Legal Custody

Question: Legal custody???? I have a 5 month old daughter. Her father and I were only together for 4 months when I got pregnant. Anyways, during my pregnancy, my ex and I were always fighting. He became very verbally abusive and I decided to break things. We are not together but I still bring her to see him everyother weekend. Anyways, everyother day I will get a message and or email (I keep every one) that is very verbally abusive. He refused to sign the birth certificate and now he wants more visitation and demands her SS# but I don’t trust him. I want to go for full custody with him having visitations. I don’t want to deny her of her father but I need the verbal attacks to stop and don’t know how else to make them stop. I guess my question is. Do you think there is a chance he or his parents could get full custody or this could back fire. I only want what is best for my daughter but everyday is a nightmare with her father. I think I need legal counsel but wanted the opinion of others first......

Answer: Get some legal counsel because the laws for custody and child support vary from state to state. You need to find someone knowledgeable about it for your area. Let the lawyer know about the e-mails and what you want to have happen with custody. Don't give your DD's ss# to your ex until you have to. You want a court order in place before he has that kind of information.

Question: How can someone obtain legal custody of their children while they are still married? A friend is looking to get legal custody of her children, but she is still legally married. How would she go about doing this? Her husband is abusive, but nothing has ever been filed against him. She wants for him to leave, but he will not. What are the steps she should take?

Answer: If she takes the kids and leave, she will automatically have temporary legal custody. If this friend has been a stay at home mom or worked part time while the husband worked full time, it is another stroke in her favor. Courts usually allow who ever has been the primary caregiver to continue to be the primary caregiver in the best interest of the children. When you say he is abusive, do you mean that he would threaten to hunt down and harm his wife if she left? If this is the case, there are agencies that help women in these kinds of situations. Or she should move in with an out of state relative or friend temporarily. She needs to pack like 3 days worth of clothes and essentials for herself and each kid, or less, and wait for her opportunity to leave. She will need a way to get to wherever she is going and possibly to change her name. It doesn't matter if nothing has ever been filed against him. When the divorce happens she can put all of this into the papers and they should take her word on it. If you are afraid for her safety until these arrangements can be made, I would use a code word that she can slip into a conversation to let you know to call 911.

Question: What is the difference between having legal custody and actually adopting a child? What's the difference between me having legal custody of a child and adopting him/her?

Answer: Legal custody = not permanent Adopting = it's your child!

Question: What is the difference between temporary legal custody and guardianship? My husband and I have had his 4 nieces and nephews for 3 1/2 years now and have temporary legal and physical custody of them. Not knowing there was a difference in the two, we thought we had all rights to deciding their well being and what not. We got them because their father is incarcerated and mother is in and out and though expressed interest in getting two of them back, never acted on it. Anyway, it has been since June 18 2006 that we've had any contact with thier mother, and have recently learned that we don't have guardianship and that we can go to the probate court and apply for it but that both parents would have to sign. They said if we couldn't find thier mother, we'd place an ad in the paper giving her a certain amount of time to come forward. My question is this. Until we do this, what rights does their mother have? Would she be allowed to pull her children out of my home if she wanted to? She is wanted so I know she would go to jail, but could she have them removedfrom us

Answer: She can not gain custody of them without going through the courts. She could take you back to court and try to re-gain custody.Temporary custody means until a permanent custody plan has been decided by the court you and your husband are the legal care takers (guardians) of the children. If she takes them it would be considered kidnapping. You need to make this custody arrangement a permanent one by going back to court and asking for legal guardianship, this would make you the permanent legal care takers (guardians) of the children. AMEND: Yes, what has been stated about their mother's and father's rights being either voluntarily or involuntarily relinquished is true. This can be done by the judge. Most states say if there has been no contact with the parent for six months it is abandonment. LAWYERS OFFER A FREE CONSULTATION. CALL ONE AND GET YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED.

Question: Can I get sole physical and legal custody and not let the father get visitation rights? I want to get sole physical and legal custody of my daughter and not let the father be able to see her. He is a disabled veteran with schizophrenia and I don't want him to take her anyway by himself. I am only 17 and he is 27. If I were to take him to court what are the chances that I can get sole custody of her and not let him be able to see her? I live in Illinois if that matters.

