Mother keeping child away from father.

[Annon314]

Hello.
The mother of my child has been keeping our kid away from me because our daughter got second degree burns with her mother. she texted me saying I wouldnt see our daughter for about 2-3 weeks until "things settle down" 2 days later i received pictures of our daughter in a hospital bed sedated with multiple burn wounds on her body "coffee". I called child protective services because she would not give me any info on the well being of our daughter and since then she has not let me or told me how our kid is doing nor let me see out daughter its been 5 months. she has texted me saying my name doesn't mean anything on the birth cert. and she wants our daughter to forget about me as her father. there has been numerous times she has lied to me about MY EX being in the hospital when it was clearly our daughter. i have texts of her saying she is moving to another state. she has also returned things i have purchased for our daughter thru amazon and by returning i mean coming to my house and dropping it off. She wants SOLE CUSTODY and she does NOT want me to make life decisions for our daughter if we were to go to court. I am having issues coming up with the retainer money is tight with bills and etc My daughter lives with her Moms MOM and Dad (childs grandparents) I have my own 2 bedroom home with my daughter having her own room...


Can anyone PLEASE tell me what my case would look like in Court I WANT JOINT 50/50 Custody.

 

[LdiJ]

Hello.
The mother of my child has been keeping our kid away from me because our daughter got second degree burns with her mother. she texted me saying I wouldnt see our daughter for about 2-3 weeks until "things settle down" 2 days later i received pictures of our daughter in a hospital bed sedated with multiple burn wounds on her body "coffee". I called child protective services because she would not give me any info on the well being of our daughter and since then she has not let me or told me how our kid is doing nor let me see out daughter its been 5 months. she has texted me saying my name doesn't mean anything on the birth cert. and she wants our daughter to forget about me as her father. there has been numerous times she has lied to me about MY EX being in the hospital when it was clearly our daughter. i have texts of her saying she is moving to another state. she has also returned things i have purchased for our daughter thru amazon and by returning i mean coming to my house and dropping it off. She wants SOLE CUSTODY and she does NOT want me to make life decisions for our daughter if we were to go to court. I am having issues coming up with the retainer money is tight with bills and etc My daughter lives with her Moms MOM and Dad (childs grandparents) I have my own 2 bedroom home with my daughter having her own room...


Can anyone PLEASE tell me what my case would look like in Court I WANT JOINT 50/50 Custody.

Why in the world would you call CPS on the mother when she informed you of the child needing to be hospitalized? That makes absolutely no sense to me at all.

In any case, were you married to the child's mother? If so, how long have you been separated? How old is the child? Have you been a regularly involved parent? Basically you need to give us the backstory.

 

[LdiJ]

We were not legally married. and before this incident she has always let me see the child If I was at work she would drop the child off with my parents almost everyday of the week. sometimes we would be okay sometimes not because she wanted things to always be her way so I played along.

we separated when our daughter was 3 months and she is now 1 yr and 5 months. Why wouldnt I call CPS? she has lied to me multiple times of our child being in the hospital. 3 days out of the week I was off from work I would spent every second with the child for about 5-6 Hours.

I always provided Diapers, Clothes, Toys, Baby Wipes etc and all of a sudden she has started returning things.

Its time to go to court to establish custody/parenting time/child support. Please be aware that a 50/50 timeshare does not necessarily eliminate child support.

 

[t74]

I would have expected that a 17 month old with burns serious enough to require hospitalization would have initiated a CPS investigation based on a report from the hospital/doctors. And, yes, I know toddlers are very adventurous, but this injury sounds severe, and if actually caused by "coffee", indicates an inattentive supervisor or dangerous environment.

OP, get yourself an attorney and file. Borrow from relatives, your CC, ... and do whatever is required. Do not provide any funds or items not ordered by the court as they will likely be considered gifts not support.

 

[HRZ]

I agree severe burns to a child enough to warrant being hospitalized warrants being checked out by CPS or equivalent.

