A question about losing custody of a child?

Question

I have a neighbor who is having all kinds of problems regarding custody of her neighbor. Yes this is the same person I have been asking all the other questions in regards too.

Back about 5 years ago she lost temporary custody of her daughter and the state (of course) awarded it to the father.

Mother was served with papers from the fathers lawyer stating that he INTENDED to go for FULL PERMANENT custody. Mother was given 10 days to respond which of course the mother did and let the attorney know that she intended to maintain full custody once the situation she was in was fully rectified.

She never heard another word from that attorney and never got any other court papers regarding this either. She based her life on what the father of the child claimed. He of course claims to have all kinds of papers giving he the full custody he wanted.

Now since the mother never got any other papers is it at all possible that there are NO other papers (the court knew how to contact her)

Any chance the mom was supposed to have gotten her daughter back a long time ago.

Luckily for me I have my daughter and I don't have any experience with this kind of thing but this person is in a lot of pain and I want to help them.

thanks

Answer 1

First of all, it is important to understand that the Court does not have to inform you of any papers that are aside your name, this is of course once the first papers are filed. The best thing to do in this situation is to inform your neighbor to look into any other papers that may be filed in Court. She can do this by calling them directly, or finding time to personally go in there.

I do not know the financial situation of the lady in question, but if more than one set of papers have been filed, it's time to find herself some legal representation.

The fact that she hasn't received he child back is a matter of concern.

My advice is this, find out what's happening, and ensure she has every resource at her disposal.

If I can help any further, please let me know.

Answer 2

Unfortunately, it's too late for your friend now.  It's been five years.  Five years in which the children have been in the care of their father.  The only home they've known.  No judge is going to award custody to a mother who hasn't filed a motion in five years.

Honestly, I feel badly for your friend if she's had problems.  But, really, the best thing she can do now is get as much visitation as possible.  It would only be painful to the children to be suddenly up-rooted, or shuffled back and forth, at this point.

You know, some guys can be real jerks and still be pretty good fathers.  People are different as parents than they are as, say, co-workers.

Good for you for wanting to help.  I hope for the best for both of you.

Answer 3

Does she still have the documents from her husband's lawyer? and a copy of her response?  I hope she sent the response back to the lawyer in a registered envelope!  I think I would call that lawyer, and ask him if THEY ever got her response! If she had registered it, she should have got a receipt from whoever signed for it! If she didn't, well, she may be out of luck! Anyway, ask the lawyer how she stands in this custody case, that's the only way to solve the problem! Her husband would have had to go to court for that Permanent Custody of the child, and usually, the court will notify her - in other words, will serve her papers! She can go, or stay away!! That would be up to her - if the lawyer can't give her a decent answer, and if SHE has a lawyer, she had better take all this up with him!

Answer 4

My advice to YOU is to stop worrying about other peoples problems. Leave your neighbour to deal with the situation as she can. If she was as bothered as you are getting she would do something about it. Theres ALWAYS a way.