2 replies to this topic

[bearlens42]

It's been almost a year since the "father" of my child has seen our child. And before that, he saw our child 7 months before that. & it was all because I was up his butt about not seeing our child since we had just recently broke up at the time. Our child is almost just 2 now. He ignores all of my attempts to contact him in reference to our child as well, even about getting toegther for holidays and when I tell him our child is hurt or other important info. Also, he has not paid any child support nor has he bought our child anything. He doesn't contact me at all.

I know that "abandonment" is different basically in every state, so I'm letting you know that I live in Florida. I want to take him to court for supervised visitation for a number of reasons (drug use, selling drugs, unstability [gets kicked out, can't hold a job, etc.], irresponsible, and obviously he doesn't have our child's best interest in mind).



I have proof of everything.

Would my child's father's abandonment effect my chances of getting supervised visitation (at my house obvi)?


Should I go for sole custody too??? I mean, I've been paying for everything, making all of the decisions for our child, and our child has spent every night with me anyway, and I really feel and can prove that if our child ever goes to the father's house, it would be a HUGE danger. :'( I'm FREAKING out. Please help!!!!!!

ALSO! I read on online sunshine that Florida is one of the 18 states that includes abandonment under abuse. That would apply to my case, right?? I'll provide the link. http://www.leg.state...ns/0039.01.html

What about neglect???

Thanks.

[FindLaw_AHK]

In almost all situations, a court will keep one primary question in mind when deciding a custody case, namely, what is in the best interests of the child. To learn more about this subject matter, you may want to visit the Family Law Center and read Child Custody as a good resource. For further clarification on your specific situation, you may want to consult with a local Florida Child Custody Lawyer.

[pg1067]

First of all, a couple questions for you.

1. I assume you were never married to your child's father. Correct?

2. Has the father's paterity ever been established? If so, how?

3. Is there a court order providing for custody, visitation, and/or child support? If so, what does it provide in terms of custody and visitation and why haven't you sought to enforce the support obligation?

Would my child's father's abandonment effect my chances of getting supervised visitation (at my house obvi)?

It likely would be taken into account along with all other relevant facts.

Should I go for sole custody too?

Obviously, that's your call to make, but what exactly do you mean by "sole custody" and isn't hat what you currently have?

ALSO! I read on online sunshine that Florida is one of the 18 states that includes abandonment under abuse. That would apply to my case, right?? I'll provide the link. http://www.leg.state...ns/0039.01.html

I'm not sure what you're getting at hear or what you may have read ("online sunshine"???). Certainly, if you follow the definitions of "abandonment," "abuse," and "harm" to a child's health or welfare, it appears that abandonment may constitute "abuse," but it's not clear what the signfiicance of that might be. I certainly wouldn't expect any sort of criminal proceedings, and, for purposes of custody and visitation, I wouldn't expect it to be significant to apply the "abuse" label in addition to the "abandonment" label.

What about neglect?

What about it? It is inherent that "abandonment" also results in "neglect," but the child is in your care, so while the father miay be "neglecting" the child, I don't see any significance in applying yet another label to what has happened.