Dad disappeared with Daughter

[allwipedout]

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

Hello all, I am writing on behalf of a friend who is now temporarily living with us while she finds a job and new home for her and her kids.

Very long story short, the Mother (my friend) decided to come live with us because the town she was living in was in very poor economic shape and she was having problems with her own parents (another story!). The Mother left her daughter with the Grandmother so she could bring a car load of stuff to our house, thinking it would be better for the daughter not to have to make the long trek (8+ hours) to move and then either have to make the trek again to get more of their stuff or stay with us (basically strangers to her) while the Mother went to get the rest of their stuff.

Well, when the Mother went back to get her daughter, the Grandmother decided to call the Father to come get the daughter, knowing full well the Mother was on her way to pick up her daughter.

The Mother and Father are currently going through a divorce, so custody has not been established and the police were not able to help the Mother since there are no custody papers yet.

Initially the Mother was able to contact the Father to find out what was going on and he basically said he would not give the daughter back unless he would be able to get back together with her. The Father also has a Domestic Dispute charge against him and is currently on probation, and has a record of other problems.

This was a over 5 days ago and the Mother has not been able to talk to her daughter, and has not been able to get a hold of the Father who had been staying with various family members. He has also told the Mother that he is going to homeschool the daughter, possibly so the Mother cannot pick her up from school, if she can find even out where they are staying now.

My friend has been using her divorce lawyer, but he seems to be moving slow on this case, or maybe we are just being impatient. She is worried about the physical and mental welfare of her daughter and has tried contacting his family members, but they either will not answer phones or have hung up on her as soon as she speaks.

Is there any sort of motion that she can file to get the custody hearing to move faster? She spoke with her lawyer on Monday and Wednesday to express her concerns, but he has yet to call back to give her any sort of response about what can be done, or what he is doing.

How long can the Father disappear with the daughter before it becomes some sort of crime? Is it only a crime after a custody hearing and she is not returned?

 

[Gracie3787]

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

Hello all, I am writing on behalf of a friend who is now temporarily living with us while she finds a job and new home for her and her kids.

Very long story short, the Mother (my friend) decided to come live with us because the town she was living in was in very poor economic shape and she was having problems with her own parents (another story!). The Mother left her daughter with the Grandmother so she could bring a car load of stuff to our house, thinking it would be better for the daughter not to have to make the long trek (8+ hours) to move and then either have to make the trek again to get more of their stuff or stay with us (basically strangers to her) while the Mother went to get the rest of their stuff.

Well, when the Mother went back to get her daughter, the Grandmother decided to call the Father to come get the daughter, knowing full well the Mother was on her way to pick up her daughter.

The Mother and Father are currently going through a divorce, so custody has not been established and the police were not able to help the Mother since there are no custody papers yet.

Initially the Mother was able to contact the Father to find out what was going on and he basically said he would not give the daughter back unless he would be able to get back together with her. The Father also has a Domestic Dispute charge against him and is currently on probation, and has a record of other problems.

This was a over 5 days ago and the Mother has not been able to talk to her daughter, and has not been able to get a hold of the Father who had been staying with various family members. He has also told the Mother that he is going to homeschool the daughter, possibly so the Mother cannot pick her up from school, if she can find even out where they are staying now.

My friend has been using her divorce lawyer, but he seems to be moving slow on this case, or maybe we are just being impatient. She is worried about the physical and mental welfare of her daughter and has tried contacting his family members, but they either will not answer phones or have hung up on her as soon as she speaks.

Is there any sort of motion that she can file to get the custody hearing to move faster? She spoke with her lawyer on Monday and Wednesday to express her concerns, but he has yet to call back to give her any sort of response about what can be done, or what he is doing.

How long can the Father disappear with the daughter before it becomes some sort of crime? Is it only a crime after a custody hearing and she is not returned?

The father is the legal father, no court orders for custody exist, so at this point, the Father has not committed any crime by taking his child.

Your friend needs to speak to her attorney ASAP about filing for a temp custody order.

 

[allwipedout]

The father is the legal father, no court orders for custody exist, so at this point, the Father has not committed any crime by taking his child.

Your friend needs to speak to her attorney ASAP about filing for a temp custody order.

My friend knows that there is nothing that she can do right now, and she has just left to travel back to her old hometown to see if maybe she can locate her daughter there, or find out where she might be.

This evening her attorney finally returned her calls to let her know that he really no longer wants to take on her case because the custody is being contested and he has been wanting to get out of Family Law (he originally thought the case would be easy, so he took the divorce case as a favor to her). So now she is traveling back to try to have a meeting with him to at least help her get an emergency hearing so she can try to get temporary custody of her daughter.

If she cannot get this attorney to help her out, is there some kind of Legal Aid that could help her since she has pretty much run out of money and hasn't been able to find a new job yet?

 

[allwipedout]

It's been nearly another week now and the Mother has still not been able to speak to her daughter, and she has been told by some of the Father's family member's that he has left the state, but they were not sure what neighboring state he may be in.

