What are the child custody laws in florida for parents never married?
My daughter is 4 yrs old and I left florida when she was 2. Now her father wants to take her from me, he said he’ll have me arrested for kidnapping 2 years ago. I left because he beat me (he was arrested for it) and I moved to colorado. I’m very scared and I can’t afford a lawyer. He’s an alcoholic that has no job that lives with his alcoholic mom and brother. What should I do?
no a custody and visitation order has not been placed yet
I don’t know what charges were filed but I do know he was on house arrest and probation for 6 months. He does want to see her and thats fine but I don’t want him to take her away from me
Let him file. The best he can do is get visitation (which is good for your daughter), and since you’ve been in Colorado for two years with his complete knowledge and he’s never mentioned wanting custody before, they will not, a) grant him custody, or b) make you move back to Florida
This is actually a good thing– a legally codified document protects your daughter and you if he deviates from it.
Make sure you ask CPS to visit the home he lives in, and if they deem it unsuitable for her visits, maybe you can stipulate he has to come to Colorado until he has safer accommodations.
And don’t forget to hit him up for child support.
Good luck.
June 8th, 2010 at 7:19 am
He’s full of it. Even if you were married and his claim to custody completely legit, unless there was a custody order, you broke no law by taking her out of the state. Get a restraining order against him.
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June 8th, 2010 at 8:09 am
Let him file. The best he can do is get visitation (which is good for your daughter), and since you’ve been in Colorado for two years with his complete knowledge and he’s never mentioned wanting custody before, they will not, a) grant him custody, or b) make you move back to Florida
This is actually a good thing– a legally codified document protects your daughter and you if he deviates from it.
Make sure you ask CPS to visit the home he lives in, and if they deem it unsuitable for her visits, maybe you can stipulate he has to come to Colorado until he has safer accommodations.
And don’t forget to hit him up for child support.
Good luck.
References :
June 8th, 2010 at 8:26 am
no custody or visitation order, no law was broken by taking her away. only if you had an order in place then you would have to have his permission to move to a different state. he has NO visitation or custody rights as of now, so legally you can do and go where ever you want with your child.
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June 8th, 2010 at 9:11 am
You say he was arrested…were charges ever filed? I know a lot about this stuff and am willing to help you but not if you are one of these mom’s who is saying the dad beat her just to avoid visitation with the dad because you think he is not worthy or something.
I have seen good men, good dad’s, blocked from seeing their children for years because the mom was just being harsh and lying. So, if you are telling the truth e-mail me your story and I will tell you exactly what to do, if you are just trying to block the dad from seeing his kid then that isn’t fair, regardless of what you think of him.
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