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Father wants to have visitation rights

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C

Concerned in MO

Guest
About three years ago, my fiance's ex-girlfriend left MO and moved to IN, taking their three year old son with them. She had neither court-ordered child custody, nor the father's consent to leave. From their son's birth until about 2 years of age, they lived together and raised their son. After they split, the paternal grandmother took care of their son a majority of the time.
In the past year, she has contacted us twice demanding child support, yet she refuses to discuss visitation. She brings the son for bi/tri-annual visits with his paternal grandparents and allows him to stay in their home for 2-3 days at a time. However, she says that my fiance (his father) is not allowed to visit.
I have several questions. Firstly, did she have a right to take their son across state lines without his consent? Secondly, could she have been granted child custody by courts in IN without the father's consent? Thirdly, could the father pursue child custody or visitation rights knowing that he has not provided child support for the past three years and have a 'legal leg' to stand on in court? Finally, the mother claims that she has had the son's name legally changed to her husband's name. I don't know whether this implies that he has adopted the child or not. I know that he could not have adopted the child without my fiance giving up parental rights. Could she have changed his name without his consent? And if the child has somehow been adopted without his consent, she can no longer pursue the issue of child support, correct?
My fiance is not opposed to paying child support, yet he refuses to do so without visitation, and without knowing whether his son has been adopted by his ex's husband. I know that visitation is not dependent upon child support, and that she cannot refuse the father's visitation. Yet I do not feel she had a right to leave with their son in the first place. We have many questions regarding child custody, support, and visitation. Knowing the situation, and what has/has not been done in the past three years, would we stand a chance in court if we were to pursue partial custody and demand visitation rights? We would desperately appreciate receiving some advice on these matters.
Sincerely,
Concerned in MO
 


LegalBeagle

Senior Member
Visitation and Child Support are seperate so both 'parents' are liable.

You do not state what the current court orders are.

The new hubby can not adopt without the bios consent if she knows where he is. If she has done this, sue her arse and have the adoption nulled.

You are going to have to progress this in her home state of IN

She could not have been granted custody without his notice.

Get an attorney now.. he can pursue visitation ..
 
C

Concerned in MO

Guest
Thank you for the reply. There are currently NO court orders. We have not been notified of any court ordered child support. She called twice and threatened that he must pay before he can see his son, but she has not gone to court to seek an order requiring him to pay. Wouldn't she need court ordered custody before pursuing an issue of child support?
 
U

usdeeper

Guest
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Concerned in MO:
Thank you for the reply. There are currently NO court orders. We have not been notified of any court ordered child support. She called twice and threatened that he must pay before he can see his son, but she has not gone to court to seek an order requiring him to pay. Wouldn't she need court ordered custody before pursuing an issue of child support? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, but becareful. A court could back date it.

 
N

newmom

Guest
No, court ordered custody is NOT required before pursuing child support. Neither my daughter's father nor I have "ordered" custody (she lives with me) but I do receive child support (court ordered). I'm still working on getting the money to file the petition for custody. Putting it off as long as I can because he hasn't seen his daughter in almost a year (looking at some sort of abandonment issue but that's another story with nothing to do with this subject). Good luck to you.
 
U

usdeeper

Guest
hehehe I completely misread the question. Newmom is correct :)
 

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