Desperate Father

[SteveM82]

What is the name of your state? Arizona

Back in 2001 I got my ex girlfriend pregnant, we were never married. I ended up leaving AZ but shortly after went back to AR where I met my wife in which we married in 2003, having a child of our own in 2004. I got a phone call from my ex-girlfriend shortly after I met my current wife, she called to tell me that it was a boy and to tell me what she named him. When I got engaged to my wife, my ex filed for child support because I was getting married. For about a year more I didn't hear from her, other than in a letter here and there. After that I talked to her on the phone maybe 2 more times about my son, for almost 4 years I didn't hear from her, didn't know anything about my son, couldn't get in contact with her because she kept moving around and not notifying me of where she moved to, my letters were ignored and she refused to ever send me pictures of my son. I was paying child support the whole time but due to no custody agreement, child support would not tell me where she was and I was not able to find out since she moved around so much.

All of a sudden, about Dec. 2006 she calls us out of the blue, stating that she wants me and my family to see my son and bring him back to MO where he could live until he was 18. Well he had surgery on Jan. 18th, 2006 due to a private problem, so we made plans to make our trip in March of 2007 which we did. We got out there and she changed her mind, decided he couldn't move back to MO with us that he would stay there and I could see him only when she said I could. I said different by marching into the Superior Court house and getting emergency custody papers and child custody papers. I filled out both and submitted them to the court, had her served the same day we left AZ to come back to MO. Upon return to MO we got a date setup for court for the emergency hearing. The following month, we returned to AZ once again but this time for court, I had emails from her stating she wanted me to take full custody, I had proof that she refused to let me see him and talk to him for 4 years. In court she had a lawyer and I didn't which scared me half to death, I didn't think I could handle court by myself but I settled for 15 mins of phone time each week and visitation of 3 consecutive days of 8 hours each day, I had to notify my ex of when I would be in AZ and she was to take my son to Kingman where I could have my visitation unsupervised of course.

Once we got back to MO I had to send in several violations to the court because she was not obeying the court order, this ended up in a Motion to Appear hearing. This time I didn't go to court, I did it by phone and so did my ex. I told my ex in an email as this was legal that we would be recording every phone call, during a phone call with my son I asked him if his mother was telling him what to say and he said yes. I emailed her that night telling her she cannot tell him what to say nor can she monitor his calls with me. She said she can do whatever she wants, he is HER son. So during court she lied saying she never said that nor was she telling him what to say. Both of us testified and she lied during her testimony, at the end of the court I asked if I could respond to what she said, the judge had me retestify, I had her flip to a specific email in which she admitted to monitoring the phone calls and refusing me phone time as well as threatening to never let me see my son again or talk to him again on the phone. Her lawyer was in shock about it.

Before court she was telling me how she was going to leave my son in Kingman with a non relative and she was going back to Tucson to live until about Feb until she had her second child with her current boyfriend, I have several documents with her intentions. The judge basically stated that 1 more major mess up I would get custody and this is what we have been waiting for, she dropped him off in Kingman and went back to Tucson.

We're trying to get her for abandonment but not sure if that will work, please advise on that issue as well. Also, she might get arrested for bad checks and might spend up to 6 months in jail, can anyone verify that is how the law is in AZ? Will I get instant custody of mine son if she ends up going to jail for up to 6 months?

I want my son here with me so bad, please give as much advise as possible.

Also the judge residing over the case is Judge Julie Roth

Desperate Father in MO
Steve

[Blue Meanie]

Could yo please edit out all the unnesessary diatribe and stick to the facts.

When was paternity established
Was there a custody order
Have you had visitation with your child

Why are you on this site

Thank you
Bay

[SteveM82]

EDIT: Ok I am attempting an edit to shorten it now with only facts that are necessary.

Paternity was established June of 2003.

There was never a custody order, only a temporary custody order placed in March of 2007 and yes I have had visitation, before court was ever thought of and once after court was over with for temporary custody.

[CourtClerk]

Really...because this is WAYYYY too much information. I stopped reading mid post.

[SteveM82]

Well I have no idea how else to put the post with just important information. I can try to shorten it but no guarantee that I will succeed. If you want you can suggest how I cut it down and I will attempt it. I don't want to have others have to read alot just to get the facts. Sorry about that though.

[CourtClerk]

Originally Posted by SteveM82

EDIT: Ok I am attempting an edit to shorten it now with only facts that are necessary.

Paternity was established June of 2003.

There was never a custody order, only a temporary custody order placed in March of 2007 and yes I have had visitation, before court was ever thought of and once after court was over with for temporary custody.

If there was a temporary custody order, then there is a custody order.

Please answer Bay's questions. Maybe I can work from there because in my opinion, your post is still too long. What is the basic question you are trying to ask?

[SteveM82]

I did answer her questions. I am currently working on shortening it now. Read the last paragraph or 2 and you will find out what I'm trying to do. Basically though I had a plan to get custody as the judge said that if she messed up 1 more time then I will get full custody of my son. My plan was to let her take my son to Kingman and drop him off, from there she would head back to Tucson till about Feb after she had her second child then she would move to Kingman with her boyfriend, I'm trying to get her on abandonment as the person my son is with is a non-relative. But since her boyfriend is about to split from her, she will end up moving in with this non-relative ruining my plans, so I have no idea what to do now.

