I very much appreciate your information. I have new concerns now that I also need help with if possible. The mother of the child that I have staying with me started paperwork about a month and a half ago to transfer full custody to the father in order to prevent myself and my husband from going to court to get custody of her child. She assumed that if custody was in the father's name then at least the child would be with his family and not hers. I have gotten a lawyer (thru legal aid unfortunately) but he did not tell me until it was too late that I could have called the family court myself to find out if custody papers were actually filed or if it was just a lie my stepdaughter told us. I found out from the court that the custody hearing was this morning and as far as I know it would be granted because the mother was the one who wanted the custody transferred. I was 2 hours too late. My lawyer has told me that if I had known about the hearing then I could have gone to have myself listed as a third party and chances are the hearing would have been adjourned until a later date. What I need to know (because I think I picked the wrong lawyer) is how bad will it hurt me going to court now to try to get a temporary custody order now that the father is listed as having sole custody? I have now had the child in my care for over 3 months, the father has provided no financial support to me and has only been to see his daughter 5 times. His side of the family has never called to ask how she is and they have only seen her once (when the father took her for the day to visit with them). Can the father just show up on my doorstep now and tell me that he is taking his child back for good or would CAS's involvement still allow me to keep her here (there has never been a court order thru CAS)? The father had recently asked me if we could keep his daughter with us for another 2 months so that he could go back to being a long haul truck driver so he could save up some money but he also neglected to tell me the last time I spoke to him that the custody hearing was coming up. He most likely kept it from me deliberately and I'm just waiting for a knock on my door. Please help with any info you can give me.
|