Get free answers to your Child Custody legal questions from lawyers in your area.
Do you have to go through an adoption agentcy or does she just sign over custody?
answered on Feb 20, 2024
As to your question in general, it comes down to what you want to do.
1. Temporary custody: This allows you to have custody of the child for a limited period, typically up to 6 months. However, it can be revoked at any time by the birth parents. Drafting this document requires meeting... View More 
Do you have to go through an adoption agentcy or does she just sign over custody?
answered on Feb 20, 2024
Follow up...
I want to emphasize that if the child was born outside of Utah, or if the birth mother is not from Utah, in any scenario, please note that such circumstances introduce a complexity that can only be adequately addressed in a consultation with an attorney (and one whose practice... View More
My husband will be going out of town for a week and he has his kids every weekend. He will be gone during that visitation. If they don't have the Right of First Refusal in the decree, as their stepmom, can their mom stop them from spending the weekend with me? From what I read, that would... View More
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answered on Jan 18, 2024
In Utah, the Right of First Refusal (ROFR) typically needs to be specified in the custody decree for it to apply. If the custody decree doesn't include a ROFR provision, your husband may have the discretion to choose who takes care of the children during his absence. Without a specific ROFR... View More
A family friend dropped their children off 2 weeks ago and has made minimal effort to pick them up. They have lived with me off and on since birth. They have a stable home but chose not to live there, and continue to drag the kids around from place to place leaving them for extended time periods... View More
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answered on Jan 10, 2024
If you are seeking custody of a child who is a non-family member due to concerns about the parent's addiction, the process in Utah typically involves filing a petition for guardianship or custody with the appropriate court. Given that the children have been living with you and the... View More
Losing full custody due to a 34(e), dcfs involvement with little to no progress in 2 years time, mentally ill mother (bpd), needing to fight back against childs mother and dcfs maybe find a way to withdraw/change the 34(e) plea.
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answered on Jul 27, 2024
To address a 34(e) plea in juvenile court, you should start by consulting with your attorney about the possibility of withdrawing or amending the plea. It's important to gather all evidence of any abuse or mistreatment and any documentation showing efforts made towards improvement over the... View More
the classes, he will have no relief? my kids are terrified of him, i travel for work and he abandoned my kids with my parents ,cheated 14 times gave me std i was at defsukt and the clerks lost my stuff and got him enough tjme to hire atty hoe do i just motion to ignore amswer based on perjury in... View More
answered on Feb 10, 2023
This is a situation where you definitely need a competent attorney experienced in family law in the county where your case is pending.
A default judgment is usually only available when a party, after being properly served with a lawsuit, fails to file an answer and displays conscious... View More
Im going through a divorce its been 9 months waiting. I fell in love with someone who has misdemeanors for dumb traffic things. He had some stuff in his teens. Hes changed and wanting to be a fireman or go into marines to be a combat medic. Im worried that my Ex husband who is not a good guy might... View More
answered on Sep 30, 2022
This is not a criminal law question. You need a family law specialist.
I have 2 children with a man I was with over 5 years ago (we were never married), since then I have had 2 more kids and gotten married. We have no contact with my 2 oldest children's father and he periodically will pay some child support but still owes us thousands of dollars in back child... View More
answered on Aug 8, 2022
You could incorporate a petition to terminate the father's rights with a petition to adopt the two children if that is what your husband desires and the children are on board (if they are old enough to have a say). If your husband is not planning to adopt the children, there really is not a... View More
answered on Feb 16, 2022
If it is not outlined in the parenting plan in the Decree or Child Custody Order, the parents must either come to an agreement, go to mediation, or take the matter in front of a judge. I suggest the two of you attempt to resolve the matter. You could suggest that the other party choose which weeks... View More
My fathers ex girlfriend while living with him went to the courts and filed for custody of my sister claiming she didn’t know where he was. And would get all the mail and summons to appear and hid it from my dad so they granted her full custody. Jump forward a year and she assaults my dad again... View More
answered on Jan 13, 2022
This is a tricky situation. There are ways to undue orders, especially those that were obtained under false pretenses. Please see Utah R. Civ. P. 60.
This seems to be a complicated issue. I would advise you to talk with a lawyer who is familiar with domestic issues like this.
