My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Guam
I have a 3 month old daughter. About a month and a half ago, her mother and I broke up. She immediately was difficult from the start about me spending time with my daughter. Our relationship prior and after our daughter was born was very dysfunctional and she was very abusive, both verbally and physically towards me. She would throw fists when she gets mad causing bruises and causing my nose and mouth to bleed on many different occasions. She even would hit me when I was holding our newborn child. Anyway, 2 weeks after we separated, she fled Guam and flew to Texas, where her brother resides. Since then she has visited other relatives in Arizona but I don't know where she is. I have hired a lawyer and we immediately filed for custody and have hired a process server in texas to try to serve her. The process server was unsuccessful and now we are going to conduct a service by publication. What am I to expect if she never resurfaces after the service of publication? Should I continue to try to locate her in the meantime? I haven't attempted to call her relatives because they were the ones who probably encouraged her to move away. The no contact rule that my lawyer had established is very frustrating because I want to take a chance and call her family to ask of her whereabouts and what is going on. Am I supposed to just wait to hope to get custody by default? My lawyer advised that if she still does not resurface, then the FBI will get involved in trying to find her and my daughter. My ex and daughter may very well be back in Guam and I got clues from viewing her instagram and her comments to her friends. What to I do? Should I just go on with service by publication in the newspaper and wait instead of trying to serve her here on guam?
Mother Left Overseas with Child - What to Do
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11-07-2012, 09:36 PManonymous1212Mother Left Overseas with Child - What to Do
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11-07-2012, 10:23 PMDogmatiqueRe: Mother Left Overseas with Child. What to Do
Are you married to Mom?
If not, are you legally established as Dad?
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But no custody orders in place? I'm a little concerned that law enforcement can't actually do anything; Mom would generally be considered the child's sole custodial parent unless a court order stated otherwise.
In any event, it's your attorney you need to listen to. -
11-07-2012, 10:28 PManonymous1212Re: Mother Left Overseas with Child. What to Do
I am not married to the mother but I am legally established as the gather. I am on the birth certificate.
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An order to show cause has been filed in court. Its just a matter of her being served to appear. She is unable to be located so the next step is service by publication. -
11-08-2012, 06:44 AMMr. KnowitallRe: Mother Left Overseas with Child. What to Do
I suggest working hard to locate her and effect personal service, even though it will cost more. You're ultimately going to have to locate the child in order to enforce any order you obtain, and you would likely have a second round of litigation in mom's current state if she didn't have notice or if your publication occurred in the wrong state or jurisdiction.
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11-09-2012, 04:10 AManonymous1212Re: Mother Left Overseas with Child. What to Do
Jurisdiction was established here according to guam law. My daughter is 3 months old. I filed for an order to show cause ex parts for her to appear but two hearings have passed and she has yet to be found. Another hearing is set and the judge approved for service by publication. I just don't know where she's at. She could be in Texas, Arizona, or right here in Guam. Any other ideas on how to locate her? I've been trying to locate her for a month.
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11-09-2012, 06:47 AMMr. KnowitallRe: Mother Left Overseas with Child. What to Do
Nobody is disputing that Guam can presently exercise jurisdiction - but that's something apart from what can happen if she is never given adequate notice of the proceedings in Guam.
There are investigation services, "skip tracing" / "missing heir location" and the like, that access computer databases to try to locate people - the cost can be quite reasonable and it can be surprising how easy some people are to find, especially if they're engaged in activity that involves disclosing their SSN.
If she's active on any social networks, it's sometimes possible to figure out where somebody is from photos, location tags and the like. If she left a forwarding address with USPS, if she kept her cell phone contract.... use your imagination. -
11-09-2012, 04:43 PMtex11Re: Mother Left Overseas with Child - What to DoNot sure where the attorney is coming from with this thinking, but you are going to have to make your own call on whether the no-contact rule is really appropriate in your case.Quote:
Quoting anonymous1212
Don't hold your breath waiting for that to happenQuote:
Quoting anonymous1212
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11-09-2012, 06:10 PManonymous1212Re: Mother Left Overseas with Child - What to Do
What happens if she doesn't show up to court after service of publication is complete and she unable to located?
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11-09-2012, 08:26 PMtex11Re: Mother Left Overseas with Child - What to Do
Your attorney is the only one who can give you an answer to that, given he or she is familiar with the facts in your case, and possibly the disposition of the judge in your case.
But since you have no prior court order acknowleging and establishing your custodial rights as a father, and you are having issues serving process to the mother, and you cannot prove it is because she is purposely evading service, it is far from a given the court will even consider giving you custody of your child by default.
As you were already advised by Mr Knowitall, you really need to ensure the mother is properly served and that she is aware of the proceedings. So do your best to ensure that happens. -
11-10-2012, 09:00 AMllworkingRe: Mother Left Overseas with Child - What to DoI agree with this advice. With some very brief googling it appears that Guam is fairly standard in that in an unwed situation mom has custody until a court says otherwise. Since you have no court orders mom did nothing illegal by leaving Guam with the child. Therefore I am not even sure that a judge would allow you the right to serve mom by publication, because mom has the child.Quote:
Quoting tex11
I also do not see how the FBI could get involved at all, since no crime has been committed.
In addition, if mom really has returned to Guam, then what you would end up filing would be very different than what you would file if she is still on the mainland. You really do need to find them. You also might want to consult with a couple of attorneys.