HOW CAN MY FIANCE' GET PHYSICAL CUSTODY OF HIS DAUGHTER?

QUESTION: How can my fiance gain physical custody if he already has legal custody?

My fiance and I have been raising his daughter for 3 years and he has legal custody.

What does he need to do in order to get physical custody?

Our parenting plan states the mother is only responsible for their daughter from Friday after school, to Sunday by 8pm, and the father gets his daughter the remaining days.

Does that mean we have physical custody already? If not, what does he need to do?

The mother is threatening to take us to court and get full custody and child support. Is that possible? She has no job and is living with someone else under her roof. Is she still able to get full custody?


MY RESPONSE: From what you write, your fiance' already has primary physical custody of his daughter.

The facts that the child's mother is unemployed, and living with someone, are likely not relevant to an Order to Show Cause to modify Child Custody and Child Support, unless there is something significantly unsavory about her roommate.

I assume, from your indication that the parties already have a "parenting plan", that a Paternity case has already been filed, and that the parenting plan has been made an Order of the Court.

If your fiance' fears that his daughter's mother will file an Order to Show Cause for custody of his daughter, your fiance' should promptly interview experienced Family Law Attorneys and retain the attorney he feels most confident in, to represent him to oppose the mother's Order to Show Cause.

If no Paternity case has been filed, and the parenting plan is merely an agreement between the parties, your fiance' should retain an experienced Family Law Attorney as addressed above, to file a Paternity case and an Order to Show Cause to seek the primary custody of his daughter.

This educational blog is brought to you by DONALD F. CONVISER, an effective and aggressive Los Angeles Family Law Attorney and Divorce Lawyer serving clients in the courts of Los Angeles and Ventura County for over 35 years,owner of Warner Center Law Offices, with offices in Woodland Hills and Century City. Call 888.632.4447 or 818.880.8990 for a free confidential consultation with a Certified Family Law Specialist to discuss your divorce or family law issues. | www.conviser.net | www.conviserfamilylaw.com |