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mom is at homeless shelter dad wants custody

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ashley'sangel

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? NEW HAMPSHIRE
OK I posted this over the weekend but got no response. Mom is at a homeless shelter with her 2 kids11 year old daughter is with me in FL and doesn't want to go home. Mom filed a petition for contempt on me for not sending daughter home and there is a hearing for this on sept 15. My question is from a court's POV is the best interest of the child to go with mom who lives in a shelter that's not even in NH or will the judge see it my way where as I have a stable residence, stable employment and was daughter's only care giver from her being 5 weeks old to 5 years old. What do you all think of this??? there is a GAL involved but mom has yet to comply with his "reasonable requests" that are now COURT ORDERS......anyone have advice for me??? I'd appreciate huge!!!!
thanks
Billy
 


ashley'sangel

Junior Member
well she is not very cooperative but from what we gathered in conversation with my daughter is that she went to a court hearing that i was not notified of. Since I was not present they awarded her TEMP PHYS custody until our next courtdate. She then went home to her ex husbands whom she lived with and planned to remarry, and claims she found all her stuff outside and she took what she could and left. She must have sought help thru a phone number or something....this all happened while my daughter was visiting me here in FL. She kept expressing all the reasons she wanted to live with me and she told the same to mom and GAL but mom doesn't care....mom and all kids involved including my daughter are victims of domestic violence which i have been saying all along is going on and i have been fighting for phys custody ever since she decided to come around and be a mom as she was transient and sort of estranged from my daughter until she was 5....that's why i was the care giver.
 

ashley'sangel

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? New Hampshire
I reside in Florida and am formerly from New Hampshire. I had shared physical custody with the ex but my 11 year old daughter was living in her mother's home in NH with her 2 1/2 sisters and mom's ex husband. While my daughter was here in FL with me there was a court hearing I recieved no notice of, they gave mom temp physical custody until nov 14. On aug 27 we discovered the ex was not living at residence with her ex husband. Her and her 2 little daughters are at a emergency family homeless shelter in Massachusetts. My daughter is refusing to go back to her mother. However I was served papers on Fri saying she filed a petition for contempt on me because i did not return ashley, this is how i discovered she was given a temporary decision. I have to appear in court in NH on Sept 15 for the contempt. I do not feel her change in living circumstances is what my daughter should have to live in. It's unfortunate that mom and the little ones are there but my daughter is my priority....what can i do??? HELP!
 

casa

Senior Member
ashley'sangel said:
What is the name of your state? New Hampshire
I reside in Florida and am formerly from New Hampshire. I had shared physical custody with the ex but my 11 year old daughter was living in her mother's home in NH with her 2 1/2 sisters and mom's ex husband. While my daughter was here in FL with me there was a court hearing I recieved no notice of, they gave mom temp physical custody until nov 14. On aug 27 we discovered the ex was not living at residence with her ex husband. Her and her 2 little daughters are at a emergency family homeless shelter in Massachusetts. My daughter is refusing to go back to her mother. However I was served papers on Fri saying she filed a petition for contempt on me because i did not return ashley, this is how i discovered she was given a temporary decision. I have to appear in court in NH on Sept 15 for the contempt. I do not feel her change in living circumstances is what my daughter should have to live in. It's unfortunate that mom and the little ones are there but my daughter is my priority....what can i do??? HELP!
Tell the judge that you were never served papers for the temporary hearing and had no knowledge of it...also that you are unaware of the mother's address, and that she is in a homeless shelter which your daughter does not want to go back to. It's up to the judge if he decides the child can stay with you or not.

Do you have any documentation of the domestic violence which you say occured in the mother's home?

You can also ask the court appoint a Guardian Ad Litem for your daughter (costly, but worth it & you can frequently make payments) They can interview the daughter, you, the mother...see both lifestyles etc., and advise the court on what custody arrangement would be in the best interest of the child.
 

ashley'sangel

Junior Member
hi thanks
there is a guardian ad litem....he interviewd me mom daughter significant others etc...made visits to both homes....gal made reasonable requests of both us, like copies of drivers license, go for LADAC evaluation, write down where you have lived in the last 2 years. I complied she did not....she provided the court with an address which i now have, and it is the address to an emergency shelter in massachusetts....i have printed proof from the web, and it's the address she claims now... also as for proof of domestic violence, the GAL asked for her to turn over all police reports that deal with her family and residence, she has failed to do so.....those are now all court orders, hope she'll just do it!
 

ashley'sangel

Junior Member
also my daughter never was at that shelter....when she left NH to come see me in FL they lived with my daughter's former step dad...mom left or whatever while my daughter was here with me visiting
 

casa

Senior Member
ashley'sangel said:
hi thanks
there is a guardian ad litem....he interviewd me mom daughter significant others etc...made visits to both homes....gal made reasonable requests of both us, like copies of drivers license, go for LADAC evaluation, write down where you have lived in the last 2 years. I complied she did not....she provided the court with an address which i now have, and it is the address to an emergency shelter in massachusetts....i have printed proof from the web, and it's the address she claims now... also as for proof of domestic violence, the GAL asked for her to turn over all police reports that deal with her family and residence, she has failed to do so.....those are now all court orders, hope she'll just do it!
Make sure you file the print outs re; the address matching the shelter.

Since there is already a GAL assigned~ AND the Mom is not cooperating, your case is getting stronger by the minute.
 

ashley'sangel

Junior Member
i have all those print outs....my father has his own lawyer and I did not know that before.....he is going to get his lawyer's fax number and i will fax EVERYTHING I have to his lawyer....i know I have a case because as it is she hasn't been totally honest with the courts about her situation and on the petition for contempt she filled out she put her ex's address as her living address and put the shelter's address as her mailing address....i hope she will get caught for doing that
 

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