Answer: Great! Another single mom who wants to use the father of her child like a check book and ignore his rights. This man served our country. Is probably suffering PSD and you want to treat him like dirt under your feet. Wow. What a winner you are. You make me sick. You could have a heart and agree to supervised visitation. Shame on you. There was something that attracted you to him enough to have sex with him and keep his baby.

Question: How do I go about serving legal custody papers to my husband in another state? My husband is currently in Buffalo New York and I am in Jacksonville North Carolina. I have got my legal custody papers signed by a judge from my attorney and I am wondering how I can serve them to him so that I can get my child back.

Answer: you should ask your attorney! Normally you would pay a small fee (about $75 or so) to a "process server" in New York to deliver the papers to him and to give you legal proof that he did. You could look at the yellow pages for Buffalo or google on the internet. Some states will allow you to serve him by registered mail. BUT I'm pretty concerned here because usually you have to sue for custody in the state where the child lives. And if you want to take custody of the child normally you would want to go there in person, have the police serve him and take the child yourself...

Question: How would I go about filing for legal custody of my children? I live in PA. I want my kids to be able to see their dad whenever he wants to see them, but I don't want him to just be able to take them from me. I'm not looking for child support, just legal custody.

Answer: As long as he pays child support, he has visitation rights. However, if he doesn't pay child support for.. I think it's 6 months, you can terminate his rights (before a judge, without lawyer and without him even being there only if you are married to someone else) Then, it's up to you how long he sees the kids. Really, about the worst place to ask is here, best being a lawyer. Most will review your case for free, so give it a go.

Question: Does there have to be a legal custody order to file for child support? My husbands 2 teenage kids live w/us full time. They have since since they were toddlers. They see there mom about 2x a month. My husband never asked for monetary support. She is very difficult & it was easier to for my husband to not do so. Things have changed & he is wanting support. They were never married so there is nothing legal. Can he still file for child support w/o legal custody?

Answer: They go hand in hand. He can file for legal custody at the same time as support. Think about it - support is based on who has the children in their home for how much time. Without a custody order, there's no way to determine a support amount. But in your case, since the kids have been with their father all along, and presumably school records and other documents will prove that, a custody order should be just a formality.

Question: Is an attny needed to seek sole legal custody of a child if the parents were never married? Attorneys cost a lot of money and funds are not readily available to finance one. So I wanted to know can I attempt to get sole legal custody of my son without an attorney and if I can, how?

Answer: Only for the father. Mothers are given it automatically by the lack of any laws providing single father with any presumed rights to the child. Only Arizona has a law addressing the rights of single fathers. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Question: I live in sacramento. Where do I start to get legal custody of a minor child. Mother has agreed to custody? He is my great nephew. Mother can not care for him and has signed a permanent custody paper But nothing legal has been done. He has been with me for a year. He is 12yrs old. Where do I get started? I need to get him medical and dental coverage. So I need legal custody.

Answer: You need to contact a family law attorney. Or check with your local court house and see if they have a free legal clinic one night a week. Often these clinic include attorneys who'll help fill out the paperwork needed to get legal guardianship of your great nephew. Here's a link to the forms: http://www.saclaw.lib.ca.us/pages/forms-… On-line resources: http://www.saclaw.lib.ca.us/pages/online… Good Luck!

Question: Can an 18 year old take legal custody of their siblings? It's a plot for a story. Could an 18 year old get legal custody of her siblings if their parents were unfit? And if so, how would they go about it?

Answer: Someone would have to call Child Protective Services and tell them that the parents were unfit. CPS would have to come over and find out and take custody of the kids. Then there would be a court hearing and the kids would tell the judge they want to live with their older sibling. The judge would have to be convinced that this is safe and acceptable.

Question: Have full sole and legal custody and nothing states visitation in PA? I have a 16 yr old sister that I have full sole and legal custody of. We live in PA. Our parents now want to see her and she does not want to see them. It does not state anywhere in the custody order of visitation rights for the parents. Do they still have the right to come by and take her against her and my will? Any information is greatly appreciated. P.S. Children and Youth Services are involved also. Thanks!

