Get free answers to your Child Custody legal questions from lawyers in your area.
I have an autistic 9-year-old who visits his dad every weekend, and we don't have any court orders. Recently, my son started touching himself, which raised my concerns. He told me he saw his dad doing the same and was instructed not to tell therapists or doctors about it or about seeing a... View More 
answered on Apr 14, 2025
If you are going to successfully file for an ER custody order you need to show that Father is presenting an existential risk to your child. Merely stating that the behavior is deteriorating or disturbing may not be enough. You should be able to tell the court why it should Order a change without... View More
I have been separated from my husband for about three years, and we have no legal custody agreements. We agreed that our son, who is almost four years old, would spend the holidays with his father, and I would pick him up in the first week of January. When I tried to pick him up, my husband... View More
answered on Apr 2, 2025
It sounds like you really need to hire a domestic relations attorney i the city where your husband filed for divorce. While you have a right to represent yourself, I do not recommend it. This forum is for answering general questions. No attorney can teach you within a single answer each rule of... View More
I record all my phone calls, and I have a recording of my child from such a call. My attorney has advised me that in the state of Ohio, a recording of a child is not admissible in custody court under any circumstances. The only previous custody hearing was the initial divorce, at which time there... View More
answered on Mar 9, 2025
I believe you should listen to your attorney. I would be highly offended if one of my clients were trying to crowdsource a second opinion. Trying to use a recording of a child in court is highly inadvisable. It never sounds the way to a judge the way a client thinks it will. At the most i... View More
I am representing myself in a family law case in Ohio, involving a motion to change parenting time and visitation schedules. The trial is set for April 18, 2025, and I need to submit an exhibit list 14 days before the trial date. The case concerns modifying visitation due to the father's... View More
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answered on Feb 28, 2025
Don't overthink this. Make a list of all the documents that you want to present. Put the court information at the top of the list along with a caption like "Plaintiff's Exhibit List". File it with the clerk of courts and serve it on all other parties.
Never married, no custody arrangement in place. I recently filed for child support and coincidentally he filed an abuse/neglect report with CPS. He releases him to me after he takes him every other weekend. He's repeatedly told me he wants me to move away with him and I'm not sure how to... View More
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answered on Jan 21, 2025
If you were never married and there is no custody order in place then you literally have all the power. Unmarried father's have no custodial rights in Ohio unless a court grants them parenting time. You would be within your rights to simply not give him any parenting time. In short, you... View More
We have not heard from his father in a year if not longer. I have given up on texting and calling him due to him not replying. I send pictures here and there with no response. He has never financially helped in the whole 5 years but I never asked for child support. So at this point I think it’s... View More
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answered on Sep 17, 2024
You can file for a step-parent adoption in your county's probate court. Because the biological father has not been involved or paid support to you in over a year (even without a support order) his consent is not required to commence the adoption. You do not need to file for abandonment.
I lost custody of my son but still maintain my parental rights. Custody was granted to his grandma but she has lost custody of him twice. The first time she tried to kill herself, followed the case plan and got him back and then accidentally recorded a message on the Casas voicemail telling my son... View More
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answered on Jul 21, 2024
You can start by gathering all evidence that demonstrates your efforts to maintain contact and the barriers you've faced, including the recorded voicemail and any documentation of missed visitations due to the grandma's interference. Present this evidence clearly to the court and insist... View More
I pay my ordered child support, but haven't seen my kids in almost 9 years. Their mother prevented contact. I know I should have filed for visitation long ago. My kids want nothing to do with me. What should I do?
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answered on Jul 3, 2024
You are in a very tough position. A biological parent's consent is not needed for a step-parent adoption if they have had less than de minimus contact with the minor children for more than one year without reasonable excuse. A court will have a hard time concluding that your failure to file... View More
My daughter's father has been no contact for 2 years and he never established paternal rights in court, but is on birth certificate. When I was going to file officially for custody, 6 different lawyers during consultations informed me that because we were never married and he never... View More
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answered on Jun 6, 2024
If the biological father has EITHER gone more than one year without de minimus (negligible amount) of contact with the minor child without reasonable cause OR has failed to provide support for the minor child, even without a child support order, then the biological father's consent is not... View More
What can I do after permanent custody was granted to CPS from the lies that can be proven with transcripts from court, having a split decision at the 11th district Court of appeals and my attorney was 48 minutes late filing the appeal to the Supreme Court due to documented computer glitch, stating... View More
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answered on May 24, 2024
You still have options to pursue, even after permanent custody was granted to CPS. Given the documented issues with your attorney's late filing due to a computer glitch and the alleged lies that can be proven with court transcripts, you may be able to seek legal recourse. One potential step is... View More
Can a lawyer sign a sworn affidavit for a client?
