Legal advice for child custody.?

My husband and I currently live in Ca. where he has jurisdiction for court orders on his two kids from a previous marriage. They have since moved to Michigan where they have been living for over 6 years. Both kids ages 14 and 15 say its terribly miserable living with there mother. They say they don't see her and their step dad for about 1.5 hours a day. Which they both work late and are sleeping when they leave for school. They have a bed time of 8pm which makes it difficult for any family time. They are visiting for the the summer and we have found out a few things such as one of them trying to slice their wrist and the other running away. Which they have been told not to tell us but it slipped. My husband wants to go and get custody as they would be better off here for now. How do we go about this? Will jurisdiction change to Michigan or stay here. Also, what is the cheapest way to go about this and can we go pro per.... Please offer any suggestions.....Legal advice for child custody.?
Well there 14 and 15 so the court will ask the teens who would they prefer to stay with and why. If the court think their reason of who they choose to stay with is legitimate then most likely the parent they want to stay with is who they will stay with. So if the teen say they rather stay with their dad then custody most likely will be given to him.Legal advice for child custody.?
The jurisdiction will be Michigan after 6 years. I've had to look into this recently as my own ex made plans to move out of state. The only thing cheap about a child custody battle is to consult an attorney. That's usually a small fee at most, unless your husband is using the attorney he's previously retained for divorce-related matters, in which case a half-hour conversation about this still shouldn't be bad.





Once you know the possibilities from an attorney, plan from there. If you take it one step at a time, at least this first step ought to be easy.
your husband needs to figure out what he wants, seek out a lawyer document what is going on with the children..your husband can file in court for custody and the lawyer will help with all the legal issues per state/out of state since the children live out of the state
Document everything and get and attorney
wow sad!!!....but go get a lawyer


i am moving in with my dad to
If you have observed that the kids are ';At-Risk'; then I would first take statements from the kids, and take pictures if you must. Find a good lawyer. I am confused, because I am not sure if you have joint-custody; but it sounds like you do. In any case it is a standard filing. If your husband still has jurisdiction for the orders in CA, then you will have to file your case in the state MI. But, you haven't mention why the kids went to live with the mother?


I agree with Zeep. This may be a difficult suite, because they have been living there so long; even though the sad occurrences took place. You are in for a nasty fight, and you will need more that an attorney's consultation.


I couldn't help it, but I would like to point out that this fight could last for a few years in court. The kids are already at-risk as you said, and so they will be in the center of the whole thing. Try to see if you can speak with the mother first about situations at home and if they need any help(you are just testing the temperature(possible get a mediator)). If they are very abrasive, then launch your suite.