Legal Advice on A custody issue?

Hi everyone,


Ok I in such a delimma right now. I am beside myself with saddness and worry. I sent my oldest daughter to stay with my parents in Washington until we could move up there. I was looking to finish school, and planned for it to be 1.5 years or less. Well as we all know life happens. Between a cancer scare for me, and a divorce action and reconcliation my daughter has been up there almost 3 years.


After I reconciled with my husband my parents (mother) litterally stoped talking to me. They became so angered over the idea I was going to stay with him, I was basically cut out of their lives. Including my daughters. My calls, text emails have mostly gone unanswered. I went up in April to try and see my daughter. My mom spent the entire time I was there following my daughter around telling her not to spend any time with me. I saw her for 3 hours, and in the end was told to F off, and to go to he%%, by my kid, whom had never acted this way before.





I returned home, and hoped to have them send her home for the summer, as she has come down here each year. I sent emails and made calls, the whole time they baited me along saying they would tell me the date next week. Instead they filed a restraining order against me, and filed for 3rd party custody.





I am crushed my parent would do this to me. I do not know what to do. I have been told for this case would cost me upwards of 10-15 thousand dollars to fight. I never did anything to my children to deserve this. Does anyone have any ideas on how to reason with them, how to get them to stop?





Has anyone had much luck with prepaid leagal? they have been telling me they can help, but I am thinking it is only to sell a service. Heck does anyone know of a attorney that could help us. We do not have a ton of money... we just dont. We have 5 other kids, and because we live in diffrent states it has complicated things. There is much more, but this is the basics. Sorry, if nothing else I needed to vent.Legal Advice on A custody issue?
Prepaid legal is not the service you need for this. I have had the service because my ex-husband got conned into participating in it. The lawyers who handle the pre-paid legal claims are the most inexperienced or incompetent lawyers at the law firm.





Yes, depending on the complications, a good custody attorney will cost about 10-15K. This is the price range I am currently paying.





Keep in mind, laws are different for different states and you really do need to consult with a custody or family-law attorney immediately This will probably cost you around $400 for one-time meeting or a consultation.





I would try a familly counselor to try and mediate the situation. I do know the courts don't like it when the person with custody trashes the non-custodial parent(s).





What you haven't said is if there is a history of substance abuse, physical abuse, or mental illness or something else that might cause your parents insisting on custody.





You definitely need to spend some money up front to get advice but don't bother with Pre-paid, they're useless.Legal Advice on A custody issue?
To be honest, Placement is 9/10ths of the Law. Meaning after that amount of time there is no Judge going to remove her from her home. The only way is to prove that they are unfit. Other then that sorry for your loss.
she is your daughter! you have legal rights as a parent granted they have been raising her however you are the legal and custodial parent i don't see the problem.
Tell the people that you will pay any price to get custody of your child. Try using the fake crying or if you can do the real thing.
oh my gosh i am so sorry for what has been given you. I'm only 16, but have already gone threw 3 custody battels with my parents and none of them were fun. but i do know a few things, 1. you are her legal gaurdian and you have parental rights, 2. there is nothing wrong with you from what i can tell like drugs and all that junk. 3. yes being in different states does complicate things a little more but in the end it will all work out whatever God has planned it will work out.
$15k seems a bit high. If an attorney quoted this to you, then there is a LOT more to this story. You may qualify for FREE civil legal aid. You can get information from your local courthouse. As for prepaid legal, I am not certain what you are talking about. You should ask 2 or 3 attorneys and let them know you are evaluating their prices.
First of all, WHO'S name is on the birth certificate?? And second, did you EVER sign any papers transferring guardianship over to your parents??





Wow, this sounds like a complex case, but I have heard many like this, very similiar and the birth parents have won....some have lost, but if their life is in good order and shows a judge no cause for concern, the birth parents usually win. I'm assuming your parents claimed your daughter the last three years on their tax returns. This will prove to a judge that they did support her for those three years and more than likely, the judge will order visitation for your parents. I wish I had more details, feel free to email...





I understand it's an expensive process, but your child and your relationship with your child is priceless. There are advocates and legal aid out there.
Look if my child was not in my custody I would be sleeping on the steps of where ever she was. It sounds to me like their is more going on then you are saying. You have to keep trying. Go to family court they will help you. Your parents have no legal rights to your Daughter and what kind of Grandparent fills their grandchild's head full of crap about their mother. You need to get her away from those people as fast as you can. Good luck to you. Whatever you do don't give up.
Prepaid legal is a generic service to help with simple actions ie drawing a will, perhaps writing a letter.. lawyer referral. It is not what people think. You need a serious lawyer and yes, that is going to cost.


This is hard for me to answer, without emotion. You say you 'sent' her to live with them, but don't mention if there was any legal paperwork behind it.. ie power of attorney, temporary relinquishment, so forth. I am not able to answer for your state.. Texas 3rd party custody is based in (1) the fact of disrupted family (divorce, jail, etc) and (2) the parent must be shown unfit. Things change when a parent gives custody without being forced to. In other words.. if parent gives up their rights on temp basis, THEN the parent not only has to show they are NOW capable to take care of the child, but ALSO the parent has to prove the child is at risk, by staying where he/she is. The rulings that I have seen (and by my own research) is that courts tend to say that the child has now bonded, and it harms the child to be 'unstabilized'. The length of time works against the parent.


Of course, what I read, does not go into parents being tricked, threatened, etc into ';voluntary'; giving custody.. as my daughter/husband were.


I am not a lawyer. IF they filed, one 'answer' I would think of, is that they may not meet the grounds for 3rd party, if they cannot show you are unfit. That might not be enough, since you left her by your choice. The alternate is to prove that remaining with them, is harmful to your relationship, thus a harm to her.


YOU NEED A GOOD LAWYER. And since they have filed, you have to fight now.. the longer it drags out, the harder it is.


If husband is the father, that helps.. unless they hate him so bad that they will try to show him as unfit.


My only advice is to not not not give up. My daughter gave up, or was threatened into giving up, and she has lost, even though she is too stupid to know it.