Custody

This is not legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Consult the specific laws for the state and county in which you reside for the rules that apply. In most states, any 18 year old is considered an adult and is capable of deciding when and where they reside. They have the ability to contract for housing. SOME states allow minors to become emancipated under specific circumstances, but this is not just a matter of filling out some paperwork. A minor is the responsibility of their parents until such time as they reach the age of majority or are legally emancipated. The parents are required to provide for the support of their minor children. If the parents give permission, the minor can live in another location. Such permission does not relieve the parents of the responsibility to provide support. If the parents do not give permission, the minor can be considered a runaway. Charges may apply to individuals that aid and abet such runaways, particularly if they are under the age of consent. In some states it is my understanding that this is not enforced for 17 year olds that leave home. If you are subject to abuse, you should contact social services for your area. They will assist you in getting out of the bad environment and into a safe place.

No, not until the child is 18.

Technically the child has no right to decide until reaching the age of majority (18), at which point they're no longer a child.

Only Indiana and Texas have laws setting out a specific age at which a child can make a choice, and even than there are some limitations. With those states, it is age 14. In all other states, the general rule of thumb is that a 12 year old can express and opinion, however the judge is under no legal obligation to consider, or even hear it. In either case, a motion to the court must be filed for a determination to be made.

Once custody has been awarded by a court it would take another court order to change that arrangement. The court may listen to a child's request to change custody but it is under no obligation to modify the custody order at the child's request. The court would be looking for an appropriate reason to order a change in custody such as the custodial parent being unfit and the change being in the best interest of the child.

In a Joint Legal Custody settlement, each parent receives equal time with the child. In some JLC arrangements, one parent is given "primary" custody by court order. The one who is designated "primary" is the one who collects child support from the other, if that kind of monetary support has been ordered by the court judge.

Sometimes parents can work things out for the best interests of the child - other times, the court must step in and make that decisions for them. It would make sense that the judge could hear the child's request - usually the kids are not in the courtroom when the final divorce decree is read.

Grandparents can ask for visitation to be granted through the court, but they are not automatically given visitation rights like natural/legal parents are.

You don't choose your legal guardian - the court does.

The remaining parent should consult with an attorney or an advocate at the family court immediately and file a petition for divorce and child support

The remaining parent should consult with an attorney or an advocate at the family court immediately and file a petition for divorce and child support

The remaining parent should consult with an attorney or an advocate at the family court immediately and file a petition for divorce and child support

The remaining parent should consult with an attorney or an advocate at the family court immediately and file a petition for divorce and child support

yes,i think your husband can adopt your child.
Without notification, the father can challenge. The man need not have ever signed or seen the birth certificate to still be ordered to pay child support.

A mother has sole rights to her children unless/until a court order is issued giving the father custodial rights. If there is not a custody order from the court the unmarried mother may take the child/children and move whenever, wherever she wants.

No, as she need not even know, unless it applies to child support. With a 30% paternity fraud rate, men should always check paternity. see link

Relinquishment of custodial rights and voluntary termination of parental rights are different issues. A parent who wishes to be relieved of the legal and financial responsibility of a child must file a petition in the circuit court in the county of residence requesting parental rights be terminated. Usually a parent will only be released from parental obligation in order to allow the child(ren) to be eligible for adoption. In rare cases a biological parent will be allowed to voluntarily give up rights to their child and be released from all financial responsibility. Such decisions depend upon the laws of the state and at the discretion of the presiding judge.

It is assumed that when the father of the child is residing with the mother and the child he is contributing to the support of said child.

If what is meant by the question is can there be a court order of support while the mother and child are residing with the father then, yes that is possible. However, it would seem to be nonsensical for such an action to take place. Unless the order were in place before the non custodial father began cohabitation. If that is the case, the current order should be adhered to regardless of the living arrangements.

Nothing can be done until the child is born and paternity is established. If the male is not willing to acknowledge he is the father a paternity test will be necessary, before any litigation pertaining to child support, custody, visitation rights or the relinquishment of parental rights is possible. However, the issue of the biological mother moving to another state is not necessarily relevant; all states honor and enforce child support and/or visitation orders issued in another state.

YOU cannot deny any custody or visitation. Only the court can make an enforceable decision regarding these matters. State laws vary.

If physical abuse is the case, the custodial parent will need a record of the abuse and should call the police, take pictures to record the effects, and try to have dis-interested witnesses present at the time of any contact between the parents. If there is no abuse to the children, or no abuse in the presence of the children, it is unlikely to make any change in the court decision for joint custody. It may compel the court to make some order for supervised exchange of the children for visitation.

Only the court can make any decision, especially regarding custody. If the non-custodial parent is abusive to the children it may be very good grounds for a sole custody arrangement. It may also encourage the court to provide for supervised visitation.

Visitation is a different issue than custody. Visitation is the means for the non-custodial parent to have a relationship with the children and build that relationship. A court generally regards this as semi-sacred. A custodial parent should NOT deny visitation. If it is necessary to curtail visitation for the real safety of the children, the custodial parent should immediately file a request for a change of visitation. Otherwise, a court may frown on a parent who denies visitation. In some states, continual denial of visitation can be grounds for a change of custody.

This depends on the state. I know in CA, NV, TX, UT for a fact (and most other states are the same way). You can NOT take a child out of state regardless if you have full custody or not. I have always had full custody of my daughter and her father was not in her life. I still could not move out of state without written consent by him or a judge's order. Although, it is VERY simple to get an order to move out of state. You only hav eto prove that it is in the child's best interest, which is simple to do. Make sure you are not doing this to spite the other parent. Let me know if you need more information. Good Luck.

Think about this: Can the parent bring the child along to the Missouri Prison system to be raised by her? Probably not. Someone else has to have custody of the child while the mother is incarcerated. Probably, being incarcerated does NOT mean that the mother loses all parental rights. That's another matter, and usually takes some time to arrange.

The 18 year old is considered an adult. Nobody can have physical or legal custody of her.

They have the right to kick them out of the house and stop supporting them. They are an adult and must live with the consequences of their actions.

Well it depends on the law of the country and demands of the parent (the one that's living with the child).

You can seek out legal counsel and have them stopped or you can report them to the police. Not paying child support is breaking the law (the court ordered it) and there, men or women that slack off on child support can be jailed for breaking this law. Marcy

While it is possible to change a child's birth date, it requires proof of some kind. Frequently this happens with kids adopted from overseas, whose actual birth dates are not known. A "best guess" birth date ends up on the kid's papers, and sometimes later some more information comes to light (e.g. the kid's doctor says "Hey, this kid's not 4, he's 8!") and then the parents will pursue changing the date.

Absolutely. A minor child cannot be taken legally from the U.S. without a valid passport. The custodial parent or guardian must, under oath, in person agree to allow the child to accompany the non custodial parent before a passport is issued.

Likewise, depending upon the custodial order, the custodial parent may need the non custodial parent to present a sworn affidavit that he or she is allowing the minor to obtain a passport and travel outside of the U.S.

Reserch the law for your state! family court is the best place to start. child support court.

Yes, unfortunately she has. Her parents have custody of all three of the children. Her youngest son, who is less than a year old was born drug addicted. He was hospitalized for weeks and CPS asked if her mother would take custody of him as well.

It's so sad, she is a train wreck and seems to be doing nothing to get her life together. At least her parents are stepping up to care for the children and they are all able to be raised together. It really is such a sad situation. I hope she accepts the help she so desperately needs and is able to get clean and get her family back.

Sue for child support? That would be up to the mother to do. And if she did sue, she would be the one to get the money if she won, not the young adult child since the mother was the one who raised and supported the child.