Legal Question in Family Law in California
my sister has recently separated from her husband. she has had her 5 year old in her care for at least a few months now. the father is mentally ill (cant function without meds, history of violence), and is now constantly seeming to be under the influence of drugs. she wants to keep her child away from him unless supervised. they have not yet filed for divorce.
up until now, she has allowed her child to spend the night at the fathers. recently the child has been coming home cursing (racist terms, calling family members of ours specific bad names) and the father just a few days ago tried to forcefully take the child, and the police were called.
the problem is that her estranged husband's father is high on the chain of the local sherrifs department. he has been well known to pull many strings and take dramatic measures for his son, and my sister is afraid her husband's father will try somehow to forcefully take her child from her.
she wants to refuse him visitation unless it is supervised and not in the area of his fathers jurisdiction. can she legally do this, and how can she avoid problems from her estranged husband's father?
2 Answers from Attorneys
If your sister wants to protect her child, she needs a lawyer. Imagine how she will feel if her husband harms the child while on drugs or drunk! Get some help now. Call legal aid if money is a problem. Good luck!
Elizabeth is right, but to give you some more concrete information on jurisdiction here are some facts. In order to have the matter heard outside the jurisdiction of the county sheriff she and the child must reside outside the county for four months and then file in the new county. Otherwise the county in which they currently reside will have jurisdiction. Is she concerned that the judges in the county will side with the husband or father in law? If so, she can challenge the judges for actual bias or file a preemptory challenge. If she does that, though, she needs to be sure that the matter will go to a judge who will not side with them or will be transferred out of the county. Bottom line, though, Elizabeth is right, this is not a fight to be taken on without a lawyer.
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