What Does it Take to Get a Parent Declared Unfit

[b19wil]

My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Texas

What does it take to see a parent unfit? I'm taking the father of my child to court for sole. He's a first time felon ( previous), no stable home, no transportation, doesn't contact or visit his child( anymore) and has placed his hands on me in front of her. He doesn't provided ANY neccessities for her ( has a temp job because of the felon record) and sent me a threat text message to my phone( which i saved). His "role models" helped him skip school ( which he STILL hasn't graduated '11) and helped him get a felony for POSS of CS and MARIJ... i have pictures of him with MARIJ and i've tired of trying to make arrangements for him to see his child. He has been neglecting ( NO contact whatsoever) her since i told him i would be taking him to court. Do i have a case? and can this be seen as unfit? She's only 7 months old, but if this is what he plans on doing in the future to his child, i'll rather everything be thru court orders and with supervision...

[Dogmatique]

When was his felony conviction?

What is your end goal here?

[b19wil]

he was arrested in may of this year and had court last week. I don't know what the outcome was for him from the judge. I want to get a joint custody with my mother, if anything happens to me. I know by law, since he's the father, he can get her... but he can't even provide a stable location for himself. My mother has been helping me take care of her, from the life insurance policies to the health insurance. She's been doing his role and if he gets her, he won't let my mom see her. She won't even be able to get in contact with him I just want my child's future to have stability and a good foundation.

[lawaholic]

In most divorce cases, unless the mother is unfit, she usually gets majority custody. Even without taking his background into account, odds are, you'll still end up with custody of your daughter. At best, he'll probably only get her every other weekend, or some agreement to that effect.

If you're seeking full custody with no visitation rights for the father, you may have a case if he is still using drugs, keeps them in his home, and thus couldn't provide a safe environment for your daughter.

[b19wil]

... it's not like i don't want him to ever see her again, but apparently he hasn't realized the responsibilites and the role he plays as a father to his child. I encourage him to spend time with her, but he DEPENDS on me to be the transporation and the only means of transporation for him is his girlfriend but i already declared to him that i did not want my child around her for the simple fact that she was the reason he got the felony ( she was arrested too ) and he doesn't make the MATURE and ADULT decisions when she's with him. He's reckless when she's with him and i don't want my child around that kind of behavior.

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Thank You

[Dogmatique]

In most divorce cases, unless the mother is unfit, she usually gets majority custody.

Only because Mom is usually the primary caregiver.

Even without taking his background into account, odds are, you'll still end up with custody of your daughter. At best, he'll probably only get her every other weekend, or some agreement to that effect.

Really?

If you're seeking full custody with no visitation rights for the father, you may have a case if he is still using drugs, keeps them in his home, and thus couldn't provide a safe environment for your daughter.

Really?

Not so much. "No visitation" is RARELY ordered - and when it IS ordered, it tends to be in cases where the visiting parent has severely abused and/or neglected the child in question.

There is no case for "no visitation" here.

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... it's not like i don't want him to ever see her again, but apparently he hasn't realized the responsibilites and the role he plays as a father to his child. I encourage him to spend time with her, but he DEPENDS on me to be the transporation and the only means of transporation for him is his girlfriend but i already declared to him that i did not want my child around her for the simple fact that she was the reason he got the felony ( she was arrested too ) and he doesn't make the MATURE and ADULT decisions when she's with him. He's reckless when she's with him and i don't want my child around that kind of behavior.

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Thank You

You need to get used to the fact that Dad will be having visitation with your mutual child. If you can prove drug use, you may be able to get it supervised at least short term.

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Your mother will not be getting any form of custody without Dad agreeing.

[aardvarc]

... it's not like i don't want him to ever see her again, but apparently he hasn't realized the responsibilites and the role he plays as a father to his child.

If you wanted some sort of confirmation of his commitment to raising and bonding with a child, that's what the process of marriage is for - creating a legal relationship which endows both rights and responsibilities on the parents. If he didn't marry you, that itself gives a clue as to his attitudes on the situation. If he didn't show that level of involved-ness before the child, it's not realistic to think that'll change just because a child comes along. It really IS true that what you see is what you get.

I encourage him to spend time with her, but he DEPENDS on me to be the transporation

It's great for your child that you've been willing to do the extra work to keep the parent/child bond going. Situations like these are tough ones - it puts you in the middle of either being inconvenienced to do what's good for the child, while trying to set boundaries and expect some responsibility on dad's end.

and the only means of transporation for him is his girlfriend but i already declared to him that i did not want my child around her for the simple fact that she was the reason he got the felony ( she was arrested too ) and he doesn't make the MATURE and ADULT decisions when she's with him. He's reckless when she's with him and i don't want my child around that kind of behavior.

Be prepared for a rocky future - apparently he makes poor decisions regarding women, and you've got 18 more years of women coming and going from his life. yikes. Depending on dad's criminal history and the specifics of the recent case against him, you can always ask the court to make visitation supervised, such that you'd be assured that the GF wouldn't be around the child. Downside to that is that it may mean visitation doesn't occur at all (and you'll have understand how this will impact the child's ability to know/bond with dad).