Adoptive parent

[destinyswolf]

I have a son that was adopted by my ex boyfriend, and back in Dec of 2007 I was called to come pick my son up that was living with him. Saying that if I didn't he would be sent to a group home.
Since I went to pick him up, my ex has refused to give me any custody papers on him, along with his new birth certificate.
I live in Ohio, and have to have custody papers in order for him to be able to stay in school and now since he is turning 16 soon, I will need his birth certificate for him to get his license.
What should I do?
I do not have the money to hire an attorney to go to court!
Any advice?

 

[irish223]

Okay, let me get this straight.

You gave birth to a son who is now 16.
Your ex-boyfriend adopted him.
Then you broke up, and your son lived with your ex.
You live in Ohio, but I'm not sure where ex and son lived.
Your ex kicked your son out, more or less, and you took him in.
Now you need to enroll him in school, and sign up for driver's ed.

So, did your ex have court ordered custody of your son? If so, then you will have to file a petition in court to change custody. Your ex can't just give you "custody papers."

Why can't you just order a new birth certificate from your county's office of vital records?

 

[destinyswolf]

My ex and my son had lived in Indiana, I just currently moved to Ohio from PA back in March.
I had recently called the Vital records office in Indiana to see about his birth certificate and was told that since my ex adopted him, that my name is no longer on the BC.
Due to the laws here in Ohio, my son will be kicked out of school if I do not have custody papers. My ex is so unwilling to cooperate that he won't even let me see my other son who is 9 that he had gotten custody of 2 1/2 yrs ago. Will not follow the custody order according to visitation either.
I will deal with that here in a bit. but my main concern right now is being able to keep him in school and him being able to get into drivers ed.

 

[irish223]

This is still confusing, but it seems that your ex has custody of your 16 year old. Even if he sends the custody order to you, it will still show that your ex has custody. The school may not allow you to enroll him without changing custody legally.

I don't understand why your name was removed from the birth certificate, unless a mistake was made or your parental rights were terminated.

You really need an attorney IMO. You can try legal aid:

http://www.olaf.org/aboutolaf/ohiolegalaidsystem.shtml

Or, maybe you can get some help at the court house. Some states have self-help departments or facilitators, although I couldn't find anything on the net.