Can I Take Custody Without Going Back to Court Based on a Child's Wish

My question involves juvenile law in the State of: New Hampshire, Georgia

Hello All!
This is my first post here and I really hope someone could guide me in the right direction as to what to do here.

I have a 15 year old Daughter who lives with her mother and aunt in Georgia, She was taken from me approx. 4 years ago and her mother never told me they where going. I also have another Daughter who when she turned 18 moved back to NH with me. OK, so the issue is my 15 year old wants to come back to NH and live with me also, but her mother says she will get me on kidnapping charges if I bring her back to NH. Oh and by the way I am not divorced or legally separated either. From what my Daughters tell me, the living conditions are horrible at best, The aunt runs an animal shelter where they live, They live in a trailer home with approx. 20-30 cats, dogs,horses, ect....
My 15 year old was able to visit me last week for the first time in 3-4 years and she tells me she is being made fun of at school because she smells like cat urine. She says the house smells and not very clean. The aunt and mother are always yelling at her for one thing or another, But she is a good kid and dosnt get into trouble. She says she gets verbally abused for not completing tasks around the shelter, And sometimes for no reason at all. I believe her knowing her mother and aunt. She has had enough and no longer wants to be there. I need to bring her Back! Does she have the right to decide where she wants to live? what is the best way to do this? And yes I do pay her mother money even though we are not divorced. I have no money for lawyers and such, but I cannot sit idle on this, please help!

Thanks
Paul

is there currently a custody order?

Why do I see childrens services and a real animal rescue getting involved here?

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Quoting Paul Arsenault

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Oh and by the way I am not divorced or legally separated either.

Thanks
Paul

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Paul, are you still married to her mother? No custody order at all? You were married to the mother when the child was born? Why don't you think you can keep your daughter? The legal situation in this specific case isn't about the daughters wish, while it's nice, at 15yrs old, it doesn't hold as much weight as you still being married.

Yes I am still married and there is no custody order and was married when she was born

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Quoting FatherKnowsBest

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Paul, are you still married to her mother? No custody order at all? You were married to the mother when the child was born? Why don't you think you can keep your daughter? The legal situation in this specific case isn't about the daughters wish, while it's nice, at 15yrs old, it doesn't hold as much weight as you still being married.

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If you are still married with no order in place, that means either of you can take the child wherever you want. You can go get your daughter and bring her back with you, and mom could come take her back. If you take her and mom decides she wants to take legal action, she can petition the court for custody with an order that the child be returned to her pending the outcome of the trial. Jurisdiction for this and further custody matters would then be where the mother lives. If mom does nothing about it, and the child lives with you long enough to establish residency where you live (generally six months - look it up for your state), then you can file your own petition there and your area would have jurisdiction over the matter.

You can get into a bit of a game of tug-o-war if you're not careful. Since I don't know the mother, and I don't know how she would react (really no one knows for sure what anyone will do), I couldn't tell you what your strategy should be.

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Quoting Paul Arsenault

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My question involves juvenile law in the State of: New Hampshire, Georgia

Hello All!
This is my first post here and I really hope someone could guide me in the right direction as to what to do here.

I have a 15 year old Daughter who lives with her mother and aunt in Georgia, She was taken from me approx. 4 years ago and her mother never told me they where going. I also have another Daughter who when she turned 18 moved back to NH with me. OK, so the issue is my 15 year old wants to come back to NH and live with me also, but her mother says she will get me on kidnapping charges if I bring her back to NH. Oh and by the way I am not divorced or legally separated either. From what my Daughters tell me, the living conditions are horrible at best, The aunt runs an animal shelter where they live, They live in a trailer home with approx. 20-30 cats, dogs,horses, ect....
My 15 year old was able to visit me last week for the first time in 3-4 years and she tells me she is being made fun of at school because she smells like cat urine. She says the house smells and not very clean. The aunt and mother are always yelling at her for one thing or another, But she is a good kid and dosnt get into trouble. She says she gets verbally abused for not completing tasks around the shelter, And sometimes for no reason at all. I believe her knowing her mother and aunt. She has had enough and no longer wants to be there. I need to bring her Back! Does she have the right to decide where she wants to live? what is the best way to do this? And yes I do pay her mother money even though we are not divorced. I have no money for lawyers and such, but I cannot sit idle on this, please help!

Thanks
Paul

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Paul, let me ask you a couple of questions.

1. Why do you think your 15 year old suddenly wants to live with your, versus Mom, after not seeing you for 3 years?

2. Have child services and animal control (nice pick up, disagreeable) been involved yet?

3. What led up to Mom allowing her to visit after 3 years of nothing?

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5. Why has taken 3 years for you to act?

Reading is fundamental....and I didn't.

I decided to contact Division for Children, Youth & Families here in NH to see if they can also help. Some of the issues not mentioned about her mother, she is a prescription junkie, And while I was working she slept while the children fended for themselves, very lazy. I lost my house and auto because of her. I now have a very stable home with children living here. I have been in contact with my daughter, her mother wants nothing to do with me, thats fine with me. I wanted my daughter to decide where she wanted to be, and not push her and try and be bias.

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Quoting Dogmatique

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Paul, let me ask you a couple of questions.

1. Why do you think your 15 year old suddenly wants to live with your, versus Mom, after not seeing you for 3 years?

2. Have child services and animal control (nice pick up, disagreeable) been involved yet?

3. What led up to Mom allowing her to visit after 3 years of nothing?

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5. Why has taken 3 years for you to act?

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I was thinking some of the same questions, particularly #5.

I'd be hesitant to call child services unless I was sure there was a real issue that they would consider dangerous to the child (there may be, if everything the child claims is true). If there's not a real issue, it's a bit on the harassing side to mom.

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Quoting Paul Arsenault

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I decided to contact Division for Children, Youth & Families here in NH to see if they can also help. Some of the issues not mentioned about her mother, she is a prescription junkie, And while I was working she slept while the children fended for themselves, very lazy. I lost my house and auto because of her. I now have a very stable home with children living here. Anyways thanks for the input.

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Can you prove her prescription drug abuse? And if it was that bad, why did you leave them with her?

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Quoting free9man

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Ahem, cough, cough...

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Your point? He can't even put together a simple sentence with proper grammar and punctuation.

Not that I disagree with his entire point of view, but he seems a bit hot-headed at times.