StephanieAnne
New Member
My name is Stephanie.
My fiance, Sheldon, and I met in August 2005, at which point his ex-girlfriend, Amber, was pregnant. He didn't know whether or not it was his child because Amber was very…promiscuous…and she cheated on him quite often. In the back of Sheldon's mind, he knew it was his, but anyone would question a girl like this. When the time came, Amber didn't call Sheldon and tell him when the baby, Tyler, was born. In fact, she told him the baby wasn't his. She called Sheldon after Tyler was born while she was still in the hospital, told him she wanted a bump (cocaine), but never told him about their baby. It wasn't until later, when Sheldon discovered Tyler's birthday, that he realized when she called him it was when Tyler was born. But she never said a word about it. Until Tyler was about a month old, Amber told Sheldon he wasn't his child. He was some other guy's and he wasn't Sheldon's. Sheldon tried contacting her, believing she was lying, trying to see Tyler, but she wouldn't allow it. When she finally came around to the truth, that Sheldon is Tyler's daddy, he was one month old. She brought him over for a night, and was late picking him up the next day. She brought him over another night, and when she came to pick him up, I was alone with Tyler (Sheldon had to go to work) and, despite all attempts made by Sheldon, Amber has never let him see Tyler since then. Tyler is 21 months old now.
In April, Amber filed a Termination of Parental Rights against Sheldon. He was served, I took the papers. The sherrif told me to have Sheldon call the court and find out when the court date was. Sheldon called (and called), and Sheldon went to the courthouse on numerous occasions. They told him he would receive his court date in the mail. He never received anything in the mail. So we went back to the courthouse to see what the deal was, and they told us the court date was the day before. Sheldon got a copy of the file and nowhere in this file is there a Notice of Hearing. He was never told when his court date was, it is on file, and they took his parental rights away anyway. He was never given a chance to fight for his son. Amber is diagnosed bipolar and is big into drugs and is a stripper and is all around just a dumb, crazy girl. There is no way, if Amber and Sheldon stood in front of a judge together, they would have let Amber have Tyler.
About a month ago, October, Amber lost Tyler. Someone filed a complaint with Child Protective Services, and they were coming to take Tyler away from Amber. Tyler is now in the custody of Amber's parents, who don't like Amber and would prefer not to have Tyler. (Amber also lost custody of her daughter a couple years before.)
THIS IS WHAT I NEED HELP WITH: We need to file a Motion to Set Aside Default Judgment or a Motion to Vacate Default Judgment, to set aside the judgment of Termination of Parental Rights. I want to do it the right way, and I want to do a really good job. Can someone please help me, with a template to follow and some really good things to say in it? I do know what I want to say, but I need the exact right way to say it. After we file that motion we will be filing custody papers, but we have to set aside the Termination of Parental Rights, so that he can have rights to his son again. But I really need help with the motion because I've never done anything like this before, and I want to do the best job I can do. PLEASE help me!
My fiance, Sheldon, and I met in August 2005, at which point his ex-girlfriend, Amber, was pregnant. He didn't know whether or not it was his child because Amber was very…promiscuous…and she cheated on him quite often. In the back of Sheldon's mind, he knew it was his, but anyone would question a girl like this. When the time came, Amber didn't call Sheldon and tell him when the baby, Tyler, was born. In fact, she told him the baby wasn't his. She called Sheldon after Tyler was born while she was still in the hospital, told him she wanted a bump (cocaine), but never told him about their baby. It wasn't until later, when Sheldon discovered Tyler's birthday, that he realized when she called him it was when Tyler was born. But she never said a word about it. Until Tyler was about a month old, Amber told Sheldon he wasn't his child. He was some other guy's and he wasn't Sheldon's. Sheldon tried contacting her, believing she was lying, trying to see Tyler, but she wouldn't allow it. When she finally came around to the truth, that Sheldon is Tyler's daddy, he was one month old. She brought him over for a night, and was late picking him up the next day. She brought him over another night, and when she came to pick him up, I was alone with Tyler (Sheldon had to go to work) and, despite all attempts made by Sheldon, Amber has never let him see Tyler since then. Tyler is 21 months old now.
In April, Amber filed a Termination of Parental Rights against Sheldon. He was served, I took the papers. The sherrif told me to have Sheldon call the court and find out when the court date was. Sheldon called (and called), and Sheldon went to the courthouse on numerous occasions. They told him he would receive his court date in the mail. He never received anything in the mail. So we went back to the courthouse to see what the deal was, and they told us the court date was the day before. Sheldon got a copy of the file and nowhere in this file is there a Notice of Hearing. He was never told when his court date was, it is on file, and they took his parental rights away anyway. He was never given a chance to fight for his son. Amber is diagnosed bipolar and is big into drugs and is a stripper and is all around just a dumb, crazy girl. There is no way, if Amber and Sheldon stood in front of a judge together, they would have let Amber have Tyler.
About a month ago, October, Amber lost Tyler. Someone filed a complaint with Child Protective Services, and they were coming to take Tyler away from Amber. Tyler is now in the custody of Amber's parents, who don't like Amber and would prefer not to have Tyler. (Amber also lost custody of her daughter a couple years before.)
THIS IS WHAT I NEED HELP WITH: We need to file a Motion to Set Aside Default Judgment or a Motion to Vacate Default Judgment, to set aside the judgment of Termination of Parental Rights. I want to do it the right way, and I want to do a really good job. Can someone please help me, with a template to follow and some really good things to say in it? I do know what I want to say, but I need the exact right way to say it. After we file that motion we will be filing custody papers, but we have to set aside the Termination of Parental Rights, so that he can have rights to his son again. But I really need help with the motion because I've never done anything like this before, and I want to do the best job I can do. PLEASE help me!