Dad. If you do not have court ordered visitation I agree with others , find the funds somehow and get that ball rolling quickly ....ideally BEFORE mom leaves the area.

And as others address, do not pay out a dime absent an order to do so, anything you pay outside of an order is likely to be treated as a "gift" and you get no credit for same .

 

[stealth2]

I would have expected that a 17 month old

t - where did you find the age of the child? I'm not seeing it in OP.

ETA: Nevermind - in a now deleted post that was quoted. I hate when posters do that (delete posts).

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Why in the world would you call CPS on the mother when she informed you of the child needing to be hospitalized?

Really? A child with multiple burn wounds and you ask why would he call CPS?

Come to think about it I wouldn't have called CPS either. I would have called the police.

 

[stealth2]

Really? A child with multiple burn wounds and you ask why would he call CPS?

Come to think about it I wouldn't have called CPS either. I would have called the police.

I would have thought that the hospital would have reported it if warranted.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

I would have thought that the hospital would have reported it if warranted.

One would hope but if it were my child that another had custody of I would certainly want to make sure. Especially with all of the you can't see your kid for 2-3 weeks stuff.

 

[HRZ]

Quite frankly if Mother is denying Dad access to his own child , were I in Dads shoes I'd treat any and every such injury as " suspicious " until proven otherwise .

The hospital may have bought whatever story Mom told and put it to bottom of any required reporting list .....but Dad has no good crystal ball and the child's safety needs to be up front.

Dad I suspect you do not have court ordered visitation, if true , get started on getting official visitation by court order tomorrow. You want Mom served before she moves out of state and that adds another set of issues.

 

[Just Blue]

I'm puzzled how a cup/pot of coffee is hot enough to cause 2nd degree burns. Tea I can understand since you boil the water for it...but coffee? Call CPS and the police. IMHO. Poor baby.

 

[t74]

I knew of a child in my old neighborhood (2 doors down) who was burned pulling over a coffepot but that was over 40 years ago in the time of percolators. I recall him requiring skin grafts, etc. I would find it difficult to have a burn from today's drip type machines.

People can get burned by tap water from super hot, incorrectly set water heaters

No matter the source of the injury, I believe someone should be checking and advising so as it does not happen again.

 

[CdwJava]

In what state did this happen?

As for burns and some sort of automatic CPS referral or police report, that's not necessarily so. If the doctor or the hospital suspects foul play, of course. But not every burn warrants a police investigation. I'd go so far as to say that most do not involve CPS referrals or a police investigation because most are not sufficiently "suspicious" such as to warrant a report.

I have four sons who survived many a youthful injury on their way to adulthood ... God forbid I had to deal with CPS every time they went to the ER or the doctor with a cut, scrape, broken bone, or burn! Our kids were on a first name basis with a couple of the local ER docs!

 

[stealth2]

In what state did this happen?

As for burns and some sort of automatic CPS referral or police report, that's not necessarily so. If the doctor or the hospital suspects foul play, of course. But not every burn warrants a police investigation. I'd go so far as to say that most do not involve CPS referrals or a police investigation because most are not sufficiently "suspicious" such as to warrant a report.

I have four sons who survived many a youthful injury on their way to adulthood ... God forbid I had to deal with CPS every time they went to the ER or the doctor with a cut, scrape, broken bone, or burn! Our kids were on a first name basis with a couple of the local ER docs!

Agreed, C. Hence my addition of "if warranted".

I'm puzzled how a cup/pot of coffee is hot enough to cause 2nd degree burns.

Blue - remember the McD's case? But I'll admit to being confused by "with multiple burn wounds on her body "coffee". " I'm really not sure what that means... Hopefully, OP will clarify.

 

[Just Blue]

Agreed, C. Hence my addition of "if warranted".


Blue - remember the McD's case? But I'll admit to being confused by "with multiple burn wounds on her body "coffee". " I'm really not sure what that means... Hopefully, OP will clarify.

I do recall that case. But I doubt ex has a McD's quality industrial coffee maker in her home. Still think the police should be made aware of this.