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Submitted by DakotaLegal on
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Submitted by DakotaLegal on
The most urgent need, and it’s immediate, is to have a custody order from an Arizona court. Right at this minute, he may have just the same legal right to physical custody of the child as your daughter does. This means that if your daughter voluntarily hands their child over to him for “visitation,” he may be within his rights to keep the child. He might even file a custody claim against your daughter (here are the types of custody in Arizona…. http://www.azcourts.gov/portals/31/parentingTime/PPWguidelines.pdf)
Call your local county court, and make sure the following custody forms will work in your county… http://www.superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/SuperiorCourt/Self-ServiceCenter/Forms/FamilyCourt/fc_drmc1.asp.
If in need of low-cost or free legal aid, your daughter can try http://www.sazlegalaid.org/ In reviewing a custody case, an Arizona court will also begin with some “assumptions,” such as assuming both parents are fit parents. Check out these important rules:
http://www.superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/sscDocs/pdf/drcvg11h.pdf.
Courts generally do not want to emphasize the “problems” with the other parent. In a contested custody case, they want to emphasize the “best interests of the child.” To do this, they emphasize primary placement with the best parent.
The Arizona Department Of Economic Security also has a system to encourage what’s called “kinship” custody. As grandparents, you may have a special role in the custody arrangement. https://www.azdes.gov/InternetFiles/Pamphlets/pdf/ACY-1081APAMPD.pdf.
There are things you can do to build as strong a case as possible for custody. Begin to keep a log of his contacts, and what he had to say. Avoid making inaccurate, emotionally charged comments in the log: stick to “just the facts.” The possibility exists that you will be able to show a pattern of harassment. Keep records of how you provide financial support, medical care, and education and family contacts. Get a list of possible witnesses, both for you and against the father. This can be very informal and casual, since you do not want to have people “put on the spot.” The real focus is (a) the best interests of the child and (b) winning primary custody for your daughter.
Even if there is a court ordered set of visitation rights, fight to make sure that visitation is always supervised. Keep making dated entries in that log. It’s less important to have lots of data than accurate facts and also a reason to be worried. If there’s a worry about physical violence, your daughter can get help from one of the many abuse and domestic shelters in Arizona…http://www.womenshelters.org/sta/arizona.
You describe the father as a resident of Texas. You can find and should find out as much as possible about his current parole status. I suggest you also begin to think in terms of building a case of abandonment. Here, for example, is an Arizona case that described how a father might have lost his rights to see his child: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/az-court-of-appeals/1335053.html. In that case, the father successfully argued that he correctly followed all the requirements of drug rehab. In this case, if the father has an extensive history of drug dependence, and violations of court ordered treatment, that may cost him his rights to parent. The Arizona legislature uses two different time periods… first, a nine-month period, which makes the standard of parental misconduct very high: “substantial neglect or willful refusal to remedy the situation.” A second time period is for a fifteen-month period, with a showing the parent has an “inability to remedy the situation.”
Finally, and this may be tough, try to figure out why he might have reasons to go to Mexico. You say he’s a US citizen, but does he have family in Mexico? Citizenship is only a minor point in Arizona’s treatment of parental rights, anyway. http://caselaw.findlaw.com/az-court-of-appeals/1096491.html. Instead, the reason to get these facts is two-fold: first, to demonstrate to a court that it may well be true that he made comments about taking the child there, and second, in case he actually does. Begin to get a bit familiar with Mexico’s child service (DIF, Mexican Social Services), too, since they work extensively with Arizona’s child welfare.
Besides getting the legal system involved, there are also several practical steps you can take…many of which will help if the worse thing happens, and there’s actually abduction.
- Register for child find programs, and have regular updates made to your grandson’s photo and identification package.
- Study the “Passport Alert” program and sign up. http://www.azfamily.com/news/Parental-Abductions-Into-Mexico-A-Problem-Here-In-Arizona-132291183.html.
The most urgent need, and it’s immediate, is to have a custody order from an Arizona court. Right at this minute, he may have just the same legal right to physical custody of the child as your daughter does. This means that if your daughter voluntarily hands their child over to him for “visitation,” he may be within his rights to keep the child. He might even file a custody claim against your daughter (here are the types of custody in Arizona…. http://www.azcourts.gov/portals/31/parentingTime/PPWguidelines.pdf)
Call your local county court, and make sure the following custody forms will work in your county… http://www.superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/SuperiorCourt/Self-ServiceCenter/Forms/FamilyCourt/fc_drmc1.asp.
If in need of low-cost or free legal aid, your daughter can try http://www.sazlegalaid.org/ In reviewing a custody case, an Arizona court will also begin with some “assumptions,” such as assuming both parents are fit parents. Check out these important rules:
http://www.superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/sscDocs/pdf/drcvg11h.pdf.
Courts generally do not want to emphasize the “problems” with the other parent. In a contested custody case, they want to emphasize the “best interests of the child.” To do this, they emphasize primary placement with the best parent.
The Arizona Department Of Economic Security also has a system to encourage what’s called “kinship” custody. As grandparents, you may have a special role in the custody arrangement. https://www.azdes.gov/InternetFiles/Pamphlets/pdf/ACY-1081APAMPD.pdf.
There are things you can do to build as strong a case as possible for custody. Begin to keep a log of his contacts, and what he had to say. Avoid making inaccurate, emotionally charged comments in the log: stick to “just the facts.” The possibility exists that you will be able to show a pattern of harassment. Keep records of how you provide financial support, medical care, and education and family contacts. Get a list of possible witnesses, both for you and against the father. This can be very informal and casual, since you do not want to have people “put on the spot.” The real focus is (a) the best interests of the child and (b) winning primary custody for your daughter.
Even if there is a court ordered set of visitation rights, fight to make sure that visitation is always supervised. Keep making dated entries in that log. It’s less important to have lots of data than accurate facts and also a reason to be worried. If there’s a worry about physical violence, your daughter can get help from one of the many abuse and domestic shelters in Arizona…http://www.womenshelters.org/sta/arizona.
You describe the father as a resident of Texas. You can find and should find out as much as possible about his current parole status. I suggest you also begin to think in terms of building a case of abandonment. Here, for example, is an Arizona case that described how a father might have lost his rights to see his child: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/az-court-of-appeals/1335053.html. In that case, the father successfully argued that he correctly followed all the requirements of drug rehab. In this case, if the father has an extensive history of drug dependence, and violations of court ordered treatment, that may cost him his rights to parent. The Arizona legislature uses two different time periods… first, a nine-month period, which makes the standard of parental misconduct very high: “substantial neglect or willful refusal to remedy the situation.” A second time period is for a fifteen-month period, with a showing the parent has an “inability to remedy the situation.”
Finally, and this may be tough, try to figure out why he might have reasons to go to Mexico. You say he’s a US citizen, but does he have family in Mexico? Citizenship is only a minor point in Arizona’s treatment of parental rights, anyway. http://caselaw.findlaw.com/az-court-of-appeals/1096491.html. Instead, the reason to get these facts is two-fold: first, to demonstrate to a court that it may well be true that he made comments about taking the child there, and second, in case he actually does. Begin to get a bit familiar with Mexico’s child service (DIF, Mexican Social Services), too, since they work extensively with Arizona’s child welfare.
Besides getting the legal system involved, there are also several practical steps you can take…many of which will help if the worse thing happens, and there’s actually abduction.