Elizabeth Lenzo
New Member
- Jurisdiction
- Wisconsin
Hello.
My husband and I have 5 children. Due to recovering from a serious accident and having extra needs, our oldest son began staying with my mother back in 2016. We were living in CA, and she in WI. Upon moving back to IL an hour away from where my mom lives, we began having our child with us every weekend- sometimes every other weekend. A year ago we moved back to Madison WI where my mom lives. We have been saying it is time for our son to come back home and my mom has been delaying this. She's very manipulative and has a therapist convinced that the best place for our son is only with her. They have a very strange and unhealthy relationship and my mother's behavior has become increasingly unstable and concerning. Since my husband and I have been actively trying to get our kid back, she has done things like leave her house with him overnight and not tell us where they are, threatened to do everything in her power to keep him with her, kept him from us, etc. This has all escalated over the past week, we have all (myself, my husband, my sister, my dad, friends ) tried reasoning with her and that failed. We tried involving the police and she told them to direct their questions to her attorney. I believe she has tried to file for emergency placement or custody or guardianship or I have no idea.
From what I have read, grandparents rights involve more rights to visitation than to custody or placement. I have also read and been told by attorneys who are friends that it is extremely rare for a grandparent to be awarded custody when there are 2 competent parents with no record or history of abuse or neglect etc. My husband and I are good parents with 4 happy and healthy other kids. We initially were both working full time and felt like we couldn't meet our oldest son's extra needs and that has changed. We obviously made the mistake of trusting my mother. My question is HOW are my rights affected or changed by the fact that we willingly have allowed him stay with her for several years? I'm so scared that she can actually try and take our child from us. She's very scary and unstable and mentally unhealthy and I do not want her near any of my children let alone basically raising one of them. I want to know if she even has a chance Of somehow winning in court. I am in the process of retaining my own attorney but it is the weekend and I just can't stop thinking about this obviously. And it's hard to find any information. Thank you for reading!!!
My husband and I have 5 children. Due to recovering from a serious accident and having extra needs, our oldest son began staying with my mother back in 2016. We were living in CA, and she in WI. Upon moving back to IL an hour away from where my mom lives, we began having our child with us every weekend- sometimes every other weekend. A year ago we moved back to Madison WI where my mom lives. We have been saying it is time for our son to come back home and my mom has been delaying this. She's very manipulative and has a therapist convinced that the best place for our son is only with her. They have a very strange and unhealthy relationship and my mother's behavior has become increasingly unstable and concerning. Since my husband and I have been actively trying to get our kid back, she has done things like leave her house with him overnight and not tell us where they are, threatened to do everything in her power to keep him with her, kept him from us, etc. This has all escalated over the past week, we have all (myself, my husband, my sister, my dad, friends ) tried reasoning with her and that failed. We tried involving the police and she told them to direct their questions to her attorney. I believe she has tried to file for emergency placement or custody or guardianship or I have no idea.
From what I have read, grandparents rights involve more rights to visitation than to custody or placement. I have also read and been told by attorneys who are friends that it is extremely rare for a grandparent to be awarded custody when there are 2 competent parents with no record or history of abuse or neglect etc. My husband and I are good parents with 4 happy and healthy other kids. We initially were both working full time and felt like we couldn't meet our oldest son's extra needs and that has changed. We obviously made the mistake of trusting my mother. My question is HOW are my rights affected or changed by the fact that we willingly have allowed him stay with her for several years? I'm so scared that she can actually try and take our child from us. She's very scary and unstable and mentally unhealthy and I do not want her near any of my children let alone basically raising one of them. I want to know if she even has a chance Of somehow winning in court. I am in the process of retaining my own attorney but it is the weekend and I just can't stop thinking about this obviously. And it's hard to find any information. Thank you for reading!!!