Legal Question in Family Law in New Mexico
i am the biological father of male child that was born to a lady in NM in sept02, and have been paying child support to NMfor several years. i found out a week ago that there was an order appointing custody to childs aunt sept of 08 with the mother stating she was not able to provide proper care to the child. i was not notified or asked if i wanted physical costody, i got a copy of the order from the child support enforcement division (csed) today. it has my address of over seven years ago, since that time CSED has had and has comunicated with me via letters petitions and phone calls on a as needed basis for at least the last six years. so i know the mother and aunt has had my address since it was on the petitions that was used as correspondance. so i believe that the mother and aunt has lied to the judge and gave false witness in a court so i could not be notified so they could push this guardianship petition through with out my knowledge. I'm in Mi, what recourse do i have, would I have any chance by writing the judge directly
1 Answer from Attorneys
You have recourse. You can file a motion to change custody of the child from mother to you. You can also ask the court to order the mother to pay child support to you and order that your support obligation is stopped. DO NOT get into extensive conversations with anyone at CSED. They are not lawyers and they are not looking out for your best interest or the best interest of your child. The only thing CSED does is process child support. So, if the custody gets changed they will start enforcing your order and they will go against the mother. (Also, your conversations with anyone at CSED are not privileged and so you should count on anything you tell them - they will likely turn around and tell the mother). So, if you are talking to people at CSED ask yourself this question every time you talk to them ~ Do I want the mom to know the information I am about to reveal? If the answer is no then keep the lip zipped.
You are not allowed (no one is allowed) to write to the judge in a case about matters in the case (or as lawyers calls it "matters in controversy"). That is why you file a motion. Because you are in Michigan you might find this entire matter difficult and cumbersome and probably more than a little bit frustrating. However, you can obtain legal counsel in NM and have that attorney bring the matter before the court on your behalf.
This is a complicated legal issue so I would suggest you do some shopping around, i.e., interview several attorneys prior to hiring a lawyer. You will want someone with whom you have confidence and someone who will know what they are talking about in a child custody case.
You did not say in what city or town the child resides or in which city or town your child support order is from; or, if you have another order then you will need to know what city or town that order was filed in. It says your judicial district on the face of your order and you will have to file in that judicial district. What all that means is I recommend you look for a lawyer in that judicial district. A lawyer from that district will know the judges and the practice in that city or town about change of custody cases.
You have a bit of a tough row to hoe on this one but you can do it. Good Luck and I hope this helps.
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