Legal Question in Family Law in California
I have 3 kids with my ex & after not seeing them for 5 mo.he convinced me to go back to him in which it only lasted 10 days as he made it very clear that he had no intentions of working as our son is disabled and receives SSI, and i recive aid for my one daughter, so he stated that he did not need to work!! After only 10 days with him, i moved back with my mom & this really angered him which led him to file an exparte' hearing. The Judge ordere the kids to remain with me(mother) until we go back to court &mediation in 2 wks. My ex has not worked in nearly 3 years, he has failed to pay his court ordered child support and has had his license revoked due to this - not to mention he lied in the court papers & said he did not know where his kids were for those 5 months which was a BLATANT lie! He's the one who helped me pack to move in with my mom, he had my & my mothers cell phone & home phone numbers and did contact me during the 5 mo. period he claims he didnt know where the kids were. Also I asked him several times if he wanted to spend time with the kids & he continually said that he didnt have any money or any room at the place where he was/is living, threfore he couldnt keep them, so i asked him if he just wanted o spend a few hours with them and again he said no becuse he had no transportation. We live about 50 miles apart but there is a local Bus system that he could have taken but he said he didnt een have the $3.75 to ride it. He also told he Judge this at the exparte!! Anyway, he had his friend serve me court papers but there was absolutely no information given with those papers stating how to fill them out or how long i had before they have to be turned back in? How can I find these things outand what chances does my ex have getting custody if he does not have a job to support his kids, a car in case our disabled son needs to go to the Dr. or a license to drive? Not to mention he lives with his friend who has a wife & 2 kids and there's no rom for our kids by his own admission. What are his chances of getting custody?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Any lawyer whose answer is worth anything will not answer a "what are his chances" question without a thorough review of all the facts and evidence, determining what evidience is admissible and will be before the court, and making sure they know the law or researching anything they are unsure of. In other words, free advice on a question like that is worth exactly what you paid for it - nothing. As for your questions about what you have to file and when, you need to contact the Family Law Facilitator in your local Superior Court. They cannot give you legal advice, but they can help you with basic procedure, forms, etc.