Legal Question in Family Law in California
I read that if situations have changed where my daughter stays at her fathers house that I can go back to court and ask that she stay with me. When the courts decided that she should stay with her dad 9 years ago, it was because I did not have a place to stay, now I have a place of my own, and I am much more stable. Her father got married and he is at work all the time, in the court papers it says he is allowed to work 1 weekend a month he works every weekend. A lot of the time he is working out of town or out of the state. My daughter is with her step-mother most all the time. Her step-mom always say bad things about me, and when I am suppose to pick her up, she has my daughter doing other things. She always schedules things for my daughter to do on my time. Her dad doesn't know because he is never home. Her step-mom does what ever she can to make it impossible for my daughter to spend time with me. She has told my daughters friends parents that I am no good, and a bad influence on my daughter. She has done the same thing to my daughters sister. She told my daughter she can't go anywhere or talk to her sister because she is a bad influence on her. Which is untrue. She trashed us both on her my space page. So wouldn't it be better for my daughter to be with at least one of her parents then neither one of her parents. I wouldn't have a problem if she spent time with her dad, but she cries to me how she never gets to see her dad. If she lived with me and visited her dad then she would get to see him every weekend and holidays off school. Can I go back to court and ask for my daughter to live with me? Do I have just cause?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Just the passage of nine years is enough to ask for a review of the custody arrangment. Trashing you on the MySpace page is good evidence of a problem at the dad's house, so be sure to keep copies of those pages. Other than that, all you can do is put the situation before Family Court Services and the judge and see what they say. The key thing is to always make sure to look out for your daughter's best interests independent of your feelings about the ex and his wife. Make an objective case for the new custody arrangement you want, not an emotional one (my advice might be different if he were abusive or something). Also make sure that whatever you propose is designed to give your daughter the best chance for time with both of you and will foster the best relationship with each of you possible.
Good luck.
Circumstances have changed since the last court order, which means you have grounds to go back and ask for new orders.
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