Question about temporary custody

[Sunnyone83]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ky

Basic facts of case:
No custody order, unmarried parents.
Child support is ordered through the state (this means paternity is established, yes?)
Child is roughly a year and a half.
We both have attorneys.
We are trying to work it out between us and the attorneys.

My questions:
If we cannot come to an agreement and head to court, what's the full process?
I've been told the wait for a court date for custody is about 8 months.

Can/will we have a temporary custody hearing(and a temp order put into place) before the "official" custody court date?
I understand the crystal ball is pretty much permanently MIA, however...
If so, what might a judge order for temporary custody?
Will a judge likely order the current situation to continue until the official court date?(child currently sees father in "standard" format, minus overnights)
Or would a judge likely order equal time placement begin immediately(or after a short graduation into equal placement) until the official court date?

I would ask my attorney, but.. well she can be rather hard to get a hold of.

Thanks for any help.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ky

Basic facts of case:
No custody order, unmarried parents.
Child support is ordered through the state (this means paternity is established, yes?)
Child is roughly a year and a half.
We both have attorneys.
We are trying to work it out between us and the attorneys.

My questions:
If we cannot come to an agreement and head to court, what's the full process?
I've been told the wait for a court date for custody is about 8 months.

Can/will we have a temporary custody hearing(and a temp order put into place) before the "official" custody court date?
I understand the crystal ball is pretty much permanently MIA, however...
If so, what might a judge order for temporary custody?
Will a judge likely order the current situation to continue until the official court date?(child currently sees father in "standard" format, minus overnights)
Or would a judge likely order equal time placement begin immediately(or after a short graduation into equal placement) until the official court date?

I would ask my attorney, but.. well she can be rather hard to get a hold of.

Thanks for any help.

In an unwed situation the mother automatically has full custody until a court orders otherwise. Therefore judges rarely make temporary custody orders in an unwed situation. Judges however often make temporary visitation orders. I make this statement because IN and KY have similar laws regarding custody automatically being in force for an unwed mother. Therefore its not necessary for a judge to establish custody, in order to make temporary visitation and child support orders.

It is highly unlikely that a judge would order temporary equal time placement for a one and a half year old in an unwed situation.

A judge however might very well order something temporary along the lines of standard visitation, depending on the actual facts of the situation.

 

[Ohiogal]

In every unwed case I have ever seen and/or been involved with, temporary custody orders have been put in place when requested. Those orders include a companionship schedule and who is responsible for making legal decisions.

The temporary custody orders may involve nothing more than mom being temporary physical and legal custodian but the decision IS made. Without a custody decision, you don't get to time placement or child support.

What the judge will make in your case depends on a variety of factors that you have not expressed here:

How far away are you from the father, what is father requesting, how much time exactly is dad currently spending with child (what is standard per you), is dad's home prepared for a child to stay overnight, what type of coparenting relationship exists and how much has father been involved.

 

[Sunnyone83]

Thank you for your replies!
I'm not sure if I want to give away all details at this point.
Some though, would be we live about a half an hour away, father is requesting equal time, dad's home is not prepared for overnights, but could easily be prepared, co-parenting relationship is.. fairly non existent, dad has been around since birth.
I've been told that when we go in front of a judge, overnights will be ordered right away, but was not told whether that would happen at the official custody hearing or at a temporary hearing.

So my main interest then would be a temporary visitation order. We both agree to joint legal custody and that should begin any time.
Visits are currently in line with time every other weekend and a short visit one weekday each week, again with no overnights yet.

OG: If you want or need more specifics regarding how much visitation specifically and how much in the past, I can send you a private message if you would be willing. However, I know you are a much needed and busy person.

 

[LdiJ]

Thank you for your replies!
I'm not sure if I want to give away all details at this point.
Some though, would be we live about a half an hour away, father is requesting equal time, dad's home is not prepared for overnights, but could easily be prepared, co-parenting relationship is.. fairly non existent, dad has been around since birth.

I've been told that when we go in front of a judge, overnights will be ordered right away, but was not told whether that would happen at the official custody hearing or at a temporary hearing.

So my main interest then would be a temporary visitation order. We both agree to joint legal custody and that should begin any time.
Visits are currently in line with time every other weekend and a short visit one weekday each week, again with no overnights yet.

OG: If you want or need more specifics regarding how much visitation specifically and how much in the past, I can send you a private message if you would be willing. However, I know you are a much needed and busy person.

The bolded may or may not be correct. Who provided you the info?

