My friend has 2 children with her husband ages 2 and 3. They are separated but he thinks differently. She wants to get away from him but there is no custody order for the children. She doesn't know if she will get in trouble or not if she leaves state with the children. She doesn't have the funding for legal advice and wants to know if she can get into trouble if she does leave. Leaving is her only option to get away from him. If he moves out he has people watch her consistently and has no privacy. He has instilled terror into the 3 yr old because of people looking in the windows when he wasn't living here. She has no privacy at all. He always has to know where she's going, what she's doing, who she's with, when she'll be back, and who she's talking to on the phone. He calls who she's going to see and if she isn't there, he calls/texts her freaking out. He's kicked the door in when she's been in her room with the door shut also. He doesn't spend time with the children because he's wrapped up in his own thing all the time. He allows his brother to discipline them instead of himself. When they want to play, he pushes them away. What should she do and what does she have to do to leave state with the kids with no custody order in effect?

Thanks

In my view leaving with the kids is parental kidnapping.My advice : let she get separation and file for divorce immediately.
"He always has to know where she's going, what she's doing, who she's with, when she'll be back, and who she's talking to on the phone."-it is not a crime.