concerned1977
Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Maryland
I read a story on hear recently that sounds much like my current situation and now I'm scared. My sister passed away 2 years ago and appointed me as the guardian of her daughter in her will. My husband and I are currently raising her with our other children. My sister and her ex split when she was about 1 year old. My sister took him to court and obtained a child support order. She kept full custody and he had visitation every weekend. He never paid the child support and then when they finally started taking the money out of his pay check he quit his job and he decided to move back to florida with his mom. No one has been able to contact him since and our family has no idea how to contact him (we also don't have the money to hire someone to track him down - but we did try using the web with no luck). I'm scared because, although we can't prove it, we know that he use to hit my sister and he used drugs (which is why they separated). It wouldn't surprise me if he showed up and took her just so that he could get a tax credit. My niece knows about him, but doesn't remember him. Is there anything I can do so that he doesn't just show up and take her away? Would he have have to take me to court first to get her or would the court give him the child first and then I would be the one to have to take him to court? I know that people can change, but if he were to show up and "just take her" wouldn't that count as "tramatizing her" since she doesn't know him? Would the courts allow us to keep her until the whole thing is settled in court? Any advise on what we should do if he shows up and tries to take her away from us?
I read a story on hear recently that sounds much like my current situation and now I'm scared. My sister passed away 2 years ago and appointed me as the guardian of her daughter in her will. My husband and I are currently raising her with our other children. My sister and her ex split when she was about 1 year old. My sister took him to court and obtained a child support order. She kept full custody and he had visitation every weekend. He never paid the child support and then when they finally started taking the money out of his pay check he quit his job and he decided to move back to florida with his mom. No one has been able to contact him since and our family has no idea how to contact him (we also don't have the money to hire someone to track him down - but we did try using the web with no luck). I'm scared because, although we can't prove it, we know that he use to hit my sister and he used drugs (which is why they separated). It wouldn't surprise me if he showed up and took her just so that he could get a tax credit. My niece knows about him, but doesn't remember him. Is there anything I can do so that he doesn't just show up and take her away? Would he have have to take me to court first to get her or would the court give him the child first and then I would be the one to have to take him to court? I know that people can change, but if he were to show up and "just take her" wouldn't that count as "tramatizing her" since she doesn't know him? Would the courts allow us to keep her until the whole thing is settled in court? Any advise on what we should do if he shows up and tries to take her away from us?
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