My son was left with me by his mom for over a year with NO CONTACT AT ALL. I had him in school and everything. His mother called out of the blue 2 weeks before Christmas asking if she could visit. My wife and I agreed it would be no problem. She visited unsupervised for a whole day.

Then she asked if she could take him to Ga to spend Christmas with his brother but asked if we could pick him back up New Year to come back to school. We agreed. She let us drive all the way there to get him and said she changed her mind and wanted him to stay. We left and returned 2 weeks later to visit with her permission. We got there again and she hid from us.

She is VERY unstable and on drugs. She has lived in 7 different places already just this year. Her family constantly calls to tell me I need to come get my son because they are afraid of him being dragged all over Ga. I have gone to DFAX up there with no results. I would like to have her served with custody papers but she never stays in 1 place long enough. Please advise me on ANYTHING I can do.

The only agreements that can be enforced are those issued by family court.

Go to court and get custody or even visitation that way... then she can be held to honor it by force of law.

Any other agreement isn't worth the paper its written on.

Get a lawyer... you can use her drug addiction in your favor to get full custody.

When she left your child with you, did you go to court for primary physical custody? If you didn't that was very foolish. She has equal rights to the child. Now you MUST go to court and establish custody. The good news is that she hasn't established residency where she is so you can file in your jurisdiction.

Yes that was foolish of me because my wife tried to tell me to do just that. We both live in different states. I spoke with an attorney in my state who says I need to get the child back in my state before the courts here will help. She's out for money to support her drugs,so she has recently told me I can't see him until I put myself on child support. I have no problem with that but I need to kmoew I can see my son. He's better off with me n my wife being that we are weigh more stable, We have lived in the same place for more than 15yrs, had him enrolled in a really good school,and have both been on our jobs a very long time. He doesn't know her but know my wife as his mother. My wife taught him he is blessed to have 2 mothers and tried to teach him her name. But he never saw this person. She's angry because he calls her his other mommy. Our home is very saddened. You all are being very helpful. THANKS

Can a mother legally hide a child from his biological father who's name is on the birth certificate?

Which party are you to this and we can better answer your question. Is there something that is currently going on or is this speculation? What are the circumstances surrounding this situation and where is it occurring (State or Country) ?

Not in most areas of the world. ANY question on law needs to include your general locale as laws vary by area.

Its called parental kidnapping. Doesn't matter whether the father is on the birth certificate or not. If the father went to court to establish paternity and got some level of custody/visitation, then the mother would be required to make the child available.

Is there any court ordered visitation ?

What steps can I take to find my 3yr old son who is being hidden from me by his biological mother? I have a copy of her state ID and both their ss #'s. I'm told this is called Parental Kidnapping. And would like more information on that. She was last known to be living in Ga and My wife and I reside in MS. She is VERY UNSTABLE!! So much so that just in January of 2013 she had already lived in 7 different places with different people. I have gotten text messages saying she's calling around asking people if she and the kids can stay with them. She is on 3 different types of known drugs and drink right along with it. Trying my best not to be judgemental but the well being of my son is really bothering me. My wife and I had my son in a stable home where we have lived for over 15 yrs,where he had had his own room.We had him in school and everything. What steps can I take to find them?

Hire a private investigator.

How did she have access to your son? Did you have legal custody of your son? If so, this is parental kidnapping and you can report it to the court and the police.

How did she have access to your son? Did you have legal custody of your son? If so, this is parental kidnapping and you can report it to the court and the police.

No I don't have any legal custody of him no more than my name on his birth certificate. She left him with me and my wife for over a year with no contact from her at all. She finally wanted to visit a week before Thanksgiving. We allowed her to visit. Then I allowed her to take him to her home in Ga to spend Christmas with his 9yr old brother. With the agreement that we will be picking him up New Years to return home n to school. We drove to Ga to pick him up. She say she changed her mind n wanted him to stay. Not knowing my rights to him we returned to Ms. We returned 2wks later with her permission to check on him. Called her on Sat night to inform her we were gassing up to get on the highway. She responded and played it. She even texted us Sunday morning to see if we made it. We responded yes and asked if he was awake. She neva responded n hid. We saw her and her boyfriend walking from the store. They spotted our car n took off running through the bushes. Would only let us speak with him over the phone as long as she knew we were in Ms. Now she has changed her number.

