What responses do we need to file?

[allwipedout]

What responses does my husband need to file?

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

My husband is currently going through a custody issue that has really turned into a huge mess overall, but the Grandparent's of his son have filed against his Father, the Mother (and her soon to be Ex-husband, whom they have another child with).

On approximately Aug 13, my husband was served with the following papers by the attorney of the Grandparents:

- Emergency Verified Motion for Child Pick-Up Order
- Verified Motion for Temporary Injunction to Prevent Removal of Minor Child
- Motion for Appointment of Guardian Ad Litem
- Motion for Eligibility to Order A Florida Birth Certificate
- Motion for Testimony and Attendance if Minor Child
- Amended Certificate of Service

On approximately Aug 18, he received the following court papers:

- Order Denying Petition for Grandparents Visitation
- Order Denying Petition for Temporary Injunction to Prevent Removal of Minor Child
- Order Denying Without Prejudice Motion for Testimony and Attendance of Minor Children

In short my his son lived with his Mother (approximately 8 hours away), who depended quite a bit on her parents to watch her children while she worked. In the end this turned out to be a big problem, as the Grandparents involved the children in religious practices against all of the parents wishes, and did not foster healthy relationships with their parents.

A month ago the Mother wanted try to get put her children into a better situation, so my husband's son moved in with us. This was quite upsetting to his Grandparents, and his son. The Grandparents are now claiming that my husband is not the Father (although paternity was established in 1995) and have made many false accusations against all of the parents.

My husband has had many talks with his son and while he does love his parents, he is terrified that if his Grandparents find out that he really does not want to follow their religion that he will be shunned, just as they have done with his Mother. He has an incredible amount of guilt for enjoying everyday teen activities because, most of them are forbidden the religion his Grandparents follow.

My husband knows that the Grandparents took care of his son quite a bit, but he very much believes that the relationship was not healthy for his son, and has been detrimental to the relationship he has not been able to have with his parents. My husband and his son's Mother do not want their son to have any further contact with his Grandparents (the Mother's parents). The Grandparents are also trying to say that the Mother is unfit, so they should get custody of both of the children.

There are many more issues going on here, but I am trying to keep this as short as possible.

As for the papers that have been filed against my husband, and the ones that the Judge has already ruled on, are there any papers he needs to file responses to?

How long does he have to file a response? I thought I had read 20 days somewhere, but now I cannot find where I read that.

Thank you for any help you can provide!

 

[LdiJ]

In my opinion your husband needs to take ALL of that paperwork and get a consult with an attorney in the jurisdiction when the case is located.

 

[Gracie3787]

In my opinion your husband needs to take ALL of that paperwork and get a consult with an attorney in the jurisdiction when the case is located.

Which he can do at low cost by calling the Florida Bar Lawyer Refferal Service at 1-800-342-8011.

 

[allwipedout]

Which he can do at low cost by calling the Florida Bar Lawyer Refferal Service at 1-800-342-8011.

Thank you LdiJ and Gracie 3787 for your responses,

I have been on the phone this morning going through the small list of attorneys in the County and have only found a couple that may practice Family Law. All others have turned out to be deceased, one is now a Judge, a couple no longer practice law, and two offices already represent the other parties in the case. I never imagined it would be so difficult to find an attorney!

We are feeling frustrated since the morning calls have not bee going well and he really does not have the option of filing Pro Se since he cannot keep taking time off of work to drive up there for hearings, especially if the case drags on for any reason (his workplace is really tight about taking off too much time).

His other option is to find an attorney in one of the larger cities which are 1-2 hours away. If he has to hire an attorney that far, do they normally charge for travel time to hearings?

 

[allwipedout]

Update:

My husband spoke with an attorney shortly after my last post to this thread and the attorney told my husband that there was nothing to worry about, that the Judge had denied everything the Grandparent had asked for, and that there may be a final hearing months down the road, but there was nothing that needed to be done now.

I have been keeping an eye on the case online since it still says the case is Pending, and today I noticed that there was a new entry on the docket:

09/02/2009 Summons Returned Unexecuted on (Mother)

Would this have any affect on the case for my husband?

 

[Gracie3787]

Update:

My husband spoke with an attorney shortly after my last post to this thread and the attorney told my husband that there was nothing to worry about, that the Judge had denied everything the Grandparent had asked for, and that there may be a final hearing months down the road, but there was nothing that needed to be done now.

I have been keeping an eye on the case online since it still says the case is Pending, and today I noticed that there was a new entry on the docket:

09/02/2009 Summons Returned Unexecuted on (Mother)

Would this have any affect on the case for my husband?

Apparently, someone attempted to serve the mother with some papers and a summons. The docket entry means that the process server was unable to serve the summons.

Was this a summons that your husband was attempting to serve on the Mother?

 

[allwipedout]

Apparently, someone attempted to serve the mother with some papers and a summons. The docket entry means that the process server was unable to serve the summons.

Was this a summons that your husband was attempting to serve on the Mother?

No, this was a summons in regards to motions that the Grandparents (the Mother's parents) had filed against my husband, the Mother and her soon to be ex-husband. My husband is Father to the Mother's son and her soon to be ex is the Father of her daughter, both of whom the Grandparents were trying to get custody of.

The Grandparents are/were trying to deem the Mother to be unfit and were trying to claim that my husband was not the Father of his son, but paternity has been established, and my husband is listed on the birth certificate.

If she did not answer the summons, or could not be found, does that give the Grandparents any grounds to take the case further?