Legal Question in Family Law in California
Child abandonment charges
I wish to file child abandonment charges against my son's father and would like to know the guidelines for it and how to go about filing them.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Child abandonment charges
Dear Inquirer:
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http://home.pacbell.net/edbjr/ OR
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The site contains quite a bit of general information about California Family Law, Tenants' Rights, and Juvenile Dependencies, as well as information about me (education, experience, et cetera) and my office (location, hours, fees, policies).
NOW, IN RESPONSE TO YOUR INQUIRY --
The facts that you have provided are not clear
enough and/or complete enough to provide a
definitive answer to you inquiry.
However, I would say the answer defends on WHY you want to "file" the charges: modification of custody? modification of child support? step-parent adoption? to terminate his parental rights for some other reason? to get him in trouble with social services or the law? Once your reason is known, the method for accomplishing what you want can be determined.
Thanks for sharing your interesting inquiry with us on LawGuru, and good luck with your case.
Re: Child abandonment charges
I'm not sure what you mean by "child abandonment." If it's a criminal matter, you must report it to the police/sheriff office with jurisdiction over the incident(s). If you're seeking to modify his custody, this must be done by returning to family court to seek a modification of custody (and likely child support at the same time).
If you're seeking enforcement of a child support order, this can be done privately (through attorneys or collection agencies) and also through the county district attorney's office.