My question involves a child custody case from the State of: California
I'm posting for a friend.
My friend and his then-girlfriend had a child together. They lived together at a relatives house as a happy family. The mom worked part time in retail. The dad for families business full time. Eventually she left him and he moved out. They maintained 50/50 custody. A few years later she married a military man and became pregnant. He is now stationed in California about 3-4 hours away. Now the mom claims shes the primary parent because they agreed the child would stay at home with her since she wasn't working rather than pay for the expensive daycare. He still see's his child the same days and times (50/50) but he still works full time and she doesn't work period. She decided that she was going to take their child and move in with her new husband and had no intentions of going to court nor get permission from the father. The father has filed papers and the judge told the mom she can't leave until they sort out custody. I'm curious if there are any legal standpoints that she might use, and the best defense against those standpoints? Neither parent has drug/criminal histories, father has been the full time provider for his child from birth, and while still with the mom, was her provider as well. He has always paid more than he had too in terms of child support, and never misses his time with his child. The mom has been spending more time with the child since she is no longer working, but thats only been the arrangement in the past 5 months. Prior to that the father paid for full time daycare, the mom was going through numerous jobs in the mean time. Now that the mother is married to a military man she is getting what she wants/needs from there, perks, if you will, not having to work. The father is the full time provider and always has been. He wants to do things legally and by the book, something she had no interest in doing until he filed with the courts. Currently living in a same area, the same area the child has been in since birth. Relatives are all here or near here. Child is not old enough for school yet, but the father wants the child to be here for school so the child can have friends. If the military step-father gets stationed elsewhere, and they move again, and again, and again, the standpoint the father is using is that is not in the best interest of the child, as it is not a stable living environment. Could the mom being pregnant be valid argument? She WILL be giving the newborn a lot of the attention.
Any opinions/information/case law references would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you, everyone.

