Legal Question in Family Law in Pennsylvania

Dear LawGuru Team,
My family was granted partial custody of my niece. The court ordered that we see her every other weekend, from Friday night to Sunday night, on holidays from 3pm to 9pm, and on her birthday from 3pm to 9pm. The mothers family is also to provide transportation one way. My niece is my brothers daughter, and my nieces mother is not following any of these rules and no one is doing anything about it, including my brothers attorney. My family hasn't seen my niece in almost 2 months. My family is not allowed to see her at all! We all miss her so much. Sara, my niece, is 2 years old now. We have probably seen her 20 times since she has been born, and all of which, my family has provided transportation to and from the mothers house, which is an hour away from where we live. The only holiday that I can think of that we had her, was last Christmas. We missed her first and second birthdays, and all other holidays in between. My family is extremely supportive of Sara and her mother both. My brother and his baby's mother are now together again, and we are still not able to see Sara. No one in my family had ever committed a crime, my mom and dad have raised 5 kids and has custody of another child. We all live with our parents. Including Sara's father. In court, Sara's mother told her state provided lawyer, that my mother was abusive! This broke my mothers heart, and now my mother is not allowed to be with Sara alone! The mother also told her lawyer that my family is unstable and that my brothers are drug addicts! None of this is true, and no investigations were done to prove any of these accusations, WHY NOT? We are being wrongly accused, and it is not right at all! We were made out to be the bad people, and we had no say in anything that was ordered. The case never went to trial, and my brother didn't get to say what he wanted or needed to say because of the accusations made about my family. We feel that the mothers house is not a safe place to raise a child. The baby is being raised in a basement built into a hillside, because their house burnt down. Sara has already been to the hospital numerous times because she has breathing problems because her mother and her family smoke inside the house.They also have a wood burner burning inside, which Sara has been severely burnt on, this is also their only source of heat. Their basement has maybe 3 windows 1 of which will open, and it is to high to get out of if there was an emergency. These are just a few of the problems and concerns I have regarding my nieces safety. Any help or advice would be much appreciated. We are at the end of our rope!
Sincerely,
Stephanie

Asked on 4/26/11, 10:01 pm

John Davidson Law Office of John A. Davidson

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If you want things to change you need to file a petition to modify custody. It will not be an easy case to make nor will it be cheap to do.

If you have any questions feel free to contact me. The initial consultation is free.

{John}

Answered on 4/27/11, 6:20 am

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