What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas
Here's the situation.. My son is 11 months old and his father and I were never married. He is stationed in Kansas in the Army and I'm in Texas. After we broke up, he married his ex a couple of weeks later to spite me, got her pregnant, and then left for Iraq. He came back when my son was born to see him and left when he was 3 weeks old to go back. We have no court orders (they wouldn't let me file bc he was in Iraq) but he pays me child support on his own every month.
He came back about a month ago from Iraq, came to Texas to see him, and everything was going good. My son took to him even though he didn't know him (I had shown him a lot of pictures and he had heard his voice) so I let him take him all day for 2 days, but not overnight even though he wanted to. He comes on the 3rd day with a girl he just met on the Internet a few days prior. Mind you, he is married to someone else. I didn't like that he was taking my son around a girl who he didn't know well himself, was not his wife, and when he hadn't firmly established his own bond with him yet. I told him to go have his fun with that girl and come back later when he could spend quality time with his son. He got mad, started cussing and screaming, grabbed my son and was going to take him without a car seat bc I wouldn't give him the seat. I got my son back and he was screaming over him, grabbed mine and his arms trying to get him, and broke a piece of the staircase. I called the police, he left, and I filed a report. He went back to Kansas the next day. I also found out he was on prescribed Valium at the time.
So he came back a couple of days ago and I told him he could see him at his grandmother's only right now because of the situation. We are not speaking anymore and everything is going through the grandmother. He said he is going to fight me for custody.
Since this is such a complicated situation, what can I expect when I go to court? Texas has a standard visitation schedule but this is not a standard case. My son is an infant still, he is in the military which is unstable in itself, he's in another state, he behavior was not stabe last time he was here, and he is having my son around other women when he's still married (not sure I can do anything about the last one but I still think it's not right), and he might still be on Valium. Can he get joint custody given all these factors? Does he even have a leg to stand on? Would it help me to get a lawyer or can I just go through child support services and get the same response? How should I approach this? CAn I get a psychologist to make an evaluation?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Here's the situation.. My son is 11 months old and his father and I were never married. He is stationed in Kansas in the Army and I'm in Texas. After we broke up, he married his ex a couple of weeks later to spite me, got her pregnant, and then left for Iraq. He came back when my son was born to see him and left when he was 3 weeks old to go back. We have no court orders (they wouldn't let me file bc he was in Iraq) but he pays me child support on his own every month.
He came back about a month ago from Iraq, came to Texas to see him, and everything was going good. My son took to him even though he didn't know him (I had shown him a lot of pictures and he had heard his voice) so I let him take him all day for 2 days, but not overnight even though he wanted to. He comes on the 3rd day with a girl he just met on the Internet a few days prior. Mind you, he is married to someone else. I didn't like that he was taking my son around a girl who he didn't know well himself, was not his wife, and when he hadn't firmly established his own bond with him yet. I told him to go have his fun with that girl and come back later when he could spend quality time with his son. He got mad, started cussing and screaming, grabbed my son and was going to take him without a car seat bc I wouldn't give him the seat. I got my son back and he was screaming over him, grabbed mine and his arms trying to get him, and broke a piece of the staircase. I called the police, he left, and I filed a report. He went back to Kansas the next day. I also found out he was on prescribed Valium at the time.
So he came back a couple of days ago and I told him he could see him at his grandmother's only right now because of the situation. We are not speaking anymore and everything is going through the grandmother. He said he is going to fight me for custody.
Since this is such a complicated situation, what can I expect when I go to court? Texas has a standard visitation schedule but this is not a standard case. My son is an infant still, he is in the military which is unstable in itself, he's in another state, he behavior was not stabe last time he was here, and he is having my son around other women when he's still married (not sure I can do anything about the last one but I still think it's not right), and he might still be on Valium. Can he get joint custody given all these factors? Does he even have a leg to stand on? Would it help me to get a lawyer or can I just go through child support services and get the same response? How should I approach this? CAn I get a psychologist to make an evaluation?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
