non parental custody petetion question

[waslost1234abc]

my ex girlfriend lost her son to a non parental custody petition. she is doing a lot better now and needs to find out what paper work she needs to file and where to get it so that she can argue to get her son back. she as told that the placement of the son with the bio grandma was temporary. the grandmother has also cut off all contact breaking the court arrangement giving her visits and reasonable phone calls...the child is in clark county and the origonal petition was filed in clark county superior court. she is in seattle wa which is in king county. we need to know if she needs to file the paper work in the same court or if she can file it in a king county superior court. this will be pro se so the legal documents need to reflect that. child has been with grandma for close to a year and due to the grandmothers actions my ex girlfriend has not seen or talked to her son in several months.

thank you for any help in advance

 

[Proserpina]

Why hasn't Mom filed for visitation, or if she already has, filed for contempt if Grandma is withholding visitation?

Why was custody changed?

(It may make a huge difference)

 

[waslost1234abc]

The mom already has visitation and the grandma is breaking the court agreement. the mother is intersted in filing to get custody back instead of messing with holding the grandmother to the agreement.

 

[waslost1234abc]

the boy was placed with the grandmother through the non parental custody petition because the mom was facing felony charges and i had gotten a dv order protecting our daughter. the prosecutors office eventually decided his office couldnt win the case and declined to file. the dv order remained in effect.....as mentioned the mother is doing very well and feels she is well enough to get custody back and at this point i support her in doing so and so will a lot of other people.

 

[Proserpina]

the boy was placed with the grandmother through the non parental custody petition because the mom was facing felony charges and i had gotten a dv order protecting our daughter.

Felony charges for what? What exactly happened?


Was Mom told to complete any kind of plan before she could regain custody?

the prosecutors office eventually decided his office couldnt win the case and declined to file. the dv order remained in effect.....as mentioned the mother is doing very well and feels she is well enough to get custody back and at this point i support her in doing so and so will a lot of other people.

Mom needs to simply go to court and file for custody.

How old is this child, incidentally?

 

[waslost1234abc]

Just to continue with counseling and medications that sort of thing...the felony charges where related to her very poor parenting skills and her being caught several times trying to rid our daughter of what she kept claiming was constipation. she was caught lying several times by detectives and the police deparment found probable cause to arrest her on 1st degree child rape charges. the prosecutors office took 4 months to come to their descion and it wasnt made lightly. but it was to not file at that time but reserve the right to refile if somthing happened further. as mentioned before she has complied with the dv order protecting our daughter whom i have custody of and she has been doing well getting her life back together. she was also charged with dv assault and some other misdemeanor charges and convicted but i beleive that is in defference and she has been abiding by the requirements( she tried to take him when the grandmother dropped her son off at her ex husbands house-grandma emailed her to tell her that she didnt want him any longer and that she was dropping him off...i advised her to stay out of it....but she knew her son didnt belong with her ex husband who had previously been barred from seeing his son due to previous dv orders and assaults) the email was planned by the grandma because she knew my ex gf would try to get him...any how let me know if you have any other questions....just trying to help point her to what paper work she needs to file and where to get it at...and where she needs to file it at.

 

[Proserpina]

My advice is that she NEEDS an attorney.

Her situation is quite complex....and frankly Grandma stands a good chance (which is unusual in WA - I live here too, incidentally) of getting permanent custody if Mom does actually file.

 

[waslost1234abc]

Well her problem with getting an atty is most peoples problem which is how do u afford the retainer????that's why so many cases are pro se unfortunately......when the non parental custody petition was filed the mom had already agreed to voluntarily let the bio grandma take care of him....when the case went to court after she filed the petition she was granted custody on the idea it would be temporary.....before she got custody this egomaniac made no attemtps to be involved w her grandson and only when she saw a good opening did she go for this....now she is breaking the arrangement.....court arrangement.....the charges she plead guilty to are part of a deferment plan so they will eventually go off her record....the fact she was arrested on a charge of first degree child rape sounds bad and looks bad on paper.....she did *uck up....but she wasn't charged and at this point she is doing well and has the support of a lot of people to get her son back.....I'm supporting her and I'm the one who initiated the dv order and gave the grandma the idea of the non parental custody peteition....at the time it was in every ones best interest for her to take him....but it was never meant to be a permenent thing and now the grandmother is taking advantage of her lack of legal knowledge and financial resources.....again we need direction here....what paperwork does she need to file where to file and where to get the paperwork.....this state is very pro parent our state constitution grants parents more rights under the law then the us constitution....her rights haven't been terminated....the grandma came from a good legal position and got custody....temporary....non parental custody petitions are hard to win....when they are won the court will still look for every available opportunity to reunite the child with the parent.....

 

[Proserpina]

I live in WA. I have seen these cases over and over. I can assure you that the fact Grandma obtained even temp custody to begin with is STRONGLY in her favor; since Troxel it's incredibly difficult for any third party to accomplish that, and since she did, she has an ace up her sleeve indeed.

Now, Mom needs to file in court immediately to have the temp order changed. Call the court house where kiddo lives. The court clerk can tell Mom which forms are needed (unfortunately Clark Co Court doesn't have the relevant forms online), though the clerk cannot instruct Mom on how to fill them out.

Expect Grandma to fight tooth and nail. And with Mom's shady background, she should expect a fight.

Frankly if Grandma has an attorney and Mom doesn't, Mom is risking everything and it could be an expensive and painful lesson.

 

[waslost1234abc]

i will give her the above mentioned advice. i did want to point out that the big ace up grandmas sleeve was that it was beleived that she was going to be charged with the class a felony...the fact the prosecutors office took its time and just how every thing happened....that really helped her with the prove child is in immediate danger....at the time it appeared her son was....at this point minus the misdemeanor charges in defferment right now she has no criminal record....and the restraining order protecting our daughter is up in july and the parenting plan is working its way through the courts....as i mentioned before she has a lot of people standing behind her and supporting her in trying to get him back...i know she has a lot to prove but the grandma must also prove that the child would still be in danger if given back to the mom and i think she will have a hard time doing that....especially since she has cut off all contact she has no idea how the mom has been doing....

thamk you for your advice....anything else please let me know....