Anonymous wrote:OP here. My child is 6 . He has told me by phone and has asked information about where I lived in the past 5 yrs. And before anyone asks ,yes he has always known where I live.
Dispite his visitations rights he never took advantage of it. He has only been in our state for a month and is already causing so much caos and stress in my life.
For the person who said that he does have a right to share custudy, he is practically a stranger to his child and needs to gain the child's trust again. In the past has always promised many visits and never kept them . I do want them to have a relationship but he will try to always say I am not letting him see his child!

Thanks for the support to the pp

Why would he say you aren't letting him? What would his reasons / examples be?

You say you are letting him and have never denied him - what are you doing that he could twist into you not letting him?

OP here. My child is 6 . He has told me by phone and has asked information about where I lived in the past 5 yrs. And before anyone asks ,yes he has always known where I live.
Dispite his visitations rights he never took advantage of it. He has only been in our state for a month and is already causing so much caos and stress in my life.
For the person who said that he does have a right to share custudy, he is practically a stranger to his child and needs to gain the child's trust again. In the past has always promised many visits and never kept them . I do want them to have a relationship but he will try to always say I am not letting him see his child!

Thanks for the support to the pp

how old is your child?

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I don't have a lawyer and we were never married. Honestly don't know at this point if I can afford hire a lawyer. I don't know what else to do. Iam keeping all txt MSG he sends me about not wanting to resolve visitations issues he has with me.
He did the same to his Ex with their child; took her to court but now left the child again. Who knows what he is up to! Iam so frustrated!!

OP, you should visit this site to find out about MD's Pro Se assistance. http://www.courts.state.md.us/family/proseassist.html
Then you can follow the link on the page to the Family Law Self-Help Centers which gives a contact site per county where you can find either pro bono or reduced cost legal advice: http://www.courts.state.md.us/family/selfhelp.html

The site also recommends the following:

Other sources of assistance may include the Legal Aid Bureau, Inc., Maryland Volunteer Lawyer Service, Inc., and the Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland, Inc.

Those can be found at: http://www.mdlab.org/, http://www.mvlslaw.org/ and http://www.probonomd.org/.

If you have been contacted by your ex-BF, a court summons, or lawyer, you really need to consult with a family lawyer. Sometimes not doing things in the right order, or not doing one administrative step can affect your custody standing. If you have not yet been contacted, then continue as you have, but if he starts any proceedings then find a lawyer. The resources above should be able to help you find a lawyer that you can afford.

If he has supervised visitation but has never used it and hasn't seen teh child and you have always made it possible for hi to see the child then NO the court will not hcange custody.

Courts do consider custody changes if the primary parent is refusing to allow the other aren't visitation. Also if he had been using his supervised visitation and he now knows the child and it was going well then the court might reconsider his visitation rights and increase time or decrease/end supervision.

What is he asking for? Given he doesn't use the visitation he has and doesn't know his child what argument does he have to ask for more?

How old is the child?

Even if you're not sure you can afford a lawyer, scrape together 250-500 and pay for a 1-2 hour consult w/ an attorney. He/she can tell you what the likely process & outcomes are, what you can do yourself, and maybe where you can go for legal assistance.

Can I ask the most obvious question here, which all of you seem to be skating right over: Why shouldn't he get joint custody if he's back in the state? What am I missing? OP, why would you fight to keep sole custody? This is the child's father.

How do know he is taking you to court? Have you received a summons? Or did he say in passing that he might? Or are you thinking he will based on what he's done in the past?

OP here. I don't have a lawyer and we were never married. Honestly don't know at this point if I can afford hire a lawyer. I don't know what else to do. Iam keeping all txt MSG he sends me about not wanting to resolve visitations issues he has with me.
He did the same to his Ex with their child; took her to court but now left the child again. Who knows what he is up to! Iam so frustrated!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does your lawyer say?

Because all single parents have a lawyer on retainer? You ms law student are not helpful

Of course not, but if the other parent of your child files against you in a child custody court, one would assume that you would consult with a lawyer immediately to ensure that you do whatever you have to to protect your rights. Do you really want to lose custody because you didn't hire a lawyer and didn't something that could have prevented a change in your standing sole custody agreement?

22:14 here. Thank you. You beat me to the response.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does your lawyer say?

Because all single parents have a lawyer on retainer? You ms law student are not helpful

Of course not, but if the other parent of your child files against you in a child custody court, one would assume that you would consult with a lawyer immediately to ensure that you do whatever you have to to protect your rights. Do you really want to lose custody because you didn't hire a lawyer and didn't something that could have prevented a change in your standing sole custody agreement?

Anonymous wrote:What does your lawyer say?

Because all single parents have a lawyer on retainer? You ms law student are not helpful

Ask this question on the survivinginfidelity.com website. Go to the "Divorce and Separation" thread. You can post there anonymously. Someone will know the answer.

Good luck. DC courts don't like to change a custody plan that's working well for a child. I think you have a good chance of keeping sole custody - but I'm not an attorney.

good luck!!!

What does your lawyer say?

I filed for sole custudy and was granted by court. DC father and I were never married and he left the state when DC was a baby. He has supervised visitations and I have never denied him the right to see his child. The whole time he lived out of state he never made any intentions of seeing his child. Now he decided to move back to our state and is taking me to court. I don't know what his intentions are and Iam a little scared of what can happen. Anyone with advise or been in a similar case?