What does that mean?

[Justabovewater]

For those of you that has been following my posts, we went to court today to get custody. At the end, the Judge looked at ex who has custody now and said "I need to review this to make sure the kids are never put in this situation again". What does that mean? Does that mean he he is goin to let her keep custody and make it where she can only do certain things with the children, or does that mean he is going to allow me To have custody and write it up where it can not be appealed. I will be waiting for the verdict for sure. How long does a Judge usually take to release a written verdict? The last one was verbal after the hearing.

[MixedBag]

I just went back and read your posts....sad that it took THIS long to get into court.

Family court is a toss up when it comes to a residential change in custody. 

The first step is normally to tighten the grip on the primary residential parent and to put more specifics into a new order. 

Like I said before, changing custody once the divorce is final is a true uphill battle unless the CHILD is over about 13 and wants the change, and you have good evidence beyond the child's wishes that the move is in the best interest of the child.  It's normally a combination of both and both have to be present.

How long?  It might actually be in your state's code/law.....and I remember finding it once in one state and the amount of time was RIDICULOUS!  The judge might also have to find/have case law to support any of his decisions.  So that might take some time to research on his part too (even though it's his clerk that does that type of work for him/her).

[Waylon]

At the end, the Judge looked at ex who has custody now and said "I need to review this to make sure the kids are never put in this situation again". What does that mean?

If there's one thing I've learned is that it's impossible to know what a judge means.

MixedBag is right, it's a crapshoot and you almost never know what's going to happen in the end.

[ocean]

You can call the clerk's office every other day and ask if the new order has been signed. Here family court orders are pretty quick (no more than a week) but supreme court orders can take a long time -months. Judge's usually have at least one day "off" from cases to write up orders. Sometimes you can look up online the judge's calendar and see when that judge has off. You can also go to the clerk's office (usually within the same building of the courts or close by) and check too and then get a copy with your picture ID.

I don't remember your specific details but if child has to change schools, that comes into play when court is not in summer. Judge may give specific orders now that mom has to follow and if she doesnt then bring it back to court. It usually takes a few times in court before a switch in custody happens.

[Justabovewater]

Thanks for all your info. Another question I have is, If she admitted to Child endangerment on the stand and admitted that she left the children in the abusive relationship for 6 months before she did anything about it, Will the state step in and do something about it? I know the Judge will take this into account in the custody issue, But can she be charged with it?

[ocean]

Yes she can but if they have not already ...then probably not. Go to the clerks office and ask for a copy of the transcript from that day. You can then go to the DA with that proof of what she said on the stand and see if they will charge her but it sounds like the kids are now out of that situation so may not do anything about it and prob the reason why CPS did not get involved if the situation has been resolved.

[MixedBag]

Ditto -- I too could prove that my son was physically abused in the father's home at one point BUT it was a situation easily resolved on Dad's side IF I had pressed the issue and showed my cards.  So I held them tight and situation resolved about a month later.  Court would not have change custody, court would have given Dad a chance to fix it first.....something I learned from participating and reading here.

Heartbreaking at the time....