August 29th, 2010 | 
Author: 
Wife has been in rehab twice in past 3 years and has attempted suicide 2 other times. She was awarded temporary custody. I am seeking full custody due to wife’s addiction. She leaves baby with her mother who has also had drug problems. Wife’s mother also abused her severely her as a child. Consequently,she was in a number of foster homes. Wife is defending mother, stating that abuse occurred 25 years ago. Yet wife never allowed her 2 other children by a previous marriage, now 14 and 16, to stay with her mother. My attorney tells me that nothing can be done until our court date in March. I am desperate. Please help with any suggestions. Thank you.
Posted in QUESTIONS ABOUT WIFE'S DRUG ADDICTION | 
Tags: baby, custody, divorcing., environment, leaves, process, temporary, wife
Listen to your Lawyer…
Use her addictions against her if it means a healthier environment for the children. Let the older ones decide on their own, though. DO NOT. I REPEAT. DO NOT, FORCE THEM TO DO ANYTHING!
If the safety of the child is at stake, call social services. They will examine the child’s enviroment and determine if they are immediate danger. If they are, you will get an emergency hearing. If not, you will have to wait until March, and your wife could use that against you, saying you were being malicious and slandering her/her mother just to get custody.
Hire a private investigator to watch her when she has your child. They can get pictures and discriptions of what is happening. If your child is being exposed to any type of abuse, you can report it to the police that day and file for temporary custody. Child Protective Services would go in and remove the child and then find the closest relative to care for the child. Since you are the father, it would be you, of course. You could also file at that time to restrict the mother’s visitation. You cannot stop her from seeing the child, but she can be restricted to supervised visitation.
UNLESS you have DEFINITE PROOF the children are in danger at this time (or have been abused … meaning pictures, statements of witnesses to the abuse, phone calls to the police, someone getting arrested at the premises), UNFORTUNATELY …
Your Attorney is correct in this case.
Get an emergency court order to remove the child. Call DHS DHR whatever it is where you are and get that baby out. They have ways to go in and remove a child if they are in danger or are being neglcted. Call the police for welfare checks on the child and keep all records. You are the father and if the child is removed they should place it with you until your court date
There is nothing you can do if it is a court order. If they are being abused you can call the police or a child protection agency. If your wife is that bad off and still got temp custody then I suggest another lawyer. Talk to some children’s advocates to help you in court.
do you get visitation with your baby?
If so you need to get advice from your lawyer first about getting a child protection order when the child is with you, but only if you have solid proof that the child is being abused or neglected.
My son is going thru this, but he is not married to his son’s mother. He got a restraining order against her and a child protection order for his son, which is good for 2 weeks.
The restraining order was extended for a year for himself.
But ultimately he broke it himself, so that the mother can see her son. But he does have primary custody.
Please discuss anything you do first with your lawyer.
If the court gave her temporary custody, she must be accountable to the court. Most court systems have a juvenile
division. If you have reason to believe that the children are
currently being harmed or are in immediate danger, you have
a right to contact the court regarding the matter, regardless of
whether your attorney chooses to help you or not. There is also Childrens’ Services who will investigate cases of neglect and
abuse.
The problem is, courts tend to lean toward the mother having
custody even when the circumstances are questionable…so
they must have known the situation before granting their order. Assuming things have grown worse since then…I’d be beating somebody’s door down at the courthouse because you do have legal rights as do the children. If things have gone sour in your wife’s situation, and your lawyer says that nothing can be done, I’d be finding myself another lawyer.
if you feel that your daughter life is danger in this environment
then talk to social service and go from there, also talk to your
lawyer again. this is not a good place for your child. and i would
not wait till march either she would be with me right now. good
luck to you. i hope everything works out for you.
In many states a drug addiction can cost you custody of your kids. Wait for the court date, and if the lawyer does not perform to your standards, you can always fire him.
Don’t do anything irrational, if you need help call the cops and make sure you have all the police reports in your hand when you go to court! Sorry to say that no one gets full custody, not even if your in prison, although you can be the Primary Custodial Parent.
TRUST YOUR ATTORNEY!!! Child custody battles are like a dance in the courtroom, and the ONLY people who know all the steps are the attorneys and the judge…
Hang in there.