I got emergency custody paperwork from the court and they sent two sets of papers. Well I got to looking at my ex’s signature on the paperwork and there is two signatures one is 100% not hers. It looks like her lawyer tried to copy her... View More
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answered on May 2, 2024
Answer to your immediate question: No.
Answer to your unasked question; do not make this a thing. She is going to say that is her signature and there is not going to be anything you can do about it because notarization is there to protect the signor. Respond to the emergency custody... View More
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answered on May 2, 2024
Visitation and parenting time is a pretty low bar to clear. Unless you have serious background issues (drug addiction, violent crime, child endangerment) you have a good chance of getting temporary parenting time and a parenting plan in place even without counsel. Portage juvenile court has some... View More
When he doesn't agree with we agreed to, he's constantly is wanting to change things. We both are supposed to have an ROR, which includes talking to the psychiatrist and or doctors. I agreed to be transparent about my medical health, even though i do not have any psychotic disorders. He... View More
answered on Apr 11, 2024
I don't see a specific question here. It sounds like you may wish to either file a motion to enforce your present agreement, or in the alternative terminate your agreement in favor of you having custody reserving visitation to the other parent. It sounds like you may wish to have a Guardian ad... View More
She logged into my messenger account and read my personal messages and now is trying to use them against me to take away my shared parenting.
The messages are not to and from my son she used my sons old phone to obtain my personal password for my private messenger account and she logged... View More
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answered on Apr 8, 2024
No, it doesn't give her permission.
On the other hand, though she may have "hacked" your account, there is nothing private about private facebook messages. All of those are routinely subpoenaed in custody proceedings and are discoverable information, particularly if they... View More
She logged into my messenger account and read my personal messages and now is trying to use them against me to take away my shared parenting.
The messages are not to and from my son she used my sons old phone to obtain my personal password for my private messenger account and she logged... View More
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answered on Apr 16, 2024
No, sharing your Facebook login information with your son does not give your ex-wife permission to access your personal Messenger account. Logging into someone else's account without their explicit consent is a violation of privacy and may be illegal, depending on the laws in your... View More
answered on Apr 2, 2024
Parties to a dissolution in Ohio must agree on all aspects of the dissolution or they cannot file for dissolution. When children are involved the parties must agree on custody, parenting time, child support and any other relevant issue concerning the children to have a dissolution. When parties are... View More
My childs father does not have sole custody and he does have to pay child support. There is no custody or visitation order through court but i do let him see his son on the weekends if hes not busy so its not a guaranteed every weekend. He is on the birth certificate so he is the established... View More
answered on Mar 30, 2024
If there truly is no custody order, parenting plan or visitation order on the record, and assuming you and father were never married, you may move. He has the right to file a motion to establish his rights however. You would be best served by investing in an attorney in the county in which you... View More
Called them back they said an appointment else for the community take a drug test we went in took a mouth swab we told him THC would be the only thing and that the allegations will be over with now they're telling me they want to talk to my kids and see my home the allegations were made were... View More
answered on Mar 28, 2024
They cannot compel you or your kids to talk with them. The risk you run is that they will construe everything that occurs from that point afterwards with an eye towards your being uncooperative. It will not stop them from having increased scrutiny upon you, and talking to everyone you know and all... View More
I got to see my daughter twice for 3 hours in a year. We tried mediation and her mother didn't want to continue it. The magistrate said my options were to go to trial or get a lawyer? I'm not sure what each mean and what to do. I have another court date on April 23 at 1 pm.
answered on Mar 28, 2024
Mediation is merely voluntary negotiations. This means that if the parties don't agree, as is your case the matter must be decided by the court. Courts decide matters by holding trials. If you truly want shared custody you need to invest in hiring a lawyer to represent you in court. Look... View More
I want to go back to a mental health evaluation not being done and letting me sign all kinds of legal contract stuff when I was not in eight state of mind
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answered on Mar 18, 2024
If you're feeling overwhelmed because of past decisions made during a time when you weren't in the best state of mind, especially regarding legal contracts, it's important to take steps towards addressing these concerns. Legal agreements can be complex, and their validity might be... View More
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