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My daughter’s ex (never married) has obtained custody of my granddaughter. He was represented and my daughter was not. Now that he has had custody of her for a little over a year, he has since then married another women for appearances sake, and had a child with her. My daughter and her ex have joint custody but she resides in California with her father, and visits with her mother who lives in Arizona once a month which is not what the court papers say but the ex is controlling and a mentally/verbally abusive person. He has since been detained by the marine base due to violent behavior to his now wife (who has started divorce proceedings a few weeks ago when he told her to move out with their son so his girlfriend could move in). At any rate, what should my daughter do to resume physical custody of her daughter? He is not fit to raise a little girl and I don’t think it is legal for the stepmother to keep her. We have a limited window of opportunity here as he is order to stay away from wife for 10 days and she has a restraining order on him as well.
If your daughter’s ex continues to violate the custody order, then your daughter can take him back to court to have it enforced or modified. If the current custody arrangement is preventing the child from visiting both parents, your daughter might have a good chance to have it modified. She should definitely retain counsel as well. Talk with a local attorney to find out if there are pro bono legal clinics in your area that specializes in family law.
