child custody

Need help desperatley. don't know where to start. My 3 year old daughter's mother and i were never married and are no longer living together.we were living in my home and when we decided to split up i moved out and let her stay in my home so my daughter would have a decent place to live. she and my daughter and her daughter from a previous marriage all live there. she drives a car wich i own and pay for including insurance. all the utilities are in my name. most of the furnishings in the home belong to me. the agreement was that she would pay me 300.00 a month for rent and i would pick up the rest of the expences in place of child support. i often help her in other financial areas. she has not paid me the rent for 3 months now and claims she can't even buy groceries. my daughter is always with the sitter and in my opinion is not being cared for as she should be.she is way overdue on medical check up and shots. i can not continue to support her (the mother) financially without any effort from her. i can provide a much better environment for my daughter and would like to file for custody of my child. i need no support($) from her mother and would never keep our daughter from her. no matter the outcome of custody i am going to take back my car and home and just pay support but should i do that now or retain a lawyer first. without all the things i provide i have no clue how she would live and take care of both her daughter and mine. can i file for emergency custody? WHAT SHOULD I DO? please help. i contacted a lawyer yesterday and she said she was not even taking appointments for child custody till july. any advice would be appreciated!!! thanks for your time.my state is indiana


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[This message has been edited by shanecrt (edited May 26, 2000).]

You've got to call attorneys in your area, until you find one that will listen. There are a lot out there who won't take kids cases due to summer vacation coming up, and so many problems with sharing time during the school break. It'll be the number ONE complaint to family lawyers in the next 6 weeks. Since you haven't posted your state, all I'd suggest, in the best interests of your child, is that you keep dialing until you get someone to listen. Many States treat unmarried couples as if they were married. You'll find, I hope, an attorney at AttorneyPages.com who can give you the straight story about what's ahead. Good Luck-PS

my state is indiana
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by PapaSmurf:
[b]You've got to call attorneys in your area, until you find one that will listen. There are a lot out there who won't take kids cases due to summer vacation coming up, and so many problems with sharing time during the school break. It'll be the number ONE complaint to family lawyers in the next 6 weeks. Since you haven't posted your state, all I'd suggest, in the best interests of your child, is that you keep dialing until you get someone to listen. Many States treat unmarried couples as if they were married. You'll find, I hope, an attorney at AttorneyPages.com who can give you the straight story about what's ahead. Good Luck-PS [/b]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>