Legal Question in Family Law in California

child custody

i have to son ages 14 and 13 who lives with me since my ex-husband and i got divorced. he has the custody of the boys the reason why was because i don't know anything about divorce at that time. there is no divorce in the country where i come from and for me as long that i have my kids with i am happy. what he told me before is that he is going to have custody of the kids so he can claim them for the income tax return and i will have the kids leave with me and he is just going to send support to the kids. well, there was no support that came. i am married now for years and i'd like to know if i can get custody of my kids without going to court and how much it would cost for me to file the paper works or if i have to hire a lawyer how much would it be?


Asked on 10/17/00, 12:38 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Lyle Johnson Bedi and Johnson Attorneys at Law

Re: child custody

You can get custody, without going to court, only if the father of your sons agrees. Since he is benefitting financially from the present arrangement it seems unlikely that he will agree to such a change of custody.

The district attorney in the county in which you live will pursue the father of your sons to get an order that he pay child support.

The fact that the children have lived with you since the separation and divorce, would generally make it very difficult for the father to get custody.

No one can tell you the amount of attorney fees and other costs involved in custody litigation. The cost is determined by how vigorously the other party disputes the custody change. The cost could be in the tens of thousands of dollars if he vigorously contests custody.

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Answered on 11/16/00, 2:30 pm


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