Answer: The Court Order says it all. Your parents have NO rights. You have All decision making authority. Your parents have NO RIGHTS. Call the police if they try to take her. The only person who could challenge you reasonably (in my state) is your sister--she could petition the Court to allow visitation with her parents. She's old enough that the Court would consider her wishes--but also so old, the Court could easily say "wait until you're 18." I don't know what your parent's did, but I commend you for taking this responsibility. This is highly unusual. Bless you for caring.

Question: what do I have to do to get sole legal custody? My husband and I are separated. I want to get a sole legal custody on my kids. What do I have to do in order to get it? How long would it talk? Anything advise helps.

Answer: In most states, unless one of the parents is unfit, the courts do joint custody. The courts find that it is usually in the best interest of the child to have two parents. So, unless there is something really wrong with your husband, you too will probably have to put you differences aside for your children.

Question: When and under what circumstances does a medical examiner have legal custody of a decedent? This is for a project in my Forensic Science class in which I must make up a murder case, but I need to know if an ME immediately gets legal custody of a decedent in a homocide murder case.

Answer: Citicop is partially correct. There are deaths attended by a medical professional that are nonetheless handed over to the ME or coroner. An example would be anytime a drug reaction occurs which results in death. This also could depend upon the jurisdiction(s) involved. County coroners might give way to state officials in certain circumstances; for example, where the murder occurred in one county but the body was discovered in another.

Question: Do you have to have legal custody to enroll kids in school? I live in Texas. My husbands kids live with their mama. in the divorce their mother got custody. She is letting them move in wth us. Do we have to have legal custody?

Answer: You need to talk to a lawyer. You don't have to have custody, but you have to have some sort of official proof of guardianship, I'd imagine at the very least a certified letter. It's really best to talk to a lawyer.

Question: How do you get legal custody of a child? I would like to apply for legal custody of my grandson in Ontario, Canada, both parents are unfit, how do I start the process

Answer: You start by hiring an attorney. Then you pay the private eye he hires to find out everything possible about their dirty dealings. You have to have some real proof that they are unfit. Not just your opinion. And even then, they may just order the parents into parenting classes and return the child to them. Quite frankly if I thought a relative of mine was being abused or neglected I would have already called the police to get them out of the situation immediately. I'm sure your motives will look suspect since you have yet to do that. So you need to go to an attorney and follow his advice.

Question: what does it mean to have legal custody of your child? I have legal custody of my child and need someone to be able to tell me what it means. Does this mean that I can tell the father that he can't certain things without my permission? I need to know because he is letting her do things that no 5 year old should be.

Answer: What do you mean letting her do things that she shouldn't be doing? What exactly is he doing? Legal custody means that he can not take her out of the state or country. He doesn't have to ask you for permission for every little thing but he does need to let you know what his plans are for the day. Going to amusment park, etc. But i'm not lawyer, so you may want to ask your lawyer to get a correct answer.

Question: What is sufficient enough evidence that my father has legal custody of me? I just filed for U.S. citizenship using the N-600. I know i am a citizen because my father was naturalized while I was under 18 yrs. However, he and my mother were never married, although both there names are on my birth certificate. Now immigration wants to know if he had legal custody of me . My mother died in Haiti when I was 2 yrs old, but i have no death certificate. My father and I have lived in America since 1993.

Answer: Were there any school records that he signed, or that listed him as your contact? Can you contact Haiti and get the birth certificate? If she died in a hospital, can you obtain hospital records? Do you have family photos?

Question: Can I claim a child on my taxes as a dependent even if I don't have legal custody? My Godson lives with me and I pay all his expenses. I don't have legal custody. I recently heard through the grapevine that his mother is planning on claiming him on her tax return even though she hasn't paid a dime toward his well-being. I have all the receipts for the things I spent on him.

Answer: If the child lives with you over half the year at least (overnights are typically considered a "day" to the IRS, so half the year...), then you can claim the child and also head of household. I would just suggest filing before she does, because then when she files, she'll get a notice that the SSN of the child has already been claimed, and she'll have to jump through hoops to prove that she deserves the deducation.

Question: Is it fair that if a mother is not willing to give the father of her daughter sole legal custody and primary c? Is it fair that if a mother is not willing to give the father of her daughter sole legal custody and primary custodian she will get less then $50.00 in court ordered child support? The father of her daughter still lives with his parrents, and some would say that he is the better parrent.

Answer: nothing is fair about custody disputes