Interstate Custody of Unborn Child
My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Ohio
My husband and I were married and lived in Ohio, but moved to Massachusetts in November. Found out I was pregnant around thanksgiving. To make a long story short, my husband began acting violently with me the more our expectations for the move fell through and the more responsibilties he had(he's in national guard and just returned from a deployment in Egypt the month before we moved. we did not even have a chance to complete his reintegration to civilian life and counseling we had planned). In July, I went to visit Ohio for a two week stay to give us some space, hoping we could work through the problems(had planned and agreed on me going since March and found out later my family could not come down for the birth). but once I left, I was bombarded with "I stole his unborn son" and basically verbally attacked through the entire pregnancy to the point where I felt unsafe returning to Massachusetts. When I asked about counseling and anger management as a condition of me returning, it was blatently refused and he has said he does not want me to return and wants to "get rid of me"
I had the baby on August 11th in Ohio. At the time, I thought we were working together to relocate back to Ohio. He was trying to transfer his job here and cancelled his military transfer to Massachusetts. Now he has closed our joint account and is threatening to charge me with kidnapping our son and demands custody.
My first question is can I be charged with kidnapping my unborn child, can I be forced to return to Massachusetts, and are there custody issues surrounding that since we are married?
Next, I am more than happy to share legal custody, but I can't stomach the idea of him keeping our newborn when he has acted violently in front of our 8 year old daughter. Is there any way to require him to do anger management before he can have anything other than supervised visitation and how would I go about getting supervised visitation?
He has said that since he has a job and I don't, they would take the baby away from me. I'm breatfeeding full time and he has no babysitter in Massachusetts and works weird retail hours (that left me with taking care of our daughter pretty much by myself while I was in Massachusetts). i am currently unemployed, but am staying with my father in a good neighborhood and I'm not on public assistance. Finding a baby sitter for a newborn is almost impossible, so would they take him from me?
We have another child (age 8), but she is his step daughter. He promised he would adopt her, but has never stayed around long enough to do the paper work. Would they break up siblings and does he have any right to custody for her? he has been there since I was pregnant with her and insisted we not tell her that he is not her biological daughter (Biological father is dead and was never in the picture). I would like for there to be visitation with both of them, but when he is around his family now, he acts like she is not his child. Does he have any responsibilities to her?
He recently closed our joint bank account and emptied it of money. it being the last thing he could have control of, he demands that I "ask" him for whatever I want for our son to get money. Would this be considered spousal neglect if he will neither allow me to return and has taken the money from us? He has tried to spin it that I'm staying out here, eating bon bons with a n unlimited cash flow at my disposal, but I could not even buy diapers or pads last week and I've only paid our bills with the money in our account. Can I ask for child support or do I have to wait for a legal separation to do that?
I know its a lot of questions, everything has just snowballed into a hellish nightmare during what was supposed to be the happiest time in my life. I resisted calling the police on him because I thought we could work things out (stupid mistake) for the sake of our children and because I do not want him to miss out on his son. My dad is even willing to let him stay here and is trying to find him a job so we can be together, but with his family goading him on about what he is "entitled" to, our hands are tied.
i hate to pull the domestic violence card because I don't want to make him out to be a horrible guy, but he needs help and an intervention. I'm afraid that in his rage, he may hurt the baby by accident and he has already threatened to kill himself and is on final notice from his job for being late all the time, but he tells everyone its my fault. Please any advice would be appreciated.
Re: Ohio-Massachusetts Custody of Unborn Child
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My first question is can I be charged with kidnapping my unborn child,
No
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can I be forced to return to Massachusetts,
No but that does not necessarily apply to the child
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and are there custody issues surrounding that since we are married?
until a court orders something, you both have full rights of custody.
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Is there any way to require him to do anger management before he can have anything other than supervised visitation and how would I go about getting supervised visitation?
You can request it when you file for a custody and visitation order. No guarantees.
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He has said that since he has a job and I don't, they would take the baby away from me.
not true
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Would they break up siblings and does he have any right to custody for her?
possibly but courts generally prefer not to and no, he has no claim to custody of a step child.
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Does he have any responsibilities to her?
no.
basically, you need to go to court and file for a custody and visitation order. Until then, you have no more right to keep the child with you than he does with him. He can do the same.
Re: Ohio-Massachusetts Custody of Unborn Child
Just to add to that, if Mom gave birth in Ohio, neither her nor the child will be ordered back to MA.