What is the name of your state? montana
13 years ago a man and a woman he lived with had a son. they continued to live together for another 2 years and then went their seperate ways. they had a mutual agreement, nothing written, to share custody of their child. after a few years of living with mom, the child lived with the father in washington (mom didn't pay child support to dad during this time, dad actually still paid it to mom) and later, after the mother remarried, went to live with her and her new husband and their kids. the agreement after the marriage was that the child would spend every other holiday, every other weekend, and the out of school summer months with the father. the father, in turn agreed to pay child support, provide insurance and pay out of pocket medical expenses for the child. since this agreement was made (not written, but verbal) it has only been kept as specified once. the child lives 70 miles away from the father and if he wants to see the boy he drives there to get him and brings him back. the father also pays for half of any activity (such as football, hockey, field trips) this child takes. for the past 2 years, however, the mother seems to find every excuse to keep the child with her. she will say he's not there if the father calls for him (and he is there because when dad calls back 2 minutes later and one of her small chidren answers the phone before she does dad gets to talk to his son right away. the mother also signs the child up for jobs and commitments during the summer (and he gets excited because he makes money) and then doesn't want to come over to visit dad. she uses sports and school activities as excuses for why the boy can't come visit dad (even though dad is more than willing to take the kid back and forth and has offered to do so.) the boy wants to stay living in bozeman because he goes to school there. dad just wants to know what the best way to approach this is? should he get a lawyer and have a custody agreement drawn up? was the verbal agreement legal? dad doesn't want his son to get caught in the middle or be used by the mom. would he have a chance of getting the custody he wants because of all the support and obligations he's met in the past or is it a waste of time because courts usually favor the mother? also is this child legally old enough (13) to know what he wants; can he decide if he wants to come visit or is it up to mom? thank you very much for your help.
13 years ago a man and a woman he lived with had a son. they continued to live together for another 2 years and then went their seperate ways. they had a mutual agreement, nothing written, to share custody of their child. after a few years of living with mom, the child lived with the father in washington (mom didn't pay child support to dad during this time, dad actually still paid it to mom) and later, after the mother remarried, went to live with her and her new husband and their kids. the agreement after the marriage was that the child would spend every other holiday, every other weekend, and the out of school summer months with the father. the father, in turn agreed to pay child support, provide insurance and pay out of pocket medical expenses for the child. since this agreement was made (not written, but verbal) it has only been kept as specified once. the child lives 70 miles away from the father and if he wants to see the boy he drives there to get him and brings him back. the father also pays for half of any activity (such as football, hockey, field trips) this child takes. for the past 2 years, however, the mother seems to find every excuse to keep the child with her. she will say he's not there if the father calls for him (and he is there because when dad calls back 2 minutes later and one of her small chidren answers the phone before she does dad gets to talk to his son right away. the mother also signs the child up for jobs and commitments during the summer (and he gets excited because he makes money) and then doesn't want to come over to visit dad. she uses sports and school activities as excuses for why the boy can't come visit dad (even though dad is more than willing to take the kid back and forth and has offered to do so.) the boy wants to stay living in bozeman because he goes to school there. dad just wants to know what the best way to approach this is? should he get a lawyer and have a custody agreement drawn up? was the verbal agreement legal? dad doesn't want his son to get caught in the middle or be used by the mom. would he have a chance of getting the custody he wants because of all the support and obligations he's met in the past or is it a waste of time because courts usually favor the mother? also is this child legally old enough (13) to know what he wants; can he decide if he wants to come visit or is it up to mom? thank you very much for your help.