Well at the time you had equal rights to the child. However, because she had control there was nothing you could have done at the time. Without an order showing you had custody the MS police would have done nothing. I don't suppose you had the agreement in to return him in writing. You messed up by not going to court for primary custody when she she left him with you and disappeared.

Under these circumstances Parental Kidnapping is a long shot. You need to go to court and establish custody. At this point you may only get visitation unless you can prove her unfit. And being in different states will make that difficult. I would get yourself a good lawyer, I think you will need one to properly present this to the courts. The only good thing is that your name is on the birth certificate as the father.

yes, she appears to have legal rights to son, and you have not went to court to get legal custody. So you will need to hire a PI and find them and try and get a hearing in family court for custody

I'm likewise trying not to be judgmental - yes, you should have moved on this some time ago.

Was she a druggie and whatever else when she got pregnant with your son?

And, yes, hire a Private Invesigator. You know she's calling people to find a place to stay. They know where she's calling from.

EDIT: I note on February 21, 2013 you asked “My 3 yr old son has been taken from me. How do I get him back?
https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/family-law/3-yr-old-son-has-been-taken-me-how-do-get-him-back-735449.html

On April 15, 2013 you asked “Can a mother legally hide a child from his biological father who's name is on the birth certificate?” (“https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/family-law/can-mother-legally-hide-child-his-biological-father-names-birthcert-744338.html”) but didn't answer any of the follow up questions.

Yesterday, April 17 you asked this question.

This has been asked and answered - and asked and answered. You need to retain an Attorney and/or a Private Investigator - and you need to answer questions when people need more info in order to answer you legally. You have been chewing on this minimally since February 21 and I see no action other than posting questions. Do something!

I've merged all three threads since they bear on the same question. I'm flabbergasted that you first posted 2 months ago and have, apparently done nothing in the interim.

Asking is one thing, apparently. Doing something is another thing.

It's called "get up off your ... computer chair ... and do something."

Those who assert that there is such a crime as "parental kidnapping" should verify this claim by reference to the pertinent statutes. I believe the alleged crime would have happened in Georgia. I find no reference to such a crime in the statutes of that state.


"§ 16-5-40. Kidnapping
(a) A person commits the offense of kidnapping when such person abducts or steals away another person without lawful authority or warrant and holds such other person against his or her will.
..." LexisNexis® Custom Solution: Georgia Code Research Tool (http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/gacode/default.asp)

Doesn't apply unless it can be proven that the parent doesn't have parental rights and the child has taken "against his or her will."

I will keep looking, but I see no crime called "parental kidnapping" as such.

Those who assert that there is such a crime as "parental kidnapping" should verify this claim by reference to the pertinent statutes.

This has been discussed before. There is ample proof, that has already been posted, that a parent who hides a child from another parent is committing a crime. Whether you call it parental kidnapping or something else it is still a crime. There are conditions to this crime that may affect prosecution and these conditions are laid out in local laws. But nit-picking about what it is called or how it is treated in local laws is doing a disservice to OPs here.

You will notice I told the OP that it does not apply in his situation because he neglected to get a court order for custody.

This has been discussed before. There is ample proof, that has already been posted, that a parent who hides a child from another parent is committing a crime. Whether you call it parental kidnapping or something else it is still a crime. There are conditions to this crime that may affect prosecution and these conditions are laid out in local laws. But nit-picking about what it is called or how it is treated in local laws is doing a disservice to OPs here.

You will notice I told the OP that it does not apply in his situation because he neglected to get a court order for custody.

Ref for parental kidnapping.

Parental Kidnapping Law & Legal Definition (http://definitions.uslegal.com/p/parental-kidnapping/)

TPM, you were told what to do! File in FAMILY COURT. It isn't kidnapping unless it's in violation of a court order.