Father trying to get 50-50 custody of our daughter!

[kpower]

Reside in Florida.

I'm the mother and have always taken care of her financially and physically. I have a job pay for her medical, daycare, food, diapers, clothes & other items she needs. Her father doesn't have a job he doesn't pay child support and has a criminal record. He is trying to get 50/50 custody of her to reduce his child support payments monthly. What can I do to help ensure he does not get 50-50 custody of our daughter?

 

[LdiJ]

Reside in Florida.

I'm the mother and have always taken care of her financially and physically. I have a job pay for her medical, daycare, food, diapers, clothes & other items she needs. Her father doesn't have a job he doesn't pay child support and has a criminal record. He is trying to get 50/50 custody of her to reduce his child support payments monthly. What can I do to help ensure he does not get 50-50 custody of our daughter?

Do not agree to 50/50 in mediation and object against it in front of a judge. How much time has dad spent with the child (alone) since she was born? How old is she?

 

[kpower]

Do not agree to 50/50 in mediation and object against it in front of a judge. How much time has dad spent with the child (alone) since she was born? How old is she?

He was on and off with taking care of her/helping out. He hasn't contacted me in 6 months on seeing how she is doing and asking for her. When he had her before Nov 2011, he always pawned her off on his grandparents and mother. They called me and told me how they were tired of him not being a father. In July of 2011, he was supposed to be watching her and got a DUI.

 

[LdiJ]

He was on and off with taking care of her/helping out. He hasn't contacted me in 6 months on seeing how she is doing and asking for her. When he had her before Nov 2011, he always pawned her off on his grandparents and mother. They called me and told me how they were tired of him not being a father. In July of 2011, he was supposed to be watching her and got a DUI.

Well, if he hasn't even seen her in six months, and with the bolded, I suspect that the judge will realize that he is only asking for 50/50 in order to reduce child support. Judges do catch on to that fairly quickly.

 

[Ohiogal]

Is this an INITIAL custody determination in court? Or would this be a modification? If initial determination, he may get joint custody but that doesn't necessarily mean a 50/50 timeshare.

 

[kpower]

Is this an INITIAL custody determination in court? Or would this be a modification? If initial determination, he may get joint custody but that doesn't necessarily mean a 50/50 timeshare.

It's a petition to modify parental responsibility, visitation, or parenting plan/Time-sharing schedule and other relief.

 

[Ohiogal]

It's a petition to modify parental responsibility, visitation, or parenting plan/Time-sharing schedule and other relief.

Then he won't get it without a substantial change in circumstance in the life of the child. If this were an INITIAL custody determination he would have a pretty good chance of joint legal custody/shared parenting. But with this being a modification, his chances drop to between slim and none.

 

[kpower]

Then he won't get it without a substantial change in circumstance in the life of the child. If this were an INITIAL custody determination he would have a pretty good chance of joint legal custody/shared parenting. But with this being a modification, his chances drop to between slim and none.

What I don't understand is HOW he would have a good chance if it were custody determination? He has no job and can't afford to pay for anything. His excuse is he's a full time student, which is false because if he were he would have graduated in May of this year. I have to reply to this summons within 20 days, will I need to get an attorney for this? I feel I need to, just to ensure I won't risk losing her.

 

[sandyclaus]

What I don't understand is HOW he would have a good chance if it were custody determination? He has no job and can't afford to pay for anything. His excuse is he's a full time student, which is false because if he were he would have graduated in May of this year. I have to reply to this summons within 20 days, will I need to get an attorney for this? I feel I need to, just to ensure I won't risk losing her.

I don't think you read that right. OG said "If this were an INITIAL custody determination he would have a pretty good chance of joint legal custody/shared parenting." This ISN'T the Initial determination, it's a modification of an existing determination. That means the court will have some history of his performance on the existing custody agreement to use in order to consider his current request to modify that agreement. If it were the INITIAL determination, they wouldn't have the history to consider.

It's NEVER a bad thing to at least consult with an attorney to see how you should proceed.

 

[kpower]

I don't think you read that right. OG said "If this were an INITIAL custody determination he would have a pretty good chance of joint legal custody/shared parenting." This ISN'T the Initial determination, it's a modification of an existing determination. That means the court will have some history of his performance on the existing custody agreement to use in order to consider his current request to modify that agreement. If it were the INITIAL determination, they wouldn't have the history to consider.

It's NEVER a bad thing to at least consult with an attorney to see how you should proceed.

I do understand that this not not an INITIAL custody determination. We never had an agreement in the first place for her going over there or anything. I think I will consult an attorney, just so I can have guidance on where to go from here. This is just a very scary time for me right now, I don't see how he could afford to pay for half of her expenses IF he were granted 50-50, with him not being employed anywhere. The law is very confusing and unfair at times!

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

I do understand that this not not an INITIAL custody determination. We never had an agreement in the first place for her going over there or anything. I think I will consult an attorney, just so I can have guidance on where to go from here. This is just a very scary time for me right now, I don't see how he could afford to pay for half of her expenses IF he were granted 50-50, with him not being employed anywhere. The law is very confusing and unfair at times!

What does the CURRENT court order state concerning time share? How old is the court order?

 

[kpower]

What does the CURRENT court order state concerning time share? How old is the court order?

He filed this timeshare on June 29th. I received the summons July 13th.

 

[TheGeekess]

I do understand that this not not an INITIAL custody determination. We never had an agreement in the first place for her going over there or anything. I think I will consult an attorney, just so I can have guidance on where to go from here. This is just a very scary time for me right now, I don't see how he could afford to pay for half of her expenses IF he were granted 50-50, with him not being employed anywhere. The law is very confusing and unfair at times!

That sounds like it IS an initial custody agreement.

The only court order you have is for CS?

 

[kpower]

That sounds like it IS an initial custody agreement.

The only court order you have is for CS?

Right the only other court order I have is for Child Support, he petitioned for the parenting, shared time under the child support case. He stated one of the reasons he was doing this is because he wants his child support payments lowered each month. But other than that, we have never had a court ordered statement stating that she had to be with him on a certain day, time, week or holiday. This is something I have never seen before with child visitation/parenting plan.

 

[Ohiogal]

What I don't understand is HOW he would have a good chance if it were custody determination? He has no job and can't afford to pay for anything. His excuse is he's a full time student, which is false because if he were he would have graduated in May of this year. I have to reply to this summons within 20 days, will I need to get an attorney for this? I feel I need to, just to ensure I won't risk losing her.

Because he is a dad and income doesn't matter for a custody determination. What matters is his constitutional right to be a father. If you don't know the law and the rules then you should get an attorney.