Can a Parent Still Keep Joint Custody if He's in Prison

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

my ex boyfriend and I have shared custody of our son for the last three years. this past November I found out he was in jail waiting for sentencing for a second degree assault charge. as of Jan 4th he has been sentenced 5 years in prison. do i still have to honor the custody order at this point??? can his family intervene if they are not part of the original order???

Unless his family are named in the order then they have nothing to do with it and cannot simply step in to assume his custodial role. Any family member of his wishing to do that must go to court. As for you, it would be a good idea to seek modification of the order to account for his prison term. He's not going to be able to exercise joint custody in prison, and you’ll want an order that spells that out.

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Quoting ablopez

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

my ex boyfriend and I have shared custody of our son for the last three years. this past November I found out he was in jail waiting for sentencing for a second degree assault charge. as of Jan 4th he has been sentenced 5 years in prison. do i still have to honor the custody order at this point??? can his family intervene if they are not part of the original order???

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Of course you do not. Hopefully you have not been allowing his family to exercise his parenting time.

I am currently trying to work with a lawyer my exes wife has a power of attorney that the school is honoring and they are requiring for me to take documentation showing otherwise

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Quoting ablopez

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I am currently trying to work with a lawyer my exes wife has a power of attorney that the school is honoring and they are requiring for me to take documentation showing otherwise

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The school is honoring the power of attorney in what way? What is the school allowing her to do?

OK well when I found out my ex was in jail I assumed I had the right to get my son then and there. so on that Monday I was there to pick him up from school and my ex's mom and girlfriend had shown up saying she had the poa and we ended up in a meeting with the principal.. in the office they kept acusing me stating that I was breaking the custody order because I was tryin to take my son on one of the days my ex would've normally done so. the principal called the police and we all went over the poa. the cop said if I really wanted to take my son I coisldve but then the courts would use that against me and held me in contempt. the school principal then decided that I had show documentations showing that I had rightful custody in order to take him. which is why I havent. been able to keep my son.

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Quoting ablopez

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OK well when I found out my ex was in jail I assumed I had the right to get my son then and there. so on that Monday I was there to pick him up from school and my ex's mom and girlfriend had shown up saying she had the poa and we ended up in a meeting with the principal.. in the office they kept acusing me stating that I was breaking the custody order because I was tryin to take my son on one of the days my ex would've normally done so. the principal called the police and we all went over the poa. the cop said if I really wanted to take my son I coisldve but then the courts would use that against me and held me in contempt. the school principal then decided that I had show documentations showing that I had rightful custody in order to take him. which is why I havent. been able to keep my son.

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Dad's wife and mother simply CANNOT use a POA to assume dad's shared custody while dad is in jail. The school and the police were both wrong.

I suggest that you pick up your child and keep him. However, I also think it would be wise to file for sole custody on the basis that dad has been sentenced to 5 years in prison. You also might want to consider moving your child to another school.

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Quoting ablopez

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the cop said if I really wanted to take my son I coisldve but then the courts would use that against me and held me in contempt. the school principal then decided that I had show documentations showing that I had rightful custody in order to take him. which is why I havent. been able to keep my son.

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I suspect that they were taking the position that, absent proof that your ex- was not actually going to exercise his parenting time, they were going to abide by the terms of the custody order and release the child to your ex's duly authorized agent. Did your ex's family members concede that your ex- was incarcerated, and was not going to be released during the parenting time at issue?

You stated earlier that your ex- was sentenced to prison, but now you are referencing jail. Did this exchange occur before your ex- was sentenced to prison? Did you follow up by documenting that he is now in prison, and is thus not subject to any form of pretrial or pre-sentencing release and, if so, what was the school's response? Have you tried going to the school district about the matter, such that they can review the matter and advise the principal of their interpretation of the third party rights under the facts and their governing rules and regulations?

For inmates in the custody of the Department of Corrections, an inmate search should produce documentation of their incarceration and earliest parole eligibility date.

Whatever is happening with the school, it does make sense to petition to modify custody based upon your ex's incarceration. You can find detailed instructions on how to file a petition, here. Although your ex- has the right to oppose your petition, if he's going to be spending the next few years behind bars he cannot succeed in maintaining joint physical custody.

when I found out he was incarcerated was in Nov he had been there since end of October.. his mother and girlfriend told me when we had that confrontation that he was only there for two weeks but when I did an inmate search he was there without bail until a hearing in December. after that hearinbhe had another one in january which was for sentencing that's when he got 5 years without being eligible for parole until 2020.

You need to file for emergency custody!