Long distance litigation

[hihopes]

My son lives in California. He was in love with and wanted to marry his girlfriend when she got pregnant. She refused, went on welfare, went to court to establish child support. My son had a lawyer but visitation was not addressed at the child support hearing (I still don't know why). She stayed in California and allowed my son short, inconsistant visitation for 18 months then she disapeared. We used an internet search company to find her. She is in Arizona. My son wants to go to court to get visitation but money is tight (he pays $500/mo child support). What is the best way to go about getting visitation and re-establishing my son's relationship with his son? If we hire a lawyer in Arizona, will we be able to conduct most of the business via telepnone/fax/email and only travel to Arizona for court date and re-establishing relationship? Can she just disapear like that without repercussions? Appreciate any and all advice.

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

My response:

How long, exactly if you know, has she been living in Arizona with baby ?

What type of custody was awarded to her ? E.g., shared, joint physical, or sole custody ?

Was there anything in the California custody orders that said California would retain jurisdiction over the child ?
I.e., that custodial parent was ordered and required to give Notice of the move-away ?

Notice pursuant to such order must be given before the contemplated move: to the extent "feasible," within a minimum of 45 days before the proposed change of residence "so as to allow time for mediation of a new agreement concerning custody." [Ca Fam § 3024]

IAAL

[Edited by I AM ALWAYS LIABLE on 05-19-2001 at 11:46 AM]

 

[hihopes]

I'm glad you asked about who was granted custody! We looked through every piece of paper we have and can't find anything regarding custody - every paper is about child support/paternity. Can this be possible?

Another piece of information is missing also. My son had to pay $250.00 for a blood test to determine paternity, but there are no results of that test anywhere.

The mother and child have lived in Arizona for 14 months. We did not know where in Arizona until we finally tracked her down.

I guess my son will need to call his old attorney to make sure he has copies of all the papers that were filed. If a blood test was done, where would the results of that test be located? The mother did not list my son as father on the birth certificate -- it was blank.

Thanks for any response.