Divorce Advice and Custody Help for single father.?

I currently have custody of my little girl, and am about to go into a divorce. My estranged wife has decided that she wants to drive out here and take my daughter to the other side of the USA. How can I stop this from happening, and what advice do you have in regards to maintaining the current living arrangement?





I currently have a job, a house, and stable living conditions. She is living with her friends, is not stable, but can sound logical as heck.








BillDivorce Advice and Custody Help for single father.?
Hire a lawyer. No matter what the cost. But don't alienate your daughter from her mother. She will resent you for it. Your daughter should have a HEALTHY relationship with both of you.





FYI....This is in regard to the person above. If the biological (other) parent takes the child %26amp; runs, and there has been NO custody hearing that has taken place, it's not kidnapping.Divorce Advice and Custody Help for single father.?
If you currently have custody then what makes her think she is going to be able to take her ? I would suggest going over your custody papers and get an attorney if she insists on trying to take her but you should try to talk this out between the two of you because every child deserves to have a happy and healthy relationship with BOTH parents. Both parents need to get over the anger and resentment they have for eachother for the sake of the child because you are connected through this child for the rest of your life.... It does not stop at 18 yrs old .... kids grow up and get married and have babies and have things they want to share with both parents. I know I speak from experience...... It's best to figure out a way to get along.


Most courts will not change custody unless they can find good reason .... if you have been a good father and provide for her then you have no worries.
First off, get an attorney. Second, file full-custody papers for your daughter if you haven't already. If your wife has had no contact with you and your daughter for six days or more then it's abandonment in some states. Check this out for your state and the rules it comes with. Do not let her take your daughter. Under the conditions you described the court will not agree either.
Retain and attorney ASAP and protect your rights and the stability of your child's life as well. Good Luck.
Sounding logical and being logical are two different things honey. I'm a social worker and in all my years of service, I have yet to see a father with placement lose it to some mother who's intentions are to drag a child across a country and away from everything that child has known as normal, safe and secure for whatever time you've had her. On the plus side, you already have custody, you have a stable job, a home and a stable living environment. The ex has what? No home, a group of friends she rooms with and a desire to uproot her child and remove her from her father's care for selfish reasons. No judge is their right mind is going to go for that.





My advice to you would be to fight this. This is your little girl, and as much as it would be so much easier to let her go, avoid the battle, and give in, it would be detrimental to your little girl. Imagine the lifestyle she'd have with mommy's room-mates. And across the country? What would visitation be like between you and your daughter? When would she see her daddy?





She may sound logical, but her reasoning is rather self serving hon. Hang in there, keep your chin up and get yourself a lawyer and a strong backbone. It'll suck the life out of you, but right now it's not about you, it's about the daughter you need to protect. I've seen far too many children in this situation that don't adjust well when the custodial parent gives up, please don't make this another statistic. Keep her safe, with you, where she needs to be until mom gets her priorities straight.





PS: Social workers and guardian adlitems are trained to see right through to most logical line of crap we have thrown at us. Our priority is the children, not the needs of the parents.
Get the advice of a lawyer.
If you haven't done so already, file for legal and sole physical custody of your daughter.





The court will award custody to the more stable parent.
Bill, if i were you i wouldn't worry. Get a lawyer and explain the details to your lawyer. If what you are saying is true, i am almost sure you will still have primary custody of your little girl.
Don't let her take her. usually the parent that has the child at the time before the divorce usually gets to keep the child sounds like she more or less abandon her any ways. And now she is ready to be a mom again.
Don't let her take the child .... There is no custody order so you are not breaking any laws by telling her no ...Even getting the law involved will not help her take the child because you are also the parent.....It would be the same if the child was with her and she wouldn't let you have her....... File for divorce/custody before she does ...... The best thing you can do is get a lawyer and get this done ASAP .... The courts no longer rule in the mother's favor just because she is the mother ......
Divorces suck i am livin with my dad and i am a girl too.... it sucks dunno who to liv with
you should be fine you have custody dont worry if she take your daughter from you and leaves then it would KIDNAPPING.
Most states have laws that prevent the child from residing outside of a 5 county radius of the county the married couple resided in. You need to file for divorce before she does and also get primary custody before she gets all of the pennies rolled for gas. If she thinks she is going to take the child out of the state, or outside of a 5 county radius within the state, you will have a big surprise for her. It is why we are stuck in Texas. My wife has custody of her 2 daughters, but she is restricted to the 5 county radius. There are exceptions, but judges don't like to use those exceptions, so she doesn't have a big chance of taking your daughter anywhere. Just make sure you file anything before she does, or she will level the playing field if she files first.
Do you have legal custody? If you don't , you file, TOMORROW, for sole custody. You don't need a lawyer to file. You can get one later. You need to get the papers ON FILE with the court who will then order that everything (and everyone) stays with who and where they are until the court can decide.





Then you begin the long, expensive, and ugly battle of custody. But the only way to prevent your estranged wife from picking up your child and leaving is to have a custody issue on file with the court. Other wise your wife can take your child and the police can't do anything about it. She has as much access as you. You can file after the fact and the court can order her to return the child to the state, but then she can file in the state she is living in and they can order you to go there.....there are so many ways it can get ugly.





best thing??? Go to mediation and work out a custody agreement, save yourself thousands in legal fees and do what is best for your child.





Best of luck.





Good luck.
If you have court ordered custody, then all you have to do is say no. If she then takes the child, it would be kidnapping. If she were just going on a vacation and coming back then that would be different. You don't mention coming back. So if she didn't have plans to come back then ';HELL NO!!';
When you say that you have custody, do you mean that you have court papers stating that you have custody, or do you mean that your wife has left you and your daughter, and you are now in the process of having a judge decide your daughter's custody?





If you have legal custody, she can not take your daughter out of state without your permission. You do not have to let her have your daughter anymore than the custody agreement states. Like sweethin said, it would be kidnapping if she took your daughter like that, and you could have her arrested.





If things have not been decided by a judge yet, I don't think that you have to let her take your daughter to leave the state, she basically abandoned your daughter. You need to talk to a lawyer, to find out the best way to prevent her from just showing up to take your daughter, to legally stop her - some kind of court order preventing her from taking your daughter out of state.