I have had joint custody (legal/physical) with my ONLY child's father since my son was 1 1/2. (Father served 6 months in jail for domestic violence and child abuse when baby was one, he threw me to the floor with baby in my arms and then pulled the phone jack out of the wall, cutting baby's leg) while he was drunk and high on cocaine. (Yeah, I knew how to pick 'em)......at the time, I wanted sole physical/legal custody but the %26quot;family mediator%26quot; strong armed me into joint custody saying it was %26quot;best for the child%26quot;.
Anyway, moving forward, baby is now 4 1/2, and I am happily remarried. CPS called me 2 days ago to tell me dad flunked a pee test for cocaine and that the judge wanted a safety plan put in place, where dad could call me and ask me to keep my son on %26quot;his weekend%26quot; if he'd been using. I said NO PROBLEM, I NEVER have a problem with keeping my son!! So, they came to interview my son yesterday, and all seemed well, His father picked him up for a scheduled visit last night and was acting very erratically, like he did when he was using when we were together. I asked mutliple times if he was OK to take our son, and he insisted that I had %26quot;pushed his buttons%26quot; by not answering my cell phone because I left it in the car. To make a long story short, he took my son, called me 8 times, and then returned him to me, all within 45 minutes. (I did not answer 6 of the calls because he was not making sense and I was on the phone with the cops).
He was arrested in front of my house for DUI, child endangerment, probation violations, and driving on a suspended license. This guy has a gift of getting out of what would seem a %26quot;reasonable%26quot; sentence so I don't suspect he will serve more than 90 days for all that.
I don't have a lot of time (before he gets off probation hold and makes bail somehow) , and I don't have a lot of money, but I want to try to petition the court to change the custody arrangement to give me FULL legal and physical custody until he has a license, and is off coke (my efforts prior to this have drawn a blank stare and a %26quot;Golly, Gee, Ma'am, what if the poor schmuck is an addict? He has the right to kill his kid%26quot; attitude........ )
Without spending $10K that I don't have to spend, how do I get custody changed based on the fact that he is a habitual offender? This is his 4th (I think) DUI in 10 years (although one was out of state and he was extradited to face charges), and 2nd child-endangerment/abuse charge (with the same child who is now 4). The man has NEVER to my knowledge had a valid driver's license and the court just turns it's head..............
I don't want him to get out of jail with joint custody so that he can drive drunk or on coke again WITH MY SON IN THE CAR and get my son killed. But no one wants to seem to want to tell me how to petition the court without whipping out the green that I don't have. Any benevolent attorneys out there that can walk me through the process? Keep in mind this is California, and in San Benito County.
I appreciate any and all info.California, how to petition court for change of custody?Yours is a very complicated case, to much so to handle yourself, all attorney's are required to perform X number of hours of community service, contact all of the attorney's in your area that handle family law and you will find one who needs to satisfy their required pro bono service and they will handle it for you, another solution would be to contact the sheriff's department for your area and speak with the victims advocate, they can assist you in applying for a no contact order until his latest charges are adjudicated and they would also be able to direct you to some legal assistance for your petition.~
