Missouri.
A while ago, my brother got into a dispute with his ex-wife over custody of their child. She was moving out of state, and wanted to bring the child with her. My brother desperately wanted to stop this. He hired a lawyer, and the lawyer scheduled a hearing. Unfortunately, the hearing wasn't scheduled until after the move.
The custody orders that were in place at that time 1.) prohibited her from taking the child out of state, and 2.) scheduled visitation that required him to turn the child over to her a couple of days before she left the state.
She called and told him she was coming for the child, and he asked me what he should do. A couple of more facts - 1.) This happened over the weekend, and my brother wasn't able to reach his lawyer (as for why he didn't talk to his lawyer about this ahead of time - don't ask), 2.) They hadn't been following the visitation up til then, which my brother was happy about, because she'd been leaving the child with my brother about 80% of the time - which was more than the schedule called for.
I told him to refuse to turn over the child, unless he was told to do so by the police; and to comply, if they did.
She showed up with the police about midnight. They told him to get the kid out of bed, and he did. She left with the kid, a day or two later, for AZ.
My questions are -
1.) How bad was my advice, and
2.) What effect, if any, should he expect from her move to AZ, in regards to the hearing?
A while ago, my brother got into a dispute with his ex-wife over custody of their child. She was moving out of state, and wanted to bring the child with her. My brother desperately wanted to stop this. He hired a lawyer, and the lawyer scheduled a hearing. Unfortunately, the hearing wasn't scheduled until after the move.
The custody orders that were in place at that time 1.) prohibited her from taking the child out of state, and 2.) scheduled visitation that required him to turn the child over to her a couple of days before she left the state.
She called and told him she was coming for the child, and he asked me what he should do. A couple of more facts - 1.) This happened over the weekend, and my brother wasn't able to reach his lawyer (as for why he didn't talk to his lawyer about this ahead of time - don't ask), 2.) They hadn't been following the visitation up til then, which my brother was happy about, because she'd been leaving the child with my brother about 80% of the time - which was more than the schedule called for.
I told him to refuse to turn over the child, unless he was told to do so by the police; and to comply, if they did.
She showed up with the police about midnight. They told him to get the kid out of bed, and he did. She left with the kid, a day or two later, for AZ.
My questions are -
1.) How bad was my advice, and
2.) What effect, if any, should he expect from her move to AZ, in regards to the hearing?