Legal Question in Family Law in California
Getting to See the Child after you have received the Custody papers
My husband has finally received his paper work from the Courts saying that he has won Joint Custody of his 3year old daughter, but we have no idea where she is and can't get intouch with the childs mother. The reason my husband has gotten the Custody approved was because she had failed to relpy to the paperwork sent out by Child Services. We are afraid that she might have moved to California with their daughter. So we would like to know what the next step should be that we can take to find her and get to visit her. Thank you for your time.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Getting to See the Child after you have received the Custody papers
Dear Inquirer:
Nothing herein shall create an attorney-client relationship, unless a written retainer agreement is executed by the attorney and client. This communication contains general information only. Nothing herein shall constitute an attorney-client communication nor legal advice. There likely are deadlines and time-limits associated with your case; you should contact an attorney of your choice for legal advice specific to your personal situation, at once.
If you haven't already done so, please visit my
web site at --
http://home.pacbell.net/edbjr/ OR
http://www.CaliforniaDivorceAttorney.com
The site contains quite a bit of general information about California Family Law, Tenants' Rights, and Juvenile Dependencies, and EDD hearings and appeals, 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 next step is to find the child's mother and have a registered process server personally serve the court order upon her. Once served, she would be in contempt of court if she does not comply with the order.
Thanks for sharing your interesting inquiry with
us on LawGuru, and good luck with your case.
Re: Getting to See the Child after you have received the Custody papers
Yes, as the California attorney has noted, after a lengthy and unseemly solicitation spin, you
must first locate the mother and child through
whatever resources are available to you, before
any meaningful action can be undertaken to enforce the joint custody order.