Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

Amend to custody agreement

My ex-husband and I had a custody agreement filed with the courts of joint custody with our 2 daughters residing with him in Florida. The situation was going ok until I found out that he got arrested and convicted in April of this year for grand theft and lost his job. He then moved the kids all the way to Ohio to his aunts. All with giving me very little notice, I found out about the arrest from the internet! I filed for an amend to custody to take the girls back because of his recent criminal behavior, he also has a long past of similar arrests! I have a hearing in a few weeks and I am wondering what are the chances of me getting physical custody of my girls? I need an attorney to handle this for me as well, but with the limited time I may have to make the appearance at the hearing solo. I want my daughters to live with me I fear for their safety, how do I explain that to a judge without an attorney present?


Asked on 7/07/08, 8:13 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: Amend to custody agreement

You can always ask the court to continue the matter

to another date to give you sufficient time to retain an attorney.

It's not enirely clear, however, whether Virginia

under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act(UCCJA) would still retain jurisdiction over your custody matter if the children have been continuously residing in states other than the Commonwealth for more than six months.

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Answered on 7/08/08, 12:03 am


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