What is the name of your state? North Carolina. married for 6 year in dec, my mother in law showed up unannounced last sat night. she reside in MN. sunday i come home from work and my wife and childre(3) are gone. i dont hear anything for 48 hours and i finally get an email that thet are fine, in minnesota and she has enrolled them in school which starts 2morrow. i have an appt to obtain legal counsel at 9 am 2morrow. what rights do i have as a father in this situatin? for 8 days i have been in a state of depression without my kids and feel like i have no legal recourse. police cant help? was she in her right to leave? she has no job (i have been the sole provider for 3 years), no place for them to call home. all she took was clothes. she has no money she is living off of her family. she is telling me that b/c her family is there and not here that no judge would force her to come back to NC. its a holiday weekand and i have been waiting to begin this process. was what she did legal? someone please help me. soory for the grammar errors.
She did not do anything illegal. You and she have equal legal rights where the children are concerned, which means you could have also done the same thing.
However, the proper action is to get yourself an attorney ASAP and then file for custody and ask the judge to order mom to return the children to NC. There is at least a 50/50, if not better, chance that the judge will order that.
However, the fact that she has been a stay at home mother, means that she has been the primary caregiver to the children. That unfortunately hurts you. However, the fact that she took them to MN hurts her.
I also have to reemphasize what you have been told about the older child. Unless you legally adopted her you have no rights to her at all. It is imperative that you been totally honest with the attorney about that, or you could find yourself in a heck of alot of trouble...not only with the judge, but with your attorney as well.
Don't assume that you will get an emergency pickup order on Wednesday. Hope that you will, but don't assume that you will. However, again, it will only be for the younger child.
Good luck.