Legal Custodian vs Father

[tahp]

ohio.

i was awarded custody of my cousin in the state of ohio, but his parents live in alabama. through mediation, we established that the child will visit his parents every summer from june to august (except for this summer, they must return him to ohio by the end of july because we have a previous planned trip scheduled) and every other xmas. this is his first summer that he will visit his parents & i am afraid that they will not return him. i feel this way because my uncle (my cousin's father) has told my cousin that he'll bring him back when he feels like it & he has voiced to other family members that my cousin is his son & he is keeping him. his parents also want him to pack up alot of things in his room to take & that is scaring me. also, when they were getting ready to leave, my cousin cried, hollered & held onto my leg & begged me not to let him go. My uncle got so upset becasue he says that we (the family up north) has brainwashed him & we need to stop communicating with him for the rest of the summer. Also, he says that he lives in alabama & he doesn't care about ohio. do i have anything to worry about? can he take him & not bring him back? does the law in alabama support me or him? i am afraid that i will not see my cousin again.

 

[Ginger]

Hi, If you have custody of your cousin and the visitations are well written, there might be hitch because you said their visitation is June to August. Because they can technically keep him until August because you didn't get a modification in court that they bring him home end of July. Just wait and see what happens. If they do not bring him home by the determined time, contact courts and law enforcement in their area and yours and if you need to (probably will) fax the court order papers to their home police station so that they can help. I would keep telephone contact as much as you can while your cousin is away. Then you make sure to document everything. Whether they allowed you to talk with child or not etc... I hope this helps.