Legal Question in Family Law in Oregon

Can father demand return of daughter?

My son has a 9 year old daughter. He has never been married to the mother. He has had physical custody since she was 1. Custody was not a court decision, but he has papers from the state saying he has custody and ordering the mother to pay support. the daughter has been having a difficult time in school, and a cousin of the mother offered to let her stay in her home and attend a nearby private school. My son agreed and signed a paper giving the cousin custody for 1 year. He was told this was to get her in school and for medical attention if needed. The cousin put the daughter on Ritalin without discussing it with my son. He also became aware of other things he did not approve of. He told them he wanted to take his daughter home, and they have refused to let her go. Does he have the right to take her back? Is calling the police enough to get them to return her? At present they will not allow him to see her because they say he will keep her.


Asked on 11/27/01, 2:31 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Lawrence D. Gorin, Atty. Law Offices of Lawrence Gorin

Can father demand return of daughter? YES.

YOUR QUESTION:

My son agreed and signed a paper giving the cousin custody for 1 year. * * * He told them he wanted to take his daughter home, and they have refused to let her go. Does he have the right to take her back? Is calling the police enough to get them to return her? At present they will not allow him to see her because they say he will keep her.

ANSWER:

If he signed a paper giving the cousin paper, he needs to now sign a paper taking it back. Calling police may or may not be successful, depending on the willingness of the local police agency to get involved. The other approach is to file a petition with the court for a Writ of Habeaus Corpus. This will result in a court order commanding the cousin to bring the child before the court and prove to the court the legal basis on which the cousin is keeping the child and not releasing the child to the father.

LAWRENCE D. GORIN

http://www.divorcesource.com/OR/pages/ldgorin.html

Law Offices of L.D. Gorin

621 S.W. Morrison St., Suite 350

Portland, Oregon 97205

Phone: 503-224-8884 (afternoons, Pacific time)

Fax: 503-274-0818

E-mail: [email protected]

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Answered on 11/27/01, 3:25 am


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