Results 1 to 6 of 6
  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Posts
    22

    Default Taking Custody Due to Primary Parent Moving Out of Their Home

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

    Long story short-my ex's wife called me to tell me that she has kicked him out and is filing for divorce. He's lied and cheated on her just like he did to me, only this time we think that his lies have now fallen into levels that might land him in jail (falsifying military documents to obtain loans and security clearance at work).

    Anyway, he left the house and left the kids with her. We have joint custody but he is primary. She called to let me know because he refused. She and I get along just fine. She advised me that he had physcially assaulted her daughter twice, with another adult as a witness, and she fears their safety if left alone with him, so he left. She is changing the locks and packing to get out but in the meantime he is now staying with his sister on her couch.

    In light of the fact that he left the kids behind, there is evidence of physical abuse to other children in the home, and the possible criminal charges now coming down on him, do I have any legal justification to take the kids and bring them to my house? We only live 3 miles apart and like I said step mom and I get along really well so we have already decided that we will work together to do whatever is in the best interest of all the kids involved (she has her daughter from a previous marriage, plus the 1 yr old daughter they have together) but we want to make sure that we dont violate any court orders etc. at the same time. Obviously the end result of this would be for me to retain primary physical custody and cease child support, which is currently paid so far ahead due to their mistake that I don't have another payment due for another 2 months. I've had a credit balance since last October. Normally I wouldn't have them again until Tuesday because this is his weekend but he won't be seeing them at all so she called me to see what I thought we should do. The kids do not yet know that their dad isn't coming back home. They think he's just working late, which isn't unusual.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Somewhere near Canada
    Posts
    35,894

    Default Re: Taking Custody Due to Primary Parent Moving Out of Their Home

    SO what happened when she called the police and CPS to report the abuse?

    And really - she has NO RIGHT to change the locks of their marital home. You probably want to remind her of that.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Posts
    22

    Default Re: Taking Custody Due to Primary Parent Moving Out of Their Home

    Since I wasn't there I can't tell you what exactly transpired. That isn't the question I need answered though. What i need to know is if I have legal right to pick up the children since he has left the home and left all the children behind in her care.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: Taking Custody Due to Primary Parent Moving Out of Their Home

    File an emergency motion for full custody.

    Your ex's spouse's actions in changing the locks complicates things, as it's not clear that the issue is his being unable to care for the kids in the marital home so much as it is that he has been locked out. Nobody knows where dad is, such that they can talk to him about his present living arrangements and intentions?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Posts
    22

    Default Re: Taking Custody Due to Primary Parent Moving Out of Their Home

    she hasnt changed the locks yet. She wanted to so he wasnt in the home while she wasn't there. She did tell me that he left without incident when she asked him to go. During my separation from him he did this to me several times, coming into the home when I wasnt there. He removed property, documents, ransacked the house and took photos and presented them to the courts as how I kept house, etc. He also cut off all the utilities, drained the bank account, and took my vehicle, hiding it for the next 4 years, even though he had been ordered by the courts repeatedly to return it. He is currently sleeping on his sister's couch. There's alot of crap he pulled on the advice of his snake in the grass lawyer when I divorced him, and I'd like to help her not have to endure some of the hell that I had to go through. The only difference this time is that he doesn't have a wealthy grandmother to bankroll his lawyer so he'll get the pleasure of learning what its like to go through a divorce without an attorney like I did. We just want to keep things at a minimum disruption for all the kids, and make sure that they can all maintain as close a relationship as possible.

    We are waiting on some documents from the mortgage company his house is through, because we have reason to believe he forged his military forms to obtain the loan, as well as obtaining security clearance for his job. We also know that he has taken property from his employer and given it to friends, even providing some of the equipment to his new church. The lies are abundant, and we've been able to confirm several of them, the question is whether or not he's lied to people and companies enough to have committed a crime, and we can prove it.

