don't know to begin

[21questions82]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?I live in Mississippi and my ex lives in tennessee and we have joint custody with him having primary care over our son. Our son has been living with me since 2010 and I have him enrolled in school and have been taking care of him since 2010 and my ex won't sign anything saying that our son is living with me. Its just a verbal agreement we have had in the past and now he constantly threatens to come take him away from me if I don't give into anything he says reguarding our son. My question is how can I get the primary guardianship over my son without my ex having to be present or without him even knowing that I'm trying to obtain custody. He also has like 5 other kids with other women and he's been married about 5 times

 

[Silverplum]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?I live in Mississippi and my ex lives in tennessee and we have joint custody with him having primary care over our son. Our son has been living with me since 2010 and I have him enrolled in school and have been taking care of him since 2010 and my ex won't sign anything saying that our son is living with me. Its just a verbal agreement we have had in the past and now he constantly threatens to come take him away from me if I don't give into anything he says reguarding our son. My question is how can I get the primary guardianship over my son without my ex having to be present or without him even knowing that I'm trying to obtain custody. He also has like 5 other kids with other women and he's been married about 5 times

Just FYI for responders, this is the first thread from 2013: https://forum.freeadvice.com/child-custody-visitation-37/desperate-need-help-fast-598348.html#post3189531

desperate....need help fast

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? I live in Mississippi and x husband lives in Tennessee. He has custody of our 2 children ages 8 & 7. I currently have the 7 yr old living with me because he is a mamma boy and x couldn't make him mind. This is only a verbal agreement between us because he won't sign any papers for me to have him legally. well i just recently heard that my x has 19 different warrants out on him. so my question is, if he goes to prison will i get custody of both kids? and what is a free way of finding out if he really does have warrants out for him ?

(The original thread was locked as soon as it was posted, it appears.)

There's no way for you to legally obtain custody without properly notifying Dad. So now what?

 

[Proserpina]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?I live in Mississippi and my ex lives in tennessee and we have joint custody with him having primary care over our son. Our son has been living with me since 2010 and I have him enrolled in school and have been taking care of him since 2010 and my ex won't sign anything saying that our son is living with me. Its just a verbal agreement we have had in the past and now he constantly threatens to come take him away from me if I don't give into anything he says reguarding our son. My question is how can I get the primary guardianship over my son without my ex having to be present or without him even knowing that I'm trying to obtain custody. He also has like 5 other kids with other women and he's been married about 5 times

Your son has been living with you and is enrolled in school in your state - I find it extremely unlikely he'd be able to wrest custody from you.

So you need to file as you would normally, have your ex served properly and go from there.

 

[21questions82]

A friend said that since son has been with me for so long that I could talk to a judge and explain my story and then the judge would more than likely sign off on it but I just needed more advice

 

[single317dad]

A friend said that since son has been with me for so long that I could talk to a judge and explain my story and then the judge would more than likely sign off on it but I just needed more advice

What you're talking about is a change of custody hearing. A formal court hearing isn't as simple as "go in and talk to the judge". The judge will probably ask you questions, and expect direct answers. You won't be able to ramble on and tell your entire story. If you go into a hearing expecting to "go in and talk to the judge", you'll likely leave very disappointed.

The proper way to communicate with the judge in a custody case is through documents filed with the court. You make a proper petition to change custody, you back it up with evidence, references to statutes and case law, and you make your arguments in court. You have to include Dad in all these filings (via service) and he will be at the hearing to make his own arguments. Where that hearing will take place is complicated by the fact that your child has long established residency outside the jurisdiction of the case.

Personally, I think you need a lawyer in Tennessee if Dad is going to fight a change. I don't see how you'll accomplish a change in physical custody without one. All that assumes the original order is out of a TN court.

 

[21questions82]

We got divorced in Mississippi and before he ever moved to tn he allowed our son the choice of who to live with and son chose me. Son has never lived any where except in Mississippi

 

[I'mTheFather]

So, you can file for a custody modification in Mississippi, but you will definitely need a lawyer.

 

[single317dad]

We got divorced in Mississippi and before he ever moved to tn he allowed our son the choice of who to live with and son chose me. Son has never lived any where except in Mississippi

That makes things quite a bit easier as there's no question the child is a resident under the jurisdiction of the Mississippi court. Did Dad notify the court within 5 days of his relocation with the children, or was that somehow addressed during the divorce?