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When is the hearing?
Prior to her leaving, how involved were you?
Did Mom return immediately or did she remain out of State?
A timeline would be helpful, Dad![]()
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I really, really think you need to do whatever it takes to speak with an attorney.
There are several things against you.
1. You haven't been present for half your son's life. The courts are generally very reluctant to permanently remove the child from one parent in order to send them to be with someone they hardly know.
2. You're asking to relocate the child to a different State.
While Mom was obviously in the wrong for making such a threat, one threat alone is generally not enough to get custody changed.
Then again, Mom has a couple of things against her too.
1. She left kiddo with a relative (though safe), and threatened you.
2. By the time it goes to court, you'll likely have at least 6 months under your belt. That may count for something.
3. Kiddo's absences. 54 unexcused within the last year? Has the school contacted anyone about this?
Have you actually requested permission to relocate kiddo?
Is he in school now?
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So no child services involvement at all?
I can, honestly, see this going either way. It's possible that custody will be returned to Mom - if she's had no problems so far, and she can convince the court that she's currently quite stable, she'll have more chance obviously.
But I can see you remaining the primary custodial parent, too.
I do admit to being somewhat surprised that you were granted a 6 month RO based upon a threat made by a parent whose child's other parent literally came back from nowhere. That's not an insult against you, incidentally - but in many instances one might understand her point of view.
Not that she was right though. She absolutely wasn't. And now she's dealing with those consequences.
Is your son in any sort of counseling? That might not be a bad idea given the circumstances. He's had his entire life turned upside down.
ETA: Unless she threatened the child, visitation will likely be unsupervised. If it IS supervised, which you can always request, it will likely only be for a short period before she's allowed unsupervised.
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In this situation, I would absolutely get an attorney.
Let's hope the court does right by your son![]()