My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Washington
My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Washington
I spent that last 2 1/2 years of my life with the mother of my now 21 month old daughter. During that period we had a couple of rough spots, one of which I moved across the state for work on a breakup. I continued to visit my daughter every weekend (a 5 1/2 hour drive one way, mind you) and eventually we got back together. After our final break up, about a month ago, I want to take custody of my daughter for Monday-Friday, and let her mother have her on the weekends. We have no legally binding documentation to who gets her what days, nor the amount of child support, but I've been paying $400 a month to her mom and seeing her every weekend.
The mother decided, 2 days before we split, to begin an online relationship with someone she's never met in real life. The guy lives in Japan, and after an extremely unnerving phone call, plans on marrying her when he comes to the states in September. She told me she also planned on moving our daughter to Japan with her to live with this stranger. Not only do I NOT want my daughter leaving the country, let alone the state, I want her throughout the work week. Here's a break down of the pro's and con's of both of our living arrangements:
Me:
-Salaried $2400+ a month working from home
-Have been employed for the last year and a half
-Go to church and participate in various activites 3 days a week
-Live in a 3 bedroom with my parents, although I only moved back in with them because of this difficult time
-Am a convicted sex offender.. at the age of 11 I recieved oral sex from the 9 year old neighbor. Her father didn't take kindly to this and pressed charges. Have never been in trouble since, and completed 2 years of court ordered therapy for it.
Her:
-No income, and hasn't actively worked more then 3 months total in the last 4 years.
-Lives at her parents 3 bedroom with 7 other people, only 3 of which are employed.
-Has documented proof of being under 24 hour suicide watch at our local hospital
-Is on 'mood-stabilizers' and undergos weekly counseling
-Wouldn't pass a drug test to save her life (marijuana, mind you)
-Was an active 'cutter' in her youth, with scars all along her arms and shoulders to prove it.
-Father is retired military police.
Besides the obvious 'I'm going to take our daughter out of the country to live with a complete stranger,' I believe it's pretty straight forward. I, in no way, want to take my daughter away from her mother, but genuinely believe living with her isn't what's best.
What do you think a custody battle would look like in this case?

