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  • Custody question -- long

    I have a question regarding the custody of my friend's kids.

    He and his ex split 2.5 years ago, at first they co-parented 3 days on/4 off until a custody agreement was reached. They'd used a mediator and everything was agreed on per the interim plan.

    The ex then saw duty counsel for independant legal advice.... long story short, she won physical custody, he pays full table CS amounts and only has access every other w/e. He also buys all their clothing, pays for any activities they particiapte in, and all other incidentals. The ex doesn't work so claims she hasn't the funds for those extras, despite the CS she gets.

    Here's the REAL kicker: she got into drugs and became pregnant with her dealer's child. For the past year +, their DS10, and several neighbours called my friend with disturbing reports of violent episodes at the house, police activity etc.

    My friend had since moved into another CAS jusrisdiction for employment reasons, about an hour from the city where his kids live. He called his local CAS and provided details, police reports and the like. They were ready to remove the kids (10,7&5 at the time) from the ex and place them with him, but they had to refer to the local CAS where the kids live first.

    Somehow, that CAS gave the ex a full 2 week notice of their visit so she was able to put up a good front. They did not find the kids in need of protection but only told the mother not to have contact with the abusive dealer/boyfriend.

    Obviously she did not comply since the whole family now lives in a house owned by the dealer, and she gave birth to his child less than a week ago.

    My friend has obvious concerns for the well being of his kids, but what to do? He offered to foot the bill for a hair analysis of the mother which would show she smokes crack daily. CAS said it would do no good, the only thing that would help would be to catch her in the act with a witness over 18. They don't seem interested in protecting these kids at all.

    So my question is, if this new baby girl unfortunately displays signs of addiciton, would that not be proof of the mother's drug use? Especially if she was doing crack while pregnant, how much care can she show for her kids??

    Any advice at all is much appreciated. It's killing my friend to know his kids are living in this toxic environment, and all he wants is to ensure their safety. Does he have any recourse??

    Many thanks!!

  • #2
    Probably the best thing your friend could do is consult a lawyer to find out what his options are and what kind of evidence he needed to have the court grant him custody.

    The kind of lifestyle the mother is living tends to leave evidence all over the place, the kids probably aren't making it to school on a regular basis so he can check their attendence records with the schools, not to metion by the sounds of it their are police reports that he may be able to get his hands on..any kind of documentation goes a long way.

    In regards to the new baby, I don't think you'll have much luck with that. Even if the child is exhibiting symptoms, you would have to convince the doctor to release the kids records and diagnosis...which isn't likely to happen.

    Have your friend talk to a lawyer, thats probably his best shot. Another thing to consider is for him to call the police, if this mother is smoking crack daily in the presence of the kids thats got to be child endangerment..if you can the police in the home and see whats going on they can call CAS and have the children removed pending an investigation.


    Best of luck!

    Comment


    • #3
      Thanks!

      The issue we face unfortunately seems to be jurisdictional. Our local CAS is VERY interested and ready to act, however the Hamilton/Wentworth CAS seems not to care. Geesh, giving someone suspected of drug use and child maltreatment 2 week's notice to clean house and remove evidence seems bizarre to me!

      The eldest child has witnessed domestic violence, police reports are in my friend's possession. The cops didn't even refer to CAS, even though all 3 kids were in the home at he time. Here where we live, that's automatic protocol.

      They ex moved houses after that incident, so the neighbours no longer know my friend, thus no one calls to tell him of trouble other than the kids.

      But I'll pass on the school records idea. He's kinda given up on the lawyer route. They had it all ironed out fairly amicably until duty counsel told his ex not to sign the agreement and to basically hit him up for all he is worth. 1.5 years of legal bills later, she still won...

      Gotta love our family law system :-o

      Comment


      • #4
        diannarchy,

        To summarize the situation, even if the CAS was to take and place the children with the father for protection purposes, the father would have to proceed through the courts to vary the current custody regime of the children.

        For a successful variance of same, the onus is on the father to prove a material change of circumstance for the children. Once this threshold is met, the court will review custody.

        Some possible material changes:

        If the crack dealer boyfriend is living in the home, most likely they have a criminal record which the father could get a court order for discloser for such.

        Having secondary evidence such as the child's educational records perhaps would solidify the circumstances (depending on what is documented.)

        The father could also hire a Private Investigator(whom is bonded) who could survey the comings and goings of the home; Many visitors would be coming and going if drug dealings were occurring.

        In the best interests of children; Courts apply on the "balance of probabilities" rather than "beyond a reasonable doubt" for the evidence factor.

        Courts could order mandatory drug testing for the mother to prove that they are also drug free.


        lv

        Comment

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