Getting my child

[Alton Moss]

What is the name of your state? Tennessee

 

[Just Blue]

What is the name of your state? Tennessee

We will need more information in order to assist you.

 

[Alton Moss]

So I about a year ago I went to jail cause I was on drugs I went to rehab and have been sober since then in all that I my mother in law had my son so I went to pick him up and the police said I had to show proof I had custody out we never went to court or nothing I have custody of my son and the cop made me get my son out of the car and leave him there. He said I had to get a lawyer because my son has been there a year show paper work but that’s bull crap I can’t get my own custody back when I have it what do I do I want to get the police fired cause it was illegal for real

 

[Alton Moss]

We will need more information in order to assist you.

Like what

 

[Alton Moss]

My son is 13 I have custody of my son I went to get him and the police said I could not cause he has been living there for a year

 

[quincy]

You will want to find an attorney. I suspect you will say you can’t afford an attorney but you cannot afford not to have one if you want to regain physical custody of your son.

 

[Alton Moss]

You will want to find an attorney. I suspect you will say you can’t afford an attorney but you cannot afford not to have one if you want to regain physical custody of your son.

But what can he do for me I have custody of my son I can’t regain that back if I already have it right there’s no case on him so why would I make one I just want to take him home is that illegal to go get him and take him will I be breaking the law if I do that

 

[quincy]

But what can he do for me I have custody of my son I can’t regain that back if I already have it right there’s no case on him so why would I make one I just want to take him home is that illegal to go get him and take him will I be breaking the law if I do that

The attorney can review the court records to see if temporary custody was granted your mother-in-law while you were in jail (which is probably what happened). The attorney can help you in getting the custody returned to you with proof that you completed all terms of your probation.

 

[Zigner]

First: Where is the other parent?
Second: Do YOU have a court order giving you custody?

 

[zddoodah]

For starters, please use proper capitalization and punctuation (like we were all taught in elementary school). LONG strings of uncapitalized words with no punctuation are extremely difficult to read and understand because it's difficult to tell where one sentence ends and another begins.

Are you the child's mother or father?

You indicated that the child is in your mother-in-law's custody? Does that mean you're still married to the other parent? If you're divorced, is there a divorce decree that grants you custody? Are there any subsequent court orders that supersede the decree?

Regardless, it sounds like you're going to have to petition the court to compel the police to allow you to take possession of your child.

 

[quincy]

In other words, Alton Moss, we will need more information from you if you want advice beyond our telling you to seek out assistance from an attorney in your area - although that is likely to be the bottom line regardless of what you tell us.

 

[not2cleverRed]

But what can he do for me I have custody of my son I can’t regain that back if I already have it right there’s no case on him so why would I make one I just want to take him home is that illegal to go get him and take him will I be breaking the law if I do that

Is this all about you?

It must have been a very unsettling for your child. You were using drugs and not focusing on your child. Your child ended up with grandma. Your child might even have settled into a more stable lifestyle at grandma's. Clearly either grandma doesn't trust you or grandma thinks that it's in the child's best interest to stay with her.

What a lawyer can do:
1) Verify the most current custody orders.
2) If grandma has legally established some form of temporary legal custody, the lawyer can petition for you to get parenting time, therapuetic visitation, reintroduction, etc., and guide you on a path to reestablish your position as a parent.
3) If grandma just scooped up the kid in your absence and there are no formal orders, the lawyer can try and get a court order that she turn over the kid. (But I doubt that this is the case.)

Realize that going to court is going to trigger a counter petition that, since it has been over a year, that it's in the child's best interest to have a stable home and maintain the status quo. And maybe it is. Or maybe grandma is a mess too. A lawyer representing you might be able to present the merits of your case in a more polished way than you. With the right representation you could come across as a reasonable, caring parent and class act.

 

[Just Blue]

So I about a year ago I went to jail cause I was on drugs I went to rehab and have been sober since then in all that I my mother in law had my son so I went to pick him up and the police said I had to show proof I had custody out we never went to court or nothing I have custody of my son and the cop made me get my son out of the car and leave him there. He said I had to get a lawyer because my son has been there a year show paper work but that’s bull crap I can’t get my own custody back when I have it what do I do I want to get the police fired cause it was illegal for real

Are you mom or dad? Where is the other parent? When your child went to MIL's was this done through the courts with CPS involvement or did you just kinda "dump" your child with MIL when you went to jail? Has there been CPS involvement in the past? Do you have adequate housing? A job? Are you paying child support to MIL to help support your child? When was your last drug test? Was it clean? Are you in NA or some other drug support group?

I highly doubt that the police did anything "illegal" when you went to take your child from his, presumably, stable home with Gram's.

 

[quincy]

This Tennessee law may apply to the situation Alton Moss finds him/herself in:
https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2019/title-36/chapter-6/part-1/section-36-6-115/