[SteveM82]

Ok I shortened it as best as I could, if I still have too much info, please let me know and I'll try to drop more out of it.

[MelissaM79]

The problem is, she is not obeying the court order like she should. She has taken the little boy to Kingman, leaving him with a non-relative for an extended period of time and returned to Tucson to her boyfriend. She only plans to go see their 5 year old son once in 3 months. The plan was to call CPS on it but now her current boyfriend has caught her cheating and she has put them in debt as a couple. If her new boyfriend leaves her, she will go to this non-relatives home and this will ruin SteveM's plan. This is what he needs help on, advise on what to do since she has left SteveM's son where he has no parental guidance from a natural parent.

[CourtClerk]

Is the child still with the "non relative?" I assume so. If he is, you need to be in court on Tuesday on an ex parte asking for immediate custody of the child pending a modification hearing on custody and support.

If your ex ends up in jail, yes, you can get custody.

[SteveM82]

Originally Posted by CourtClerk

Is the child still with the "non relative?" I assume so. If he is, you need to be in court on Tuesday on an ex parte asking for immediate custody of the child pending a modification hearing on custody and support.

If your ex ends up in jail, yes, you can get custody.

Yes, the child is still with the non relative. How would we go about doing that? I have never attempted anything like this so I'm not sure how I would get an immediate hearing that fast for custody. Wouldn't the court have to notify my ex about court first? In this case, I thought ex parte's were for keeping someone away from you or something to that effect, am I wrong in that assumption?

Thanks so much CourtClerk, but with your response has brought up more questions, once I have a better idea of how to go about getting an immediate hearing then I'm sure I will be 100% confident and hopeful once again.

[CourtClerk]

Originally Posted by SteveM82

Yes, the child is still with the non relative. How would we go about doing that? I have never attempted anything like this so I'm not sure how I would get an immediate hearing that fast for custody. Wouldn't the court have to notify my ex about court first? In this case, I thought ex parte's were for keeping someone away from you or something to that effect, am I wrong in that assumption?

Thanks so much CourtClerk, but with your response has brought up more questions, once I have a better idea of how to go about getting an immediate hearing then I'm sure I will be 100% confident and hopeful once again.

Think emergency hearing. Ex Parte simply means that only one party is going before the judge. It will basically be a temporary order (if granted) until a hearing can be scheduled. They are used in DV cases (domestic violence) also, but are also used in child custody.

Do you qualify for legal aid? Does your local courthouse have a self help clinic? I'm not familiar with Arizona courthouses, so I can't tell you whether or not these things can be found inside the courthouse (they are here in CA, but that doesn't do much to help you there). You'll need to prepare paperwork. What county are you in? I'm feeling a little charitable today (must be the heat), let me see what I can find courtesy of my friend Google.

Do you know exactly where the child is? And do you know where the mother is because she will eventually need to be served.

[SteveM82]

Sorry for the late reply, took my kids out for a night at the movies.

I do qualify for legal aid but the only place I can get it, my ex already has legal services through and because my wife here in MO has a case open against her ex they won't help me. They don't have a self help clinic, they only have a library and you pretty much gotta know what your talking about to get anywhere in there. We had an emergency temporary order served but that got awarded to her as I didn't provide enough info nor enough proof, but I'm wondering if we can file for a modification to that emergency order. Whatever you can find out to help me would be greatly appreciated.

Yes I know exactly where my son is and I know where my ex is exactly.

My concern is that since I already filed an emergency ordered that didn't go through whether or not they will allow me to file petition to modify the order.

Thanks for the suggestions thus far.
Steve

[majomom1]

I have gotten lost in the editing... The state was originally posted as Arizona..
but there is activity in Missouri. Please explain.

In what state is the temporary order from March 2007?

In what state did you file the emergency temporary order?

What state is your son in? What state is your ex in?

I am a single mom, in MO... I do not qualify for legal aid all by myself... If you, (and your wife), together qualify for legal aid in MO... they should at least be able to tell you what form you need to file, in your county...

If your son is in AZ... legal aid, in MO, should at least be able to refer you to an AZ legal aid office, or contact.

[SteveM82]

The reason it says Arizona because everything, and I mean EVERYTHING is taking place in AZ. Nothing is taking place in MO other than this is my state of resident.

Temporary order is in AZ, ex is in AZ, son is in AZ, filed emergency order in AZ.

Because my wife is getting legal aid through MO they will not help me in any kind of way. Since my ex is getting legal aid through AZ then they won't help me due to a conflict of interest.

I have contacted the only legal aid office in AZ and my ex is already obtaining services through them.

Right now I have contact with a lawyer but all I get from them is advise, this lawyer is in AZ. So I'm gonna call them tomorrow afternoon for at least a way to get this expedited and resolved ASAP since my son is no longer living with my ex.