Strange Situation

[waxlion78]

Strange situation. A little over a year ago I married a woman with two children from a previous. A little over two months ago we welcomed a child of our own and a little over two weeks ago she decided that she didn't want to be married anymore.

She's from Boston but moved to Texas to be with me. She has decided she needs to get her life in order by giving me full custody of our son and sending the other two back to Boston to live with their aunt and grandma while she stays down here on her own, gets a job, goes to culinary school and puts her head in a better place (she has a cocktail of issues.) Here's my questions:

A. Do I have any rights of visitation of the other two? Their biological is in jail for failing to pay child support to another child of his.

B. If she came back in two years wanting our child what legal rights would she have if she signed full custody over to me?

C. What needs to be done to have the aunt have guardianship of the other two?

 

[irish223]

Strange situation. A little over a year ago I married a woman with two children from a previous. A little over two months ago we welcomed a child of our own and a little over two weeks ago she decided that she didn't want to be married anymore.

She's from Boston but moved to Texas to be with me. She has decided she needs to get her life in order by giving me full custody of our son and sending the other two back to Boston to live with their aunt and grandma while she stays down here on her own, gets a job, goes to culinary school and puts her head in a better place (she has a cocktail of issues.) Here's my questions:

A. Do I have any rights of visitation of the other two? Their biological is in jail for failing to pay child support to another child of his.

You can request visitation of the stepchildren, but it's not likely that you will get your own specified visitation unless the mother agrees to it.

B. If she came back in two years wanting our child what legal rights would she have if she signed full custody over to me?

If you are awarded primary custody in your divorce decree, then she will have visitation rights. It will be difficult for her to prove that changing custody after 2 years is in the child's best interests, but she can certainly file for a custody modification if she wishes.

C. What needs to be done to have the aunt have guardianship of the other two?

For Texas, I'm not sure about guardianship, but I would have a lawyer involved if she intends to regain custody at a later date.

I would also suggest that you retain a lawyer for the divorce proceedings. No matter how straightforward you think the process will be, there are a myriad of issues that will be addressed in the process.

 

[Duranie]

You should file for divorce and ask for custody. A verbal agreement with mom will not hold up. You do not want her coming back and taking the child out of state which mom may plan on doing. You likely have no rights to the other 2 kids at all. You should also ask for child support. Be sure you get all your bases covered.