has been very unfair to me. She refuses to work, making my child support payment so high I can't afford to pay for my bills, even if I don't eat. Aside from that she has an extensive juvenille record of shopplifting, and very recently has been charged with a DUI and a week after that driving again under suspension. She has served 1 month of house arrest and 3 days of jail for the DUI, and now is beggining another month of house arrest today for driving under suspension. She also has a full year of probation. I also have family members on both sides who will agree that she is not a responsible mother due to negligence and lack of dependability.
    I, on the other hand have a perfectly clean record, and have been working my same job for 2 years, and have proven always to be very responsible. The mother has openly addmitted to just wanting child support money. She has been on food stamps, welfare, now my child support, and now metro housing for over a year, just milking free rides wherever she can. The situation has gone on so long it disgusts me and I need to change it before I go crazy. I know every person I have spoken with has told me "of course you deserve custody" but I don't know how much of this really matters in court. How can I actually prove some of these things? Any advice on what to do? I have zero knowledge of the court system, except for when I payed a speeding ticket once. Ha. Thanks any advice is appreciated!!

[ocean]

Do you have any paperwork through the courts regarding custody and what does it say?
Your best change is using her arrests, when she is jailed, you can go for emergency custody due to the fact mom is in jail. You may be able to use the house arrest...I am not sure how that works. She is not allowed outside her home for a month? You may be able to get the emergency order now. Talk to a lawyer and see what they say. You can get in to see a judge for emergency custody in a day or so.

[Dustine1017]

Do you have any paperwork through the courts regarding custody and what does it say?
Your best change is using her arrests, when she is jailed, you can go for emergency custody due to the fact mom is in jail. You may be able to use the house arrest...I am not sure how that works. She is not allowed outside her home for a month? You may be able to get the emergency order now. Talk to a lawyer and see what they say. You can get in to see a judge for emergency custody in a day or so.

I have paperwork  at home. I will tell you about that custody and what does it says as time goes by and if I was given a chance again to visit your site.

[MixedBag]

Ocean -- FYI -- not all states and counties react to an emergency request quickly like what you've said.

I've faced several -- several -- "Emergency" motions, and only one was heard within a short period of time.

The first one actually gave me 30 days to legally file a response.

The second one (I filed it), was heard in a timely manner based on my reason for requesting it.

The third and fourth were filed in June this year and will be heard mid-August.

[MomofTwo]

Not only what Mixed Bag wrote is true but there are some very basic questions here...

1) Was paternity ever established?

2) Mothers don't set the amount of child support, a judge does.....has a motion ever been filed with the courts for child support? Was there actually an order for child support?

3) Have you actually ever filed to establish visitation ?

4) Were you ever married to Mom? Unmarried "fathers" with no proof of paternity and no court orders is not a good thing.

None of what he said is a reason for an emergency hearing particularly if paternity was never established.  Her being on house arrest means she would be 100% of the time home with the child, and her crimes do not involve children. Her not working and needing financial assistance are no reasons the courts would remove the child.

There are too many unanswered questions here to tell him to file an emergency hearing.

[snowrose]

The one possible reason for an emergency hearing could be if the mother had the baby in the car when she was arrested for DUI...