Child Custody

[Stephanie E. Petty]

my case was in georgia in feb 2000. my ex and i have joint legal custody and he is the primary parent due to the fact that he lives with his parents and they support him and my children. he has not been employed in 4 years and his parents continue to support him. he won primary custody because his parents make more money than I do, but of course , i am a single parent. I live florida now and only get to see my kids every few months due the the financial expense it is for me to travel. my main problem is, my 10 yr old is not his biological child and he lied in court and said he adopted her and he didn't. the judge ruled for him and now i have to pay him child support for a child that is not legally or biologically his. this is heartbreaking to me and my family. my other main problem is that my ex acts as if i have no right to any decisions with my kids. due to him living with his parents, he has to go along with whatever they say and they are doing everything in their power to erase me from the lives of my children, and one of them is of no relation legally or biologically. please help me , I am desparate, please advise me on the road i should take . thank you.

 

[LegalBeagle]

my case was in georgia in feb 2000. my ex and i have joint legal custody and he is the primary parent due to the fact that he lives with his parents and they support him and my children. he has not been employed in 4 years and his parents continue to support him. he won primary custody because his parents make more money than I do, but of course , i am a single parent. I live florida now and only get to see my kids every few months due the the financial expense it is for me to travel. my main problem is, my 10 yr old is not his biological child and he lied in court and said he adopted her and he didn't. the judge ruled for him and now i have to pay him child support for a child that is not legally or biologically his. this is heartbreaking to me and my family. my other main problem is that my ex acts as if i have no right to any decisions with my kids. due to him living with his parents, he has to go along with whatever they say and they are doing everything in their power to erase me from the lives of my children, and one of them is of no relation legally or biologically. please help me , I am desparate, please advise me on the road i should take . thank you.

You did not have an attorney then ?

When he stated he had adopted the child.. where was your voice informing the judge that he had not? and where is the real bio father?

 

[BugHogan]

You should have the rights of reasonable and liberal visitation with your children, but I must say that it's usually not that easy for a father to get primary physical custody, particularly an unemployed, homeless one. What other factors were present? The fact that his parents have money shouldn't have anything to do with it unless they were funding a very good divorce attorney for him.

Do you have a birth certificate for the child in question? Is the bio father's name on it? Where is he?

Have you thought about moving closer to the kids? Or did he move away? If you moved, chances are they will make you foot the bill for visitation.

You have still have rights as a non-custodial parent. You need to go to court and stand up for those rights. Start keeping detailed records of all interaction with them and take them to court for contempt if they deny visitation. Make sure you take advantage of any and all visitation opportunities that are presented. Good luck!

 

[Stephanie E. Petty]

To BudHogan

You should have the rights of reasonable and liberal visitation with your children, but I must say that it's usually not that easy for a father to get primary physical custody, particularly an unemployed, homeless one. What other factors were present? The fact that his parents have money shouldn't have anything to do with it unless they were funding a very good divorce attorney for him.

Do you have a birth certificate for the child in question? Is the bio father's name on it? Where is he?

Have you thought about moving closer to the kids? Or did he move away? If you moved, chances are they will make you foot the bill for visitation.

You have still have rights as a non-custodial parent. You need to go to court and stand up for those rights. Start keeping detailed records of all interaction with them and take them to court for contempt if they deny visitation. Make sure you take advantage of any and all visitation opportunities that are presented. Good luck!

He and I were divorced 2 years before this. he is not homeless, is living off his parents. The birth certificate i left blank for the fathers name. I have been in touch with the Georgia legal aid to try to reopen the case since he lied about adopting my daughter. i have kept records of everything. Its just very heartbreaking that my ex and his parents are brainwashing my kids against me. he got primary custody because his attorney was a barracuda and made him look like a saint and it worked.