Sole custody to Joint custody??

[Pearl72]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Colorado

I lost custody of my daughter back in March of 09. Father was granted temporary sole legal and physical custody. I have not been allowed to see my daughter since march 09. We go back to court this upcoming tuesday to see if i am allowed to see my daughter again, and to hopefully be given some supervised parenting time. I was just wondering, how possible would it be to ask that we go back to joint custody as it was before, before i lost custody? What are my chances?

 

[DawnPlusTwo]

Why did you lose custody?

 

[Pearl72]

I suffer from bipolar disorder, i was hospitilized briefly, and there was a court hearing that i was not allowed to attend, in which the courts were told by my ex that i was on a 90 day certification with no contact (which was not true) I was allowed visitors, and phone calls. I was in the hospital for 4 weeks. My meds were not working properly, so they put me in the hospital for observation to make sure meds were working again. I was never a danger to my daughter, i asked her dad to take her temporarily so that i could get my meds right again. I felt it was only fair to my daughter.

 

[CJane]

Honestly Pearl, there were a LOT of issues that led to the loss of custody - the largest issue was the hospitalizations, but there were others too. You know that.

You haven't seen your child in FOUR MONTHS and are only now to the point where supervised visits MIGHT happen. The chances of going to joint anything are about 0 right now. Maybe less.

You need to focus on rebuilding your relationship with your child, rebuilding your co-parenting relationship with your ex, and stabilizing your life and health. Try to get a graduated supervision plan - something that eventually increases to a 'standard' unsupervised plan.

I get that you want custody back. But it's not going to happen NOW and might not EVER happen - and you need to focus on building a life that includes the reality of you being the NCP.

 

[Bloopy]

Pearl, I’m sorry for your loss.

What events happened leading up to your hospitalization?

Voluntarily popping in for meds adjustment is a lot different than a green warrant forcing you in.

Do you have a counselor currently? There are programs you can enter in which you visit a nurse (or he/she comes to you) to ensure you take your meds daily. Depending on your med, weekly blood draws can do the same.

The idea is not only to insure your compliance; it’s to show the court your desire for compliance. Bipolar tricks you into thinking you are all better and don’t need doses.

Even if you have been historically 100% compliant in taking your meds, the court likely assumes you were not. If you should have future problems in which your meds needs adjusting, being monitored will catch it faster or absolve you of “fault.”

Please take Jane’s advice to heart.