father's rights

[clewis1028]

Looking for info for my brother, a father of 2 boys who have his surname.  The father and mother never married; they reside in Ohio.  He seems to think he has no rights and that he cannot get any custody of them, and the mother is using this to her advantage.  The father DOES see his boys, in fact he has them half the time if not more, yet he pays full child support as if he never has the children.  

I'm looking for laws pertaining to the situation, particularly because they were never married.  Thanks in advance!

[evalisto2005]

I'm not the most knowleadgable one here and am new to the site.

You can look for different states here on this site and see what the statutes are in Ohio.

My first question would have to be, what makes him think that he should have custody? Is the mother unfit or is he just more fit?

If he can not afford an attorney he can go get free legal advice and keep going back to have them write up petitons for him. I think that if he should be able to pay less child support but since he has them more than half the time, he could end up paying no child support. It depends and I think that's usually done by agreement, not because of the law.

Is he court ordered to pay child support? In think he should see an attorney. He could maybe be entitled to money for overpayment of child support but too many ifs, ands or buts and it may not be worth pursuing.

Good luck.

[msme]

The first thing he has to do is to document every moment he is spending with them. Is he using a Time Tracker & keeping a daily log? There is an excellant Time Tracker on this site & he can down load it.

I hope he is writing "Child Support on the checks", He is using checks, isn't he? Is there a child support order? Is there a visitation order?

He must educate himself. There is so much info here for him. There are many here who can give more info. I have been away & can't seem to remember a lot of it, right now.

Do make sure he knows that any attorney he has is a "Board Certified Family Law & Custody Specialist."

Good luck & God bless.

You never get a second chance to make a first impression!

[evalisto2005]

>The first thing he has to do is to document every moment he
>is spending with them. Is he using a Time Tracker & keeping a
>daily log? There is an excellant Time Tracker on this site &
>he can down load it.
>
>I hope he is writing "Child Support on the checks", He is
>using checks, isn't he? Is there a child support order? Is
>there a visitation order?
>
>He must educate himself. There is so much info here for him.
>There are many here who can give more info. I have been away &
>can't seem to remember a lot of it, right now.
>
>Do make sure he knows that any attorney he has is a "Board
>Certified Family Law & Custody Specialist."
>
>Good luck & God bless.
>
>You never get a second chance to make a first impression!

Yes, documenting everything is a MUST! Also, if he pays child support he should not just write "child support" on the checks. He should write when the chiold support is for. Also, he can send the checks via certified mail with a return receit and tracking information. Before he puts the check in the envelope to send it, he can write the tracking numbers from the certified mail which would help prove when he sent the checks. If he needs overkill, he can also take pics of the checks with his cell phone adn then email them to himself immediately, even more evidence there. If he's paying too much that could be a problem because if he's been paying a cetain amount for a long time it is more likely that that amount would be court ordered.

[wolfmoon]

I am new to this site, and I am beginning the process of fighting for custody of my 6 yr. old son. I live in NY state, and my son lives in Minnesota. I see him at every opportunity, traveling the 2200(round trip) miles to see my son on holidays. Now, I am not rich by any means, and have a new baby boy with my wife to raise also, and my ex constantly tells me to send her money(on top of paying child support for my son-$300.00 am month plus full medical and dental coverage) or I can't see or talk to my son any more. She says that she has sole custody because we were never married and she lives in MN, but can any one tell me-Do I have a case here? She is not an unfit mother, but can't seem to finacially take care of my son.  Some people have told me that she has to meet me halfway if I get joint custody or holiday visitation. Is this true? I need some help here. If anyone has a list of lawyers or resources, I can use the help. Please, someone give me some insights!Thank you for taking the time to read this.