S.o.s.

What is the name of your state?CA

I am a mother being sued by my parents for custody of my son. I had a hearing on December 13th, at which I got a continuance to seek counsel. The next hearing is on the 21st of January.

My mother states she is seeking custody specifically because she wants to put my son in "therapy". She put both my brothers in therapy at about the same age, & had them medicated. She already bullied me into taking my boy to a psychiatrist once, and the doctor said there was nothing wrong with him.

She got an ex parte order granting temporary custody in November. Since then I have had two 1-hour supervised visits with my boy. She refused to let me speak to him on Thanksgiving, citing her attornies' advice. She has a team of 3 lawyers. I can't find any legal help at all. They didn't properly serve me until the last hearing itself; at that time, they gave me a copy of the petition which referred to 26 pages of attachments. I received only 9 pages. Among the missing pages are the confidential guardianship declaration, wherein they make specific allegations regarding the detriment of parental custody. I know that this is so because they refer to these allegations elsewhere in the petition.

How do I get the documents left out? Surely I have a right to know the accusations being made? I am told I should have received a Responsive Declaration. Is this true?

It is pretty serious for an ex parte application for guardianship to grant custody so there must be some reason. Tell us what's happening? What is it about you that your mother wants custody? Have you had mental health or legal problems?

You can go to the court house and request a copy of the file and any papers not served. You may also file for a fee waiver and contact the family law facilitators for assistance or contact legal aid if you qualify, however you will not have access to any of the sealed pages.

Couldn't get online for a couple of days

Well, that's just it...I received NO paperwork on the ex parte temporary custody thing, so I have no idea what she may be saying. My mother is on prozac & under a doctor's care, and she gets some strange ideas sometimes. I had a drug arrest about 13 years ago, before my son was born, but I completed diversion right on schedule & haven't been in trouble since. Aside from that, I really can't imagine what she could possibly say about detriment.

She already has a caregiver's affidavit, which according to California codes (FAMILY CODE,SECTION 6550-6552) authorizes her to, "enroll a minor in
school and consent to school-related medical care on behalf of the
minor. A caregiver who is a relative and who completes items 1 to 8,
inclusive, of the affidavit provided in Section 6552 and signs the
affidavit shall have the same rights to authorize medical care and
dental care for the minor that are given to guardians under Section
2353 of the Probate Code. The medical care authorized by this
caregiver who is a relative may include mental health treatment
subject to the limitations of Section 2356 of the Probate Code."

The only thing she CAN'T do is as follows: "The decision of a caregiver to consent to or to refuse medical or dental care for a minor shall be superseded by any contravening decision of the parent or other person having legal custody of the minor, provided the decision of the parent or other person having legal custody of the minor does not jeopardize the life, health, or
safety of the minor."

She states in her petition that she can't get help at school that my son might need (actually, he is on the merit roll, all B's); and that she can't contact me in the event of an emergency (actually, I have a cell phone with me at all times); and that she can't get "other care" that he needs. (she means the therapy) As you can see in the abvove, the truth is that she already can authorize any care she deems necessary. The only reason she can't get him whatever care she wants is that I strongly object to it, a fact which her attornies conveniently neglected to mention.

I do not want the record to stand showing only her accusations (bear in mind, there is nothing she could say that is proveable, unless she somehow falsified proof of some kind; this is possible but pretty far-fetched). I was told that I should have received a Responsive Declaration. I very much wish to know what is the proper mechanism for getting my statements (which I prepared and had ready at the hearing) entered into the record. If there is mediation, I don't want the mediator seeing only one side of this issue.

Also, I'm wondering if her 3 attornies will be included at mediation?