Some of you know a bit about the situation I am facing regarding my daughter. I have progessed a lot since I last posted here, but there is a whole new set of problems that have arisen. Some advice would be greatly appreciated.
The story so far, in brief:
- Ex-wife left Ontario with my daughter in September 05 with new boyfriend without my approval. I was not knowledgeable enough of my rights at the time to prevent them.
- in late October, ex and BF got into physical altercation, resulting in my daughter being removed from home to foster care.
- ex told me she wanted me to have custody, she couldn't handle it.
- I proceeded to set things in motion on my own without counsul.
- ex revoked her wish for me to have custody. broke off contact with ex.
- i contunued to proceed since I still had issues about her abilities to care for daughter.
- 45-day foster care order issued by BC court for daughter, Nov. 10.
- i appeared in ontario court with urgent motion without notice to transfer custody to me. was told to serve docs on ex before proceeding.
- hired process server to locate her, was unable to serve after 4 attempts.
- hired lawyer to proceed on my behalf; returned to court Dec. 9 to resubmit urgent motion. court ordered docs served on ex's mother, mailed to ex's address, and faxed to foster care agency in BC. six days following i would have legal custody.
- foster care agency informed me they were seeking further three months of care for drew, due to continuing issues with ex.
- foster care agency refused to release daughter to me; cited ontario order had no impact on the BC system, and were uncertain as to my abilities to care for her. wanted personal references, and were provided and contacted by them.
- my lawyer contacted foster care agency's lawyer, agreed to release daughter to me provided i present original copy of Dec. 9 order and meet with them in person.
- I travelled to west coast to meet with them on Dec 20. interview and visitation with my daughter went well, was informed they were satisfied on all issues.
- while attending meeting, foster care agency contacted by their lawyers informing them that ontario court overturned my Dec. 9 order based on daughter's residency being long enough to transfer jurisdiction to BC court. Also cited my failure to prevent them from leaving beforehand as tacit approval of move.
- my lawyer advised me it was now a BC matter and he was powerless to represent me, suggested i contact legal aid BC
- legal aid BC took my application on Dec. 20, but later informed me I had to apply in ontario since I was resident there, and then have it transfered. was already turned down by them once.
After that, I had to return home. My situation now is back to square one. So i have a couple of questions:
- Does anyone know or can tell me how to find out exactly how long she has to be in BC to be considered habitually resident?
- it was suggested to me by a D.A.D.S. canada representative that i have nothing to lose by trying to overturn the overturning back in an ontario court with a motion without notice. to me this seems like an endless back and forth...
- is there precedent in BC law to be represented in a court setting via telephone? it is problematic for me to spend indefinite amounts of time there to sort this out...
- anyone got any hot links for father advocasy groups either in BC or nationwide?
It's apparent to me that she simply got this order because she is within a demographic: vis a vis, she is a woman and she is on welfare. I'm sorry to say that because I am not intolerant of such things, but nowhere in the documents i just received were any of my issues or evidence persuant to her ability to care addressed, and she was able to do this in very short order, destroying months of work on my part. To say I am extremely distressed by all of this is not a strong enough sentiment.
The story so far, in brief:
- Ex-wife left Ontario with my daughter in September 05 with new boyfriend without my approval. I was not knowledgeable enough of my rights at the time to prevent them.
- in late October, ex and BF got into physical altercation, resulting in my daughter being removed from home to foster care.
- ex told me she wanted me to have custody, she couldn't handle it.
- I proceeded to set things in motion on my own without counsul.
- ex revoked her wish for me to have custody. broke off contact with ex.
- i contunued to proceed since I still had issues about her abilities to care for daughter.
- 45-day foster care order issued by BC court for daughter, Nov. 10.
- i appeared in ontario court with urgent motion without notice to transfer custody to me. was told to serve docs on ex before proceeding.
- hired process server to locate her, was unable to serve after 4 attempts.
- hired lawyer to proceed on my behalf; returned to court Dec. 9 to resubmit urgent motion. court ordered docs served on ex's mother, mailed to ex's address, and faxed to foster care agency in BC. six days following i would have legal custody.
- foster care agency informed me they were seeking further three months of care for drew, due to continuing issues with ex.
- foster care agency refused to release daughter to me; cited ontario order had no impact on the BC system, and were uncertain as to my abilities to care for her. wanted personal references, and were provided and contacted by them.
- my lawyer contacted foster care agency's lawyer, agreed to release daughter to me provided i present original copy of Dec. 9 order and meet with them in person.
- I travelled to west coast to meet with them on Dec 20. interview and visitation with my daughter went well, was informed they were satisfied on all issues.
- while attending meeting, foster care agency contacted by their lawyers informing them that ontario court overturned my Dec. 9 order based on daughter's residency being long enough to transfer jurisdiction to BC court. Also cited my failure to prevent them from leaving beforehand as tacit approval of move.
- my lawyer advised me it was now a BC matter and he was powerless to represent me, suggested i contact legal aid BC
- legal aid BC took my application on Dec. 20, but later informed me I had to apply in ontario since I was resident there, and then have it transfered. was already turned down by them once.
After that, I had to return home. My situation now is back to square one. So i have a couple of questions:
- Does anyone know or can tell me how to find out exactly how long she has to be in BC to be considered habitually resident?
- it was suggested to me by a D.A.D.S. canada representative that i have nothing to lose by trying to overturn the overturning back in an ontario court with a motion without notice. to me this seems like an endless back and forth...
- is there precedent in BC law to be represented in a court setting via telephone? it is problematic for me to spend indefinite amounts of time there to sort this out...
- anyone got any hot links for father advocasy groups either in BC or nationwide?
It's apparent to me that she simply got this order because she is within a demographic: vis a vis, she is a woman and she is on welfare. I'm sorry to say that because I am not intolerant of such things, but nowhere in the documents i just received were any of my issues or evidence persuant to her ability to care addressed, and she was able to do this in very short order, destroying months of work on my part. To say I am extremely distressed by all of this is not a strong enough sentiment.
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