Is this possible??

[MixedBag]

For the most part, I agree with you folks.

HOWEVER, where's the emergency?  The child has not been physically harmed -- and has been GONE since January.

Father did NOTHING once his "highly" involvement ceased.

Dad, ultimately, I'm on your side.....but stop dragging your feet and stop letting your attorney drag their feet.

If there was no custody order, NO mom didn't have to ask you for permission to get a passport to leave (I'm betting).

Yes, it probably states somewhere in the states code that she has to ask for permission to leave, but you might have missed that boat too.

File locally, ASAP, like before the end of this month of June, and even then, you might lose jurisdiction because of the lack of action.

[ocean]

I agree....try for the emergency but you will have to really convince a judge on why you waited so long. He can use that he did not know where mother was, didnt have money for lawyer, didnt know you can do it yourself, but bottom line is you need to file something this week to get the ball moving and to keep all court dates by you for the next XX years (til child is 18).

[gnicar23]

Trust me, I AM NOT DRAGGING MT FEET! I have been trying since January to locate my son. I first had to wait on school papers here and then I sent them to his new school along with several phone calls to the school and waited and waited till they finally sent me something after school had already recessed for the summer!! I have contacted all of her family her numerous times but no one will return my calls or anything else! I have been steadily fighting for some information. My attorney has been aware of this and has continued to say we have to have an address to serve her at or there is nothing we can do! I just recently got lucky and someone was able to give me a place of employment. Then just Saturday, I cornered her mother face to face (which is the first time that I have actually laid eyes on her since december b/c she has been hiding out from me and avoiding my phone calls). I refused to leave until she gave me information on my son! That is how I got the most recent information. This family is very manipulative and know how to work the system!

My concern was that she said the BM took my rights away in court and got a paper stating she coud take my child anywhere BM wanted and i was never notified. Than BMs mother changed her story and said she went ot court and got a paper allowing her to take him anywhere she wanted. I DON"T KNOW WHAT THE TRUTH IS BUT I DO WANT TO KNOW WHAT TO DO FROM HERE!

My attorneys office told me BM can not change jurisdiction without this court allowing it and they would fight to keep it here. ?? Don't know how true that is either b/c everyone on here seems to think it can just be changed!?

BMs mother said she would not go to court and defend her daughters actions because she knows that what her daughter is doing is wrong but there is nothing she can do to change things. BM has three children all by different fathers and we are all going through the same thing. BMs mother wants me to fight to force her daughter to come back here. I told her i dont care what her daughter does and that I am not trying to keep my son from his mother I just want my son to have the opportunity to be part of my life as well as his mothers and to be able to have us both in his life.

This is on my mind all the time and I have been researching everything I can to try and figure out the right way to handle this. I don't want anyone to get hurt but right now my son is hurting and I will not stand back and just allow that to happen. I am fighting for him everyday. I have been trying to get my attorneys office to get this filed for two weeks today!! If I file on my own, then what? My attorney walks away with my money and does nothing and I have to find new representation??

[ocean]

If she filed in Alaska, Alaska would have to ask your state to take over. If the child/mother is there over 6 months, many courts have sided with moving it BUT as long as you stay in the state and fight it, you should win. Make sure the court house has your correct info and tell them to password protect it so mother can not call up with a fake address.

We know you are fighting this hard BUT the longer you get into the court, the harder it will be. If you call your lawyer and talk to secretary, ask for appointment then they have to talk to you (but pay them). You can ask them to file for you NOW or you will do it. I will tell you that $700 will not get you too far so ask if you can file yourself to save on costs and hire them for court dates. Ask them what papers you should file. Some lawyers will allow you to do this to save money and their time. If you went to court and said in Jan "hey, mom just took kids out of school and left", the courts could of stopped the old school from forwarding any paperwork and an alert could of went out to know about where mom is when the new school asked for info.

Can not change things now...but push the lawyer to move now. They can only charge you for what they did. So if they did $200 worth of things, and you fired them, you would be refunded the money. It goes very quickly. Every phone call, office visit, talking to ex, writing up letters, writing up papers...adds up. I think your lawyer is just took your $700 in hopes that mom can not be found...because most lawyers take thousands up front and blow through that real quick with motions/court dates. Let you lawyer know exactly what you want, and if they can not do that, kindly send you a check for rest of retainer and find someone that will push for you.

[MixedBag]

There are a few here (thinking NYParent for one), that have fought and lost the jurisdiction issue when they didn't leave the original state and the Mother fled to another.....And the NY judge allowed it to move to Texas.

I suggest you got LOOK at your file in person.  SKIP what you see on line.

I suggest you talk to the clerk and see if they will clue you in on what your state's procedure is when you don't know the address of the other parent.

Along with what Ocean says....

[bloom6372]

I will agree with filing NOW. As in, yesterday. In the state we originally dealt with (NC), after 6 months, you cannot request that the child be moved back (unless there is a change in custody, obviously).

You can find ideas online for a motion online, use the format from previous court paperwork and type on up. Have it signed and notarized and submit it to the Court. My DH and I always type up his paperwork. He's had 4 hearings, and only once did he have an attorney.

[gnicar23]

I would just like to thank everyone for there comments. I am going in to see my attorney in person today and I will keep everyone posted. Again, Thank you all for taking your time to try and help me out. I hate even having to go through this but it just seems like my ex is so vindictive that there is never an easy way to handle things anymore.

[Some TN Dad]

Hello,
How did your meeting go?

In one post you say that your att'y has told your ex will have to file to have jurisdiction moved to Alaska.  Is this based upon the fact that you have child support ordered in your state?

What your attorney says may or may not be true, or, if true, may or may not mean a hill of beans to an AK court.  In any case, if she files something up there on the day she has been there for six months, or lies, you will have a lot of expense one way or the other.

If your attorney has a habit of not answering your calls for two weeks, he or she is probably in violation of the rules of professional conduct.  Check the state board of professional conduct or whatever it is called up there to see if there have ever been disciplinary issues with him.  Call, as the online records may reflect nothing or only a fraction of complaints.  While you are on the phone, ask if blah blah or blah can be considered a violation of the RPC.  File a complaint yourself.

We have to find her before we can do anything is not acceptable, get a new lawyer or try to file by yourself.  YESTERDAY.

Have documentation of your efforts - if you printed the Facebook pages you should have dates in the corners.  The letter from the school shows your effort and that she is deliberately interfering (so are they).   Any thing you have that can prevent the court from saying this is the first we have heard of it, or the first you have tried.


Act now.



~~~~~~


Old story - when my ex left the state, then refused to return, then hid the children - I went to legal aid for help.
They took a while to make their decision about helping me, rendering it moot when the six month window passed.  (There are exceptions to this home state rule - or rather reasons a new home state might decline to exercise jurisdiction - such as ties, and evidence in the former state, but they always fight against a presumption, and require time and money to get before the courts).
They wrote me a nice letter which stated that they could not help me as I was no longer in danger from her as she was now several states away, and could not help my children because they now had a new home state, and lack or resources...  But please feel free to contact us if you ever require assistance in the future.