Currently the Father is on probation (until October) for a criminal misdemeanor charge, but I do not know what his terms of probation are. He also has had at least 4 DUIs, 3 charges of Battery/Domestic Violence, and well over a dozen charges of misdemeanors from driving with a suspended license to careless driving, and on and on.

The Mother filed for divorce from the Father in June and their case has still not been heard by the Judge, but part of their terms of the divorce were that neither parent was to leave the state without the consent of the other parent.

If the Mother is able to locate her daughter, can she take her back from the father? I know that she cannot physically pull the daughter away from him, but if he is not actually holding her, can she do anything? (He may be in GA, NC or SC)

I spoke to an attorney (for a different Family matter) that works in the county where the Mother had filed for divorce, and he said that the Judge only comes to town twice a week and that the cases are pretty backed up, with some of his cases taking months to be heard.

Would another County Circuit Court be able to hear her case if her current county is so back logged, or will an emergency case be moved ahead of other cases? At that point, how would they track down the father to notify him if the Mother is awarded custody?

I know that the father has his right to see his daughter, but I do not think it is right for him to disappear before they have both had the chance to present their cases to the Judge.

I have advised my friend to see if she could qualify for some type of legal aid since she has given all of her money to her current (or maybe now, previous) attorney. Is an emergency hearing something she could even file for herself? I think at this point she is feeling pretty broken and lost, so my husband and I are trying to give her support to not give up.

Thank you for any help you can give!

 

[Hisbabygirl77]

If dad is on probation and left the state then she can notify his probation officer. I believe most of the time a term of probation is not leaving the state without your probation officers consent. The father has a legal right to have the child just as much as the mother. She needs to file right away the longer she waits the worse it looks for her. Have her contact legal aid they can tell her if she qualifies.

 

[allwipedout]

Thank you Hisbabygirl77, I will definitely let her know that she needs to contact his probation officer.

I am pretty sure she would qualify for Legal Aid and I will try to get her to contact their nearest office.

 

[Servicefun]

I believe you can file for Motion for Temporary Relief I am not sure but you could file Motion for Emergency Temporary Relief.
That what my Attorney was filing.
What does your Divorce letter say . My was saying the Children can not move out of the county.

 

[Proserpina]

I believe you can file for Motion for Temporary Relief I am not sure but you could file Motion for Emergency Temporary Relief.
That what my Attorney was filing.
What does your Divorce letter say . My was saying the Children can not move out of the county.

Re-read it - the divorce isn't over yet.

 

[LdiJ]

Re-read it - the divorce isn't over yet.

I don't know how far mom went, but they both may have been restrained from relocating the child while the divorce was pending...assuming the divorce was actually filed for at all yet.

 

[Proserpina]

I don't know how far mom went, but they both may have been restrained from relocating the child while the divorce was pending...assuming the divorce was actually filed for at all yet.

From OP (gosh this thing just won't let you send short messages, will it?!) :

The Mother and Father are currently going through a divorce, so custody has not been established and the police were not able to help the Mother since there are no custody papers yet.

 

[allwipedout]

Thank you all for your responses

I just looked up their divorce case online and the following was listed:

06/12/2009 CIVIL COVER SHEET
06/12/2009 PETITION FOR DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE
06/12/2009 MARITAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT

Does the last statement mean they are divorced? They have not had an actual hearing yet (at least one that they needed to be present for), and of course the custody orders have not been established yet either.

A Family Law attorney in the area told me that the Circuit Judge only comes to town twice a week and there is a long wait for most cases to be heard. He said he had one case that he had to work really hard to get heard as soon as possible, and it still took 3 weeks to go before the Judge.

When I spoke with the Mother she said that in their divorce papers that she was not allowed to leave the state with their daughter, and I am quite certain the same would have gone for the Father as well as the Mother did not want him to take off to any of the other states that he has ties to.

 

[Proserpina]

No - what you're seeing is the record of what has been filed so far.

 

[Servicefun]

Since you File for Divorce in Florida you will get "standing Temporary Order For Dissolution of Marriage action with minor Children" from the court. #4 says NO RELOCATION OF CHILDREN: Neither Party may remove, cause to be removed, nor permit the removal of any minor children of the parties from their current county of resident without the written agreement of both parents or an order of this court.

I know about this good because I was scared that my Wife would take my Kids!

My attorney was filing while my Divorce was pending for Motion for temporary relief!

 

[allwipedout]

Thank you, I was afraid that was the case.

 

[allwipedout]

NO RELOCATION OF CHILDREN: Neither Party may remove, cause to be removed, nor permit the removal of any minor children of the parties from their current county of resident without the written agreement of both parents or an order of this court.

Well, he has definitely removed her from the county on at least one occasion.

What punishment (if any) would that incur for the Father taking the Daughter outside of the County? For a short time they lived with his brother in the neighboring county, but then got kicked out and he then moved in with his Mother, who I believe lives in another state.