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Abusive Ex-Spouse Threathens to take kids

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D

drew5150

Guest
Leaglly niave mother intimidated by abusive spouse!
Background Arizona -
4/98 Mother left abusive Father with kids lived in Navajo County asked Father for divorce.
5/98 Father had kids for visitation and refused to return them. Denied Mother to speak to or visit kids.
10/98 Father filed for Divorce in Maricopa county (his residence)in PROPER and convinced Mother to sign acceptance of filing without being allowed to read them and without giving her a copy. Mother was continually denied reasonable access to the children. The oldest of the three children (then 4) was sent by his father to live with his Grandparents because the father didn't want him. Mother was allowed by the Grandparents to see him occasionally but the father never allowed access to the other two children (1 and 3).
5/99 The Father finally gave a copy of divorce filing to the Mother and allowed her visitation for two weeks of all three boys and the oldest who had been residing with the Grandparents stayed to live with the Mother.
8/99 Father appeared in court at default decree hearing without notifing Mother of such (by this time it was to late for the mother to fight for custody because she had never filed a response to the fathers petition). The father then left the other two boys and a copy of the default decree with the Mother and moved to Ohio before the papers where even recorded. The decree ordered that the parents have joint custody with the father having primary physical custody and the mother paying child support with alternating weekends and holidays. It turns out that the Father lied about the Mothers income on the documents to calculate a child support amount in excess of her actual income. The mother never paid any child support because she had actual physical custody of the kids before the decree was even filed.
4/00 After only calling to talk to the kids maybe once a month at best since leaving in 8/99 the father has moved back to Arizona. He is now threatening to come and take the kids now (5,4,3) and collect child support. During the time he was gone he refused to help financially and said he would only help if forced to do so by a judge.

The divorce decree stated that if a parent left the state then the custody was remanded to the parent remaining in the state until such time as otherwise ordered by a court.

The question is can he legally take them now since custody has never officially been awarded to the mother? She is scared and niave in legal matters and can't afford an attorney. What can she do to stop this injustice?
Sincerly,
New Step-Dad Wants to Help
 


T

Tracey

Guest
For God's sake man, hire a lawyer on Monday! You need to challenge/modify/rescind the original custody order, obtain a court finding/order that she has custody until further notice and doesn't owe CS, modify the financial statements, request sanctions against hubby for fraudulently stating mother's income and intentionally delaying service until she was materially prejudiced, get a temporary support order, and maybe even challenge the divorce for improper service and reopen the property settlement. You also need to get a reatraining order against dad *and* the relatives who helped him pull this crap last time, forbidding them from having unsupervised visits.

And no, dad can't take the kids. However, cops are notoriously bad at reading complicated custody decrees and will go "huh?" when you point out the automatic reversion clause. They'll want YOU to prove dad moved out of state. Got paperwork? Get a new, clear order ASAP.


Good luck,
Tracey

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This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws.
 

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