    It is his weekend for visitation, however he will not be seeing them, and I have already got a call waiting with my attorney so we can file first thing, but wondered what to do in the meantime, and if she gave them to me, would I be in violation of the standing visitation order. I can still get them to/from school and such since we live just minutes apart. I don't have them back with me per standing orders until Tuesday, and we wondered if the papers are filed but we have no answer by then if I should return them to the step mother or just keep them. The kids don't know yet what is happening, as it is not unusual for him to be gone so they wouldn't be surprised by his absence. He has given her his proposed "schedule" of when he'd like to see the kids, and apparently has no intentions of even telling me all this is going on, and has thus far acted as if I don't exist. Fortunatly his wife and I are in total agreement on what we want.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Posts
    576

    Default Re: Taking Custody Due to Primary Parent Moving Out of Their Home

    You don't have enough for an emergency change in custody at this time.

    All you have is dad's soon to be divorced wife who is po'd enough to just now raise issues of "physically assaulting" his child, which was apparently not important enough for her to mention to you before this whole mess started. Which in turn raises questions of intent, and unless this only happened very recently, and it cannot be argued in the context of parental discipline, or 'an intent' to cause harm to his child, and the facts surrounding this are dispute, you don't have a whole lot to go on here to make a legally supportable finding of physical abuse.

    Texas Family Code 261.001 (1)(C) "Abuse" includes the following acts or omissions by a person: physical injury that results in substantial harm to the child, or the genuine threat of substantial harm from physical injury to the child, including an injury that is at variance with the history or explanation given and excluding an accident or reasonable discipline by a parent, guardian, or managing or possessory conservator that does not expose the child to a substantial risk of harm;

    ...this time is that he doesn't have a wealthy grandmother to bankroll his lawyer so he'll get the pleasure of learning what its like to go through a divorce without an attorney like I did. We just want to keep things at a minimum disruption for all the kids, and make sure that they can all maintain as close a relationship as possible...
    You are actively colluding with his wife to find ways to get him in legal trouble for questionable mortgage practices, and to lose his job by attacking his security clearance with allegations of theft, and for anything else you two can come up with. Yeah, that's the spirit of causing minimal disruption and maintaining close relationships

    And this presumably because he lied and cheated on both of you, and that he may now not have the money he did last time. Now you two are going to get back at him. And its really nice that you and his wife are in total agreement with each other...

    Obviously the end result of this would be for me to retain primary physical custody and cease child support...
    Your motives are far from altruistic, and there seems to be a huge undertone of revenge with your desire to obtain custody, and less on the best interests of the children.

    While you certainly have a right to file a Suit for Modification of Custody, this is not an emergency situation to justify an immediate change in custody. You probably lost custody last time for more reasons than he simply railroaded you, and the court will not just hand the children over to you based upon what you have given so far.

    Unless it is a true emergency, which does not appear to be the case here, the Texas Family Code prohibits a judge from issuing temporary orders to change the custodial parent pending a modification suit, and is required to wait until after a final hearing on a Suit for Modification before changing custody.

    1. Sponsored Links
       

Similar Threads

  1. Can a Parent With Primary Custody Move Out of State
    By NCmom105 in forum Child Custody, Support and Visitation
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 04-02-2011, 02:26 PM
  2. Non Custodial Parent is Moving - What Are My Rights As Primary Parent
    By lesliejnash in forum Child Custody, Support and Visitation
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 11-07-2010, 03:03 PM
  3. Moving Out of Florida Without Primary Custody
    By bpk1203 in forum Child Custody, Support and Visitation
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 07-21-2009, 06:37 AM
  4. When the Primary Parent Dies, Who Gets Custody
    By kessler2121 in forum Child Custody, Support and Visitation
    Replies: 20
    Last Post: 11-25-2008, 08:30 PM
  5. Getting Temporary Custody For Non-Primary Parent
    By momintn in forum Child Custody, Support and Visitation
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 07-19-2007, 04:30 PM
 
 
Sponsored Links

Legal Help, Information and Resources