Legal Question in Family Law in Illinois
In Reply To Unfit Mother, Fit Father
It took the courts over a year to get a dna test done. She repeatedly missed appts that were made for her. When the court said that if she didnt get it done, they would do it right in the courtroom during the next court date, then she had the dna done. The results of that test were 99.99% that I am the father. The womans children were all taken away from her by the state of IL and are now in foster care. I was appointed an atty. by the court, but get the sense that because the kids (she has 4, 2 being bi-racial, all with diff fathers, most of who are in prison somewhere) are now wards of the state, that I have no choice but to jump thru their loops and do what they say- which could again take another 2 years according to the social worker on this case. Would we be better off getting an atty here in MI and fight for custody of my son? I really fears that if they go back to the mother something dreadful will happen. The b/f has a long abusive, criminal b/g as well. This is a VERY messed up case.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: In Reply To Unfit Mother, Fit Father
Since the child resides in Illinois and is already a court ward there, you should file for custody in Illinois. Once you have been awarded custody by the family court you should be able to have the probate court place your child with you. Has the Illinois court accepted a petition against you? Most likely if you are awarded custody the visitation with the mother must be supervised until she has substantially complied with the parent agency agreement. Hiring an attorney in Michigan would be a waste of time unless the mother was awarded custody by a Michigan court. If there is a custody order in effect from a michigan court then you could file for custody with that court and then petition the court in Illinois for placement. Good luck.
Re: In Reply To Unfit Mother, Fit Father
I think this question has already been answered, but the bottom line is there is a process and you have to get through it.
The difference between getting those kids and not getting them until after they have families of their own is your dedication and perserverance.
The racial composition of the children is irrelevant. If the fathers are all in different places, then the rights you might have only apply to the one(s) that you fathered.
Get a lawyer who is there in the court to press the issue and your rights. If the lawyer has to be from Michigan, then you'll simply have to pay for that person to travel to Illinois and ask the court to allow pro hac vice admission (case by case) to litigate your case. You are much more in control of what happens than you think, so please direct your attention to the goal of figuring out how the system works and how to get around it, rather than complaining about the system, which gets you nowhere.
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