What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? South Carolina
I'm asking for my husband so all this I know has to be done by him. He has a son from a previous relationship but he was never married to mom. Hubby's son was raised by mom's aunt until October of 2015, when mom got full custody. This year, things had taken a turn for the worse with son & his half brothers so mom reached out to us to see if we would take son in but she has refused to agree to a formalized custody arrangement. Son is happier and healthier here, no signs of the emotional outbursts he was having when he lived with his mom. But, because we don't have a formal custody agreement, mom is holding over our heads that she's allowing us to have son live with us and is demanding that she be allowed to keep his NC medicaid, even though it's a hardship for us to have to drive back to NC every time son has a doctor's appointment. Son is on unsupervised probation so we have that to contend with. In light of mom's current behavior and in the hopes of having equal legal footing, my husband wants to take son's mom to court & atleast get joint custody if not sole custody. We're in SC, mom's in NC. I have no idea how hubby should proceed so I figured I'd ask here. Oh and son is 16yo who will be 17 in March.
So what does my husband need to do to atleast get joint custody if not sole custody?
I'm asking for my husband so all this I know has to be done by him. He has a son from a previous relationship but he was never married to mom. Hubby's son was raised by mom's aunt until October of 2015, when mom got full custody. This year, things had taken a turn for the worse with son & his half brothers so mom reached out to us to see if we would take son in but she has refused to agree to a formalized custody arrangement. Son is happier and healthier here, no signs of the emotional outbursts he was having when he lived with his mom. But, because we don't have a formal custody agreement, mom is holding over our heads that she's allowing us to have son live with us and is demanding that she be allowed to keep his NC medicaid, even though it's a hardship for us to have to drive back to NC every time son has a doctor's appointment. Son is on unsupervised probation so we have that to contend with. In light of mom's current behavior and in the hopes of having equal legal footing, my husband wants to take son's mom to court & atleast get joint custody if not sole custody. We're in SC, mom's in NC. I have no idea how hubby should proceed so I figured I'd ask here. Oh and son is 16yo who will be 17 in March.
So what does my husband need to do to atleast get joint custody if not sole custody?