Texas - custody of grandchild

What are the chances of grandparents getting
custody of a grandchild, if the father is
awarded the custody, and he dies. My son is
the father. We have taken care of this child
since birth. The mother (Vietnamese) works
at her nail shop six days a weeks (would be
happy if it were seven days a week) from
sometimes 8 AM until sometimes 9 PM. The child is 4-1/2 yrs old, and begs her to stay
home, but she tells him that she works to
buy him toys, which, of course, is a lie.
She very, very seldom buys him any thing.
She works to give money to her mother who
also works in a nail shop making from $500
to $800 a week and lives in another city.
They are going to be getting a divorce soon,
and she has agreed that my son have custody.
If something would happen to him, is there
a possibility that my husband and I could
have custody? Just the other day, my grandchild (who is a climber and gets into
everything) was about four feet away from his mother and was holding on to the refrigerator handle and put his feet on the
door. She totally ignored him. I saw it and
it scared me to death. I fear for his life
if she was to have him live with her. She
doesn't know anything about health care or
medical care. She very seldom baths him,
changes his clothes, or brushes his teeth.
I do this.
Help!

Your first step is for your son to get custody...

However, if you son was to die, then it would depend on Jane.. if she fought to get custody then 9 times out of 10 she would get it unless you were able to prove real abuse or neglect.

Baby step first.. you son needs to get custody. From all you have said about Jane, she could change her mind and fight this, so continue to collect evidence and proof that will support your sons claim to custody.

Thank you so much for your advice.

I have been writing about my son's marriage... Toxic marriage in Texas,
and this new issue about my grandson.
I have more questions:
My son is divorcing his Vietnamese wife.
He is giving her the nail shop and his
brand new car, even though she has no
license at the moment. (She is only 4'7"
so watch out people in Houston).

My son went to see an attorney today, and
he didn't have any good news for my son.
The attorney claims that "Jane" (not her name) can take my grandson, even if my
son gets custody, to Vietnam, and there
is nothing that can be done about it.
Jane has stated many times to my grandson
that they will move to Vietnam some day,
and dada will live in the states.
Can she take my grandson to Vietnam? Is
there any way to stop her from doing this?
What should I or my son do? PLEASE help!
Like I stated before, I have taken care
of the child since birth. I have taken
him to the doctor for his shots and when
he was ill since birth, except for one
time I made her go with me.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by joannej:
[b]The attorney claims that "Jane" (not her name) can take my grandson, even if my
son gets custody, to Vietnam, and there
is nothing that can be done about it.
Jane has stated many times to my grandson
that they will move to Vietnam some day,
and dada will live in the states.
Can she take my grandson to Vietnam? Is
there any way to stop her from doing this?
What should I or my son do? PLEASE help!
[/b]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It is called kidnapping.. and if she chooses to do that then yes, she could be at the airport and away before your son knew about it.

What can you do ??... tough question.. I personally would get the child a passport and hide it.. ensure that Jane does not have any copies of the birth certificate. Would this stop her ?.. depends on how bright she is. Jane could still get new copies of the b/c and then apply for another passport claiming the first to have been lost.

However, here is where she might have problems. If she does not know about the original passport then she would be applying for a new one, not a replacement. When applying for a replacement, you have to submit a special form (DSP-64: Statement Regarding Lost Or Stolen Passport). I can not think though of anywhere where your son would be alerted though. When your son applies for the passport, he has to take it to a Passport Acceptance Office. At this point, get him to ask what can be done about this situation, see if they can enter a note on the child’s file that no replacements can be obtain without his authorization etc.

What else can you do… ensure that you attorney informs the judge at the divorce hearing that she is a ‘flight risk’. It is unlikely, but in some cases a judge can request that she herself gives up her passport. Maybe at the start of visitation she hands her passport to your son and he hands over the child. Doubt that would ever be court ordered though and even if it was, she could still get a replacement passport in time.

Any suggestions from others welcome…

Thank you so very, very much for
the suggestions. I will do follow
through.

rest in peace

[This message has been edited by Always searching (edited October 14, 2000).]

Dear Always Searching,
I'm sorry that you are going through what
I am going through.
I have the additional fear of my half-American, half Vietnamese going to a country
that not only looks down on this type of child, but may hurt them. The mother, I'm
afraid, wouldn't protect my grandson.
My daughter-in-law's father hates Americans,
and pays absolutely no attention to his
own grandson (my grandson). In fact, he
asked my husband how he felt about our
grandchild. The way he sounded was that he
didn't care for our grandchild at all. He
is not right in the brain. Believes he is
God, and I'm scared he might do something
to our grandchild, because of his hatred.
Our grandchild is absolutely the sweetest
little boy on earth, and we love him so
much, and are very concerned about him.
This is the worst nightmare that I could
imagine, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
Hope and pray your situation improves.

x

[This message has been edited by Always searching (edited October 14, 2000).]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Always searching:
[b]This is what I found out about the passport situation[/b]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Great Info AS !!.. I was hoping someone else would jump in !