Taken children

My boyfriend and I split up and he took the kids now he won't give them back and his mom wants custody of them. What do I do to get them back?

File for custody in court.

This is a legal question not a children question. I've moved it to the Family law forum. There have been recent threads discussing this issue and I suggest you look up at them.

Is your boyfriend on the birth certificate? Has there been any court action regarding custody and visitation? If there hasn't been any court action, then call the police and report him for parental kidnapping. In the meantime, you need to go to court and establish custody.

If custody has been established, then you can still contact the police since he has violated the custody order.

If you and your boyfriend have a custody and visitation agreement and he has stepped out side of it then my suggestion would be to contact the authorities. If you are at all concerned with their safety I would also recommend contacting the authorities.
With no agreement in place it isn't necessarily true that you have to file to get them back. You can also contact a non emergency police number and let them know what you are experiencing, if the children have always been in your custody you can most likely get their assistance in getting them home with you. At that time I woul recommend, if you don't already have one in place to get a custody/visitation order in place and filed in your state/county.

I always find it amazing to see the gender bias in the responses people give to questions like this. If it's the dad who has the kids and won't let mom see them the immediate reaction is , "CALL THE POLICE-they'll help, they'll get the kids back for you [ah, excuse me, they probably will not and will likely say, 'Get a lawyer, this is a civil matter --we can't get involved'."]

But if it's the mom who has the kids and won't let the dad see them the responses are all, "Ah, have you proven you are the father yet? You'll have to get a lawyer , there's nothing you can do, ask the judge to give you 'visitation'"....It's as if women, because of their gender alone, had superior parenting rights. Why? Because they provided the womb services and carried the kid around in their bellies for 9 months? Is that how it works? So they deserve greater recognition as a parent--hey, after all the dad was just the sperm donor and had some fun on one occasion so how does that compare to the mom's great sacrifice? This kind of logic belongs on Fox News.

It's all nonsense. The law doesn't recognize gender bias when it comes to parents. And it shouldn't.

This OP has to file a court action and ask for custody (or visitation). That's it. She doesn't need to waste her time with calling the police.

I'm not going to give you a reddie baed on my feelings and I think it is rude that you did based on yours. I am not stating my opinion simply because it's the father that has the kids. I disagree 100% in what you have written above and the reason for that is because based on the agreement that this couple has in place there is something that the police can and will do. If there is a court order all that is required is to present your position and they will help you. They are there to enforce the law. Court orders are laws. Without additional information from the OP it is impossible to say one way or another whether the police would help.

My experience in these circumstances is split. If a custodial parent goes to the police, presents a valid custodial court order and tells the police that the NCP refuses to return the kids, the police will usually accompany the CP to pick up the kids. However, if the NCP creates a fuss, the police will sometimes back off.

But I agree with MsMwwiththat in that the police should help enforce a valid court order. In the OP's case, we do not know if there is a valid court order in place.

There was nothing in this OP's question or comments to suggest there is a court order in place. Obviously, if there is, you DO call the police because they will enforce court orders. If there is no court order then the answer is the police will not get involved. And for good reason: if no law has been violated they have no jurisdiction to simply walk in and play the role of a court and judge to settle people's disputes. It would be like calling the police because someone won't refund your money for something you bought at the shopping mall.

Some police departments will get involved if there is reason to believe that the children are in harm.

It's a crime to harm children or place them at risk of harm (it's called child endangerment). So, sure. Police investigate crimes or what are potential crimes.

Or if the mother can prove that they lived with her and that dad took them for no apparent reason.

Nope. That's not going to make it. That's a civil matter the police will not get involved in without a court order being violated.

It happened to a friend of mine all she had to prove was that the kids were enrolled in the school in her area not the dads and she had no court order and the police went over there and got the kids back. Also the dad had no beds for them or clothes for a lengthy stay so this was not an ideal place for these children and the police helped no court order needed.

That's called an anecdote and that's not legal authority and essentially means nothing. Sometimes police make mistakes, sometimes they overstep their authority. Who knows? What happened in that case probably would rarely or never happen anywhere else.