Z
zoaster
Guest
I am in desperate need of some sort of advice, legal or other. 9/8/99, my husband and I were arrested for domestic violence, in San Jose California (Santa Clara County), and spent 3 days in jail. Our daughter, Zoe, was only 5 months old at the time, and my mother cared for her while we were away. Once released, both of our parents, with the help of a lawyer, convinced us to sign over temporary guardianship of Zoe to my parents for a period of 1 year (apparantly the DA had 1 year to decide if they wanted to press charges against us.) This so called "lawyer" told us that if we were to get arrested again in the 1 year period, and Zoe was in our custody, she would be taken from us, put into the system, and adopted before we could do anything about it. Having never been in any trouble with the law in my life, I bought it, hook, line, and sinker. The temp. guardianship papers that I signed had no requirements to be met in order for me to get my baby back. I specifically asked if I needed to be making a certain amount of money to get her back, if I needed to live in a particular neighborhood, etc., and the answer to all my questions was NO. My parents said we could come and get Zoe at any time, but they reccommended waiting until the year was up, in fear of loosing my precious baby to the system. Unfortunately, the past year has been a very difficult one. My relationship with my parents is bad, and I have not been able to see my Zoe as much as I would like. There have been periods of weeks in which I have not seen her, but I have not "abandoned" her. I have a weird feeling, and I don't have the guts to confront my parents just yet because I don't want to hear what I am so afraid to hear. Recently, I asked my mother if my now soon to be ex-husband could take the papers we signed and show up on her doorstep to get Zoe. She said no, he doesn't have custody of her, and neither do I. I thought I only signed temp. papers, and that I still have legal custody of Zoe, but my parents have temp. guardianship of her for only 1 year. Well, now that 1 is up, and I'm afraid my parents have gone and done something legal behind my back, without me knowing, like adoption or legal custody. Is this legal? If they did this, shouldn't I have been notified? Is there a way I can find out if they've taken legal steps against me, without them knowing that I'm inquiring? I am trying desperatly to get my life back on track, but I am empty inside, and am suffering from severe depression without my baby girl. My mom has taught my precious baby to call her "mama", and my family has almost forgotten about me. They are like 1 big happy family now: my mom, stepdad, sister, and MY daughter. It absolutely kills me everyday. The only way I can be happy, is if I have my Zoe back with me. Is there anything I can do get her back? Some people I've talked to have said that what my parents and the lawyer have done is illegal, and I may be able to sue them. If anyone can help me, I would appreciate more than you'd ever know!! I'm literlly in a living hell.....Thank you...