How Can I Get Custody of My Younger Brother

My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Arizona. I currently live in Nevada, I moved away from Arizona because my mom didnt care about me(she says she does, just like she does with my brother, but it has never been about us, only what she wants.) Growing up she had a habit of running away every time a guy broke up with her and moving in with the next one dragging me along. Recently after her most recent divorce she fell back into the habit and possible even started using meth again.

My brothers father(whose name is on my birth certificate but is not my real father) ran out on my mom when I was three months old. He went to prison for something none of us know about, got raped and landed a house in AZ. Which is when mom reconnected wth him for a divorce but he was like "move in" and we did. He was very verbally and mentally abusive with me specifically. When my brother was born I was 12 and I volunteered to be homeschooled in middle school because he was so sick(congestive heart failure) I was scared to leave them alone. It was when I was homeschooled he made me look up pornos I thought he would like. He'd tell me what he wanted me to look for and made me do it, this was all before I even understood what I was doing...

I honestly just thought daddy liked watching videos of naked girls, and I never brought it to my moms attention. Jay her husband would kiss me on the lips and say "that's what families do, you love me don't you?" When I told my mom how uncomfortable it made me, she simply agreed with him and made me try to make the family work. He molested me one night and it was shortly after that my mom and brother and I went to a safe house. Which is when the first battle for custody began, at that time I still didn't really understand what had happened to me, at that time I didn't want to face anything, i didn't want to think about what thy did to me. By the time I turned 18 I moved away that day to Nevada.

Now I am 20, I have a good job that pays me well above the state average with health benefits, dental, vision, and a 401k. I'm about four months away from moving into my own apartment and at that time I wish to file for custody of my brother who is now about 8 years old. His parents have been fighting over custody for the last three years. He goes to moms house and mom says terrible things about dad. He goes to dads house and dad says terrible things about mom. He's become quiet and shy with his parents constantly asking him who he loves more. His father has no income other than social security and he pays my mother child support however he does own his current home.

My mother currently works for cash, and the minimum wage in the state is going up so she's hoping she can find something soon, but my fingers aren't crossed. She currently lives with a friend of hers after losing her rented home when she divorced her most recent husband she married only after two months of knowing him. Now she is going through this second divorce and a custody battle still. She says she's stuck in the state because she can't gather enough evidence against jay for the courts to grant her full custody, but I also don't think she is in a place to offer my brother the life he needs.

I don't want him growing up in either of those environments and I want to know what my chances are once I'm living on my own in a few months to petition the courts for custody of my brother. He deserves a loving stable life where people show him love and aren't constantly seeking him to give it. Any advice you have for me would be appreciated, I'm sorry it's so long.

I appreciate how much you care about your brother, but what you are proposing is just not possible. Even if both parents were legally unfit (and so far that isn't the case) it would be a long shot for you to get placement of your brother because you are so young and live in a different state.

I understand that the two of them are far from perfect and may have some really serious issues, but nothing that they have done has resulted in the police or CPS getting involved with your family, let alone any convictions against them.

After her most recent divorce she left the state with Jason which wasnt legally allowed and police have been involved to seperate their disputes over five times in the last few months but they were considered minor disturbances and nothing was ever done about it.

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Quoting Helpmeplease09

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After her most recent divorce she left the state with Jason which wasnt legally allowed and police have been involved to seperate their disputes over five times in the last few months but they were considered minor disturbances and nothing was ever done about it.

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Again, not unfit from a legal standpoint.

The state is not going to remove a child from the parents simply because the brother wants him to live there. It's not going to happen.

On a side note, you don't really have any concept of how much a child costs to raise. Last I checked it was a bit north of $250K or $13,800/year to raise a child to 18 minus any frills, like computers, cell phones, intramural activities or congestive heart failure and I feel comfortable saying that you are not really equipped to handle that at 20 (not that mom is either, necessarily).