Mothers Rights?

[falcon2270]

I had a son with my boyfriend 11 years ago. We never married and soon after my sons birth we broke up. My son lived with me until 3 years ago when his father moved to another town close by. I worked nights at the time and alot of weekends and thought it would be best for him to be with his dad. Now I am married and am expecting to move out of state with my husband. Can I just take my son with me, (he wants to live with me again anyway), without permission from the father or do I have to go to court? There has never been any type of court order as far as custody between his father and I, we just worked things out. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[summer9910]

I really don't believe Mothers have rights. In my case I didn't.Even though the father did not acknowledge that the child was his for 2.5 years he came in and took her away from me. I am really bitter against the court system...good luck anyway

 

[Yas]

Same here....my violent nutty ex took MY baby girl away from me, and I am told it will be a real battle now to get her back. I have to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he did all those nasty things to me which led to him taking her away from me, and as he is the natural dad, he has every right to keep her - now I have to prove HIM unfit to win!!!

It stinks...

 

[Mugs23]

Nope...

Since there is no legal agreement, no one has "posession" of this child. You pickup & leave the state with this child & new hubby, it does NOT look good to the judge when your ex takes you to court. Since he has had the child most of the time for the last 3 years, he has a one-up on you. Who is providing insurance? Who is paying child support?
Also - comments like (he wants to live with me again anyway) don't make you sound very good. Is the father endangering the child in any way? There's a lot to be taken into consideration here - but MOST parents wouldn't let this happen without a fight.

 

[buka]

If you want custody of your child, you should file immediately. Mugs23 is right, the fact that you gave your child to your ex three years ago will help his case. A judge may consider it disruptive to place the child back in your home at this point, not to mention how disruptive it would be to suddenly take the child away from his dad and move to another state. If you want to see your son, you'll probably need to forget moving out of the state for the moment and concentrate on how you can show the court that you are the better parent.

 

[smh33]

I do not know why others are saying do it...agreement or not..you CAN NOT just leave the state without notifying the father. Most states require 30 day notice at the minimum. You are both the parents...even a parent with sole custody can not move...even just down the road, without notifying other parent...especially if child is with him now...you just gonna pick up for visitation and take off...thats kidnapping and will bring you a whole other world of trouble. You need to find out ex's position about move and child returning to you. Though you have no agreement, if child has resided for any length of time with ex...you can't just decide he is going to be with you again on your own...you both need to agree. If you can not come to agreement...time to get the lawyer and file motion with court to create custody agreement. If you can both agree to terms, papers can be drawn and signed without court but, if conflict..it has to go before the judge.

 

[summer9910]

How disruptive is it when a child is 2.5 and the father has not been in her life AT ALL and he can just waltz in and take her. She was in a home where she had lived all her life and go somewhere she had never lived. The judge in this matter thought because he was married and I was not and he made more money that it would be a better home. No matter that she had to go to a strange home. So don't think it matters to the judge if it disrupts the childs life. Or should I say it does not matter in Louisiana.