Before I turned 18 my parents gained full legal guardianship of me as have Autism. They recently divorced around the same time a renewal of the guardianship was due. My father refused to sign it and I just want to know if that revoked all of his legal rights of being my father? My father was very... View More
answered on Sep 30, 2021
First of all, I hope you are now surrounded by people who love and care for you the way your father SHOULD have loved and cared for you.
As to your question, it depends on whether you remain under your mother's guardianship or not. If you ARE, you should encourage your mother to file... View More
Will this affect our custody agreement at all? Is she likely to be changed with anything?
answered on Aug 17, 2021
Law enforcement is highly unlikely to be interested in taking your case to the prosecutor and, even if they did, the prosecutor is even less likely to be willing to press charges.
There is even less likelihood that the Court responsible for your family law matter would consider this grounds... View More
My son is 15, my ex and i split up when he was 7 and he was spending time between the 2 of us, then one day he tells me if i want to see him again, to take him to court. I never did because my family advised against it, so i haven't seen him in years. Now, he got arrested in Utah and my ex... View More
answered on Jul 27, 2021
So many questions. Were you married? Is the ex on the birth certificate? Was there EVER a custody order entered by any court? How long ago was "one day"? Have you remained in communication with your 15 year old? Does he WANT to live with grandma or with you in Utah? Does grandma have a... View More
I've recently ran away from home because my dad has been abusive for years and I have gotten a bunch of support from my friends and my friends got me out of the house. I was in some trouble for another legal thing that I also need answers for. When I ran away I was talking with my local police... View More
answered on Jun 10, 2021
Utah Legal Services may be able to connect you with a local attorney who could help you pro bono (free). The short answer is "yes, you can be emancipated without your parents consent." You will need to show that you can actually support yourself and not rely on the family you are staying... View More
My friend is 19 years old. He recently reported to me that his proctor parents have been opening his mail, and have told him that he has no right to his possessions while under their custody and they can legally do whatever they want with anything of his, including taking away his money earned at... View More
answered on May 21, 2021
It depends. Generally speaking, without any other information regarding your friend's situation. Do the proctor parents have a custody or guardianship order? If they do, they likely have a right to open your friend's mail and may have a right to control his finances. Also, if they... View More
I don’t want to be apart of the child’s life
answered on Apr 9, 2021
You are not required to spend any time with the child.
As for child support, unfortunately you can only wait for the other shoe to drop or deal with the issue definitively. If you want to simply deal with the issue, you can obtain a paternity test; there are various ways to make this... View More
2 years ago dad was put on supervised visits because he is an alcoholic. The mother began to let the kids go with their father without supervision and without going back to court. Now the 14 year old child wants to live with dad. Is that possible?
answered on Feb 3, 2021
I'm having a sense of deja vu with this question. Possible? Almost anything is. Advisable? That depends on whether dad is still an alcoholic. If dad is still an alcoholic, mom lets the 14 year old go live with him, and anything happens to the child; mom could face both civil and criminal... View More
My boyfriend has 3 girls from a previous marriage, two of them are non-biological and he never got to adopt them but they consider him their dad, it's been recently that they want to live with him. What are the laws on this? If he never adopted them but has been in their life since they were... View More
answered on Jan 13, 2021
If the girls and their mother live in Utah, you can file an action for custody and visitation for persons other than parent (see Utah Code Annotated 30-5a-103). I do not believe there are any forms precisely on point on the Utah Court's self-help website... View More
custody is not established. When she was a baby I did have an open ORS case and recieved child support. I closed the case over 3 years ago- and have not had contact with bio father almost 5 years. What do I need to do to next? Is this considered abandonment? Is terminating rights possible at this... View More
answered on Dec 15, 2020
You should have a very strong case for abandonment and termination of parental rights if the sperm donor knew where the child was, had the ability to make contact, and merely failed to make an effort to maintain contact. If he can demonstrate attempts to communicate or show that you interfered with... View More
Child was in utah for years before leaving with mother to flee domestic violence. no custody orders on child have ever been filed. Petitioner was the perpetrator of domestic violence, and is not at all related to child and has never lived with child. Does Utah allow for people to petition for a... View More
answered on Dec 14, 2020
UCCJEA questions are never simple and this forum allows for very few details so remember that this answer is NOT legal advice. That being said, you can FILE for a lot of things; whether or not the Order is enforceable is another matter. It is incredibly difficult to get orders of this nature... View More
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