 

[Sunnyone83]

My attorney gave me that information.

 

[LdiJ]

My attorney gave me that information.

Then its likely accurate. A local attorney is the best judge of the climate of the courts.

 

[Ohiogal]

My attorney gave me that information.

If your attorney told you that then I would not second guess him/her.
What I would say is that he may very well get overnights immediately and that a temporary order is a good thing. Many times issues are detected during the time of the temporary order that allow for changes in the final order. Or as final as custody gets.

With you two 30 minutes apart that is not a huge distance. Also you say the house is not prepared yet -- what does that mean? Does dad have a place for the child to sleep? Clothes? Food?

 

[Sunnyone83]

If your attorney told you that then I would not second guess him/her.
What I would say is that he may very well get overnights immediately and that a temporary order is a good thing. Many times issues are detected during the time of the temporary order that allow for changes in the final order. Or as final as custody gets.

With you two 30 minutes apart that is not a huge distance. Also you say the house is not prepared yet -- what does that mean? Does dad have a place for the child to sleep? Clothes? Food?

Yea, I'm not second guessing whether overnights would be ordered, just wondering whether they would be ordered as part of temp order or at the official custody hearing.

But what I'd really like to know is whether at the temp visitation/custody hearing would the judge likely order visitation as it currently is(possibly including overnights) or whether since dad is asking for equal time, would the judge go ahead and order equal time as part of the temp visitation order.

As far as the house not being prepared, dad has one extra set of clothes and food. There is an empty bedroom. That being said, if told he he needed a bed and clothes and such, they would be bought the next day.

 

[LdiJ]

Yea, I'm not second guessing whether overnights would be ordered, just wondering whether they would be ordered as part of temp order or at the official custody hearing.

But what I'd really like to know is whether at the temp visitation/custody hearing would the judge likely order visitation as it currently is(possibly including overnights) or whether since dad is asking for equal time, would the judge go ahead and order equal time as part of the temp visitation order.

As far as the house not being prepared, dad has one extra set of clothes and food. There is an empty bedroom. That being said, if told he he needed a bed and clothes and such, they would be bought the next day.

As I said previously, its not very likely that a judge would order equal time on a temporary order. Its honestly not all that likely on a permanent order either...not impossible, but not all that likely. I don't think that I have ever seen any 50/50 custody situations in KY that were not agreed upon situations.

 

[Ohiogal]

Yea, I'm not second guessing whether overnights would be ordered, just wondering whether they would be ordered as part of temp order or at the official custody hearing.

But what I'd really like to know is whether at the temp visitation/custody hearing would the judge likely order visitation as it currently is(possibly including overnights) or whether since dad is asking for equal time, would the judge go ahead and order equal time as part of the temp visitation order.

As far as the house not being prepared, dad has one extra set of clothes and food. There is an empty bedroom. That being said, if told he he needed a bed and clothes and such, they would be bought the next day.

Quite frankly the judge COULD order equal time and COULD order overnights during the temporary orders. Whether the judge WOULD depends a lot on the judge.

 

[Sunnyone83]

As I said previously, its not very likely that a judge would order equal time on a temporary order. Its honestly not all that likely on a permanent order either...not impossible, but not all that likely. I don't think that I have ever seen any 50/50 custody situations in KY that were not agreed upon situations.

I've been told by two different attorneys that equal time is commonly ordered in KY(especially for children not in school yet) and and it's common for both parties to not be in agreement on the equal time placement.

Maybe I should seek a third attorney's opinion. I just figured that since I'd been told the same thing by two different attorney's, it was pretty accurate.

I just wasn't sure whether it would be ordered at the temp hearing prior to the judge hearing all the sides.

 

[Sunnyone83]

Quite frankly the judge COULD order equal time and COULD order overnights during the temporary orders. Whether the judge WOULD depends a lot on the judge.

Thanks OG.

 

[LdiJ]

I've been told by two different attorneys that equal time is commonly ordered in KY(especially for children not in school yet) and and it's common for both parties to not be in agreement on the equal time placement.

Maybe I should seek a third attorney's opinion. I just figured that since I'd been told the same thing by two different attorney's, it was pretty accurate.

I just wasn't sure whether it would be ordered at the temp hearing prior to the judge hearing all the sides.

It very well could be common in your county. However, from what I have seen its not very common in general in KY. Again, you shouldn't be second guessing the info from local attorneys. They are more familiar with the climate of the courts in your county, than anyone else.