custody

My ex wife had a mental breakdown and the police gave me my kids. 7 mo later she takes me to court on an emergency hearing and the judge gives them back until the actual court date several mo from now. She showed up 4 hrs late extremely drunk with a strange man and the cops. Took the kids and went to a friends hoise to stay the night. The kids didn't know this friemd so even more strangers. They were upset already because they didn't want to go with her. Now she's trying to put me in jail for giving tje kids melatonin when they were with me. The police told her she couldn't have mistreated for that so now she's some what agreeing to me getting the kids for the weekend. Im very concerned for my kids because she's still very unstable mentally and physically it took us a while to set a schedule with the kids and now they're off schedule and its a huge mess. I dont know what to do to get them out of her care because I can't afford a lawyer. Any advice at all

My ex wife had a mental breakdown and the police gave me my kids. 7 mo later she takes me to court on an emergency hearing and the judge gives them back until the actual court date several mo from now. She showed up 4 hrs late extremely drunk with a strange man and the cops. Took the kids and went to a friends hoise to stay the night. The kids didn't know this friemd so even more strangers. They were upset already because they didn't want to go with her. Now she's trying to put me in jail for giving tje kids melatonin when they were with me. The police told her she couldn't have mistreated for that so now she's some what agreeing to me getting the kids for the weekend. Im very concerned for my kids because she's still very unstable mentally and physically it took us a while to set a schedule with the kids and now they're off schedule and its a huge mess. I dont know what to do to get them out of her care because I can't afford a lawyer. Any advice at all

Contact social services. You might find some useful resources, but this will likely stay messy until your court date.
Be prepared for court. You will likely speak with a mediator rather than a judge. Have organized and detailed notes about the things you want to address.
Understand also that you are never required to put your children in danger. If you have them in your care and she shows up drunk or otherwise unable to care for their safety you can keep them with you until she is ready.
You might be contacted by police about the custody order but they won't take the kids from you. They might even see the same thing you do and support your decision.
So long as you have a justified reason and you are not being manipulative of the situation no court is going to punish you for protecting the kids. These kinds of reports, if police do take a report, may actually help the court to see the problems and address them better.

Duplicate thread - answered elsewhere.

Betty3 said:

Duplicate thread - answered elsewhere.

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Merged the threads into one.

All better now.