Ask Me Help Desk - Child Abandonment Laws

I gave custody of my second child to my exhusband in our divorce because I could not support two children on my own at that time. We got back together about a month after our divorce. We had been together until recently. He was letting me see my son until two months ago. I have been trying to see my son repeatively for about two weeks now and he will not let me. He claims I have abanded him for two months. How long is it before it is considered abandonment in Arkansas? Some people have told me six months and others have told me a year. I have been searching the internet and can not find anything stating the law on abandonment in Arkansas. If anyone has advice on an exact website, please tell me! I am desperately searching.

That's becase you have been misinformed about what child abandonment is. Child abandonment is when you leave a child unattended, like if you left the kid at Walmart.

Why is he claiming you abandoned anyone? What is he trying to accomplish?

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevetcg

Thats becase you have been misinformed about what child abandonment is. Child abandonment is when you leave a child unattended, like if you left the kid at Walmart.

Why is he claiming you abandoned anyone? What is he trying to accomplish?

He is trying to say that since he has not allowed me to see my son in two months that I have abandoned him. I can hardly get ahold of him by phone because he has no home phone and his cellphone has evidently been shut off. I have been trying his work number for several days and he finally called me back yesterday. He is trying to make me look bad to everyone. Him and his new girlfriend are spreading a bunch of lies about me all around the community. He thinks that if he discredits me to everyone that he looks good and they willl believe it. He has always acted like he knew the laws, so that is why I am trying to find out exactly what the law states.

YEah... he doesn't know the law. Go to the local family court on Monday and file for custody and/or visitation. His whole line about you abandoning him is total BS and if anything, its him that is breaking the law keeping the child from you (parental kidnapping)

It doesn't matter what 'people' believe. Its what he can prove in court. A court is not going to be swayed by opinion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevetcg

YEah... he doesnt know the law. Go to the local family court on monday and file for custody and/or visitation. His whole line about you abandoning him is total BS and if anything, its him that is breaking the law keeping the child from you (parental kidnapping)

It doesnt matter what 'people' believe. Its what he can prove in court. A court is not going to be swayed by opinion.

Thanks! I didn't even think of it as parental kidnapping! I knew it was kind of like he was denying me my parental rights to visitation. I am in the process of gathering information that shows that I am a great mother to my other two children that live with me, that I have a more stable life than him, and witnesses to how his entire life has went on a extreme down hill. His bills are not getting paid, his girlfriend got pulled over with no drivers license and no child restrates for my son, he drives vehicles that are not in his name and most don't have insurance. He also is partical owner of a business that is being watched by the IRS because they don't pay their taxes.

First, there is a sticky at the top of this forum that deals with this issue. Had you read that you would have been better informed.

Second, this is NOT parental kidnapping. That occurs only when the child and a parent disappear without letting the other parent know where they are. Another factor of this is who has custody.

You said you "get back together" after the divorce, but you seemingly never remarried so this was not really getting back together. And now that he has a new girlfriend he is trying to get rid of you.

You indicated you gave custody to ONE of your children. Did a court affirm this arrangement? Was any visitation schedule set by the court?

All these factors are involved in determining what is legal here. But he cannot charge you with child abandonment, What he can try to do is eliminate any rights you have DUE to abandonment. Which means he would have to file a court petition to do so. This means a hearing where you can present your case. So you need to keep a journal of your attempts to see your son.

If you can supply additional info about the situation as I outlined, we may be able to help further.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottGem

First, there is a sticky at the top of this forum that deals with this issue. Had you read that you would have been better informed.

Second, this is NOT parental kidnapping. That occurs only when the child and a parent disappear without letting the other parent know where they are. Another factor of this is who has custody.

You said you "get back together" after the divorce, but you seemingly never remarried so this was not really getting back together. And now that he has a new girlfriend he is trying to get rid of you.

You indicated you gave custody to ONE of your children. Did a court affirm this arrangement? Was any visitation schedule set by the court?

All these factors are involved in determining what is legal here. But he cannot charge you with child abandonment, What he can try to do is eliminate any rights you have DUE to abandonment. Which means he would have to file a court petition to do so. This means a hearing where you can present your case. So you need to keep a journal of your attempts to see your son.

If you can supply additional info about the situation as I outlined, we may be able to help further.

I moved back in with my ex-husband after our divorce. We lived together and considered ourselves in a relationship, but we did not get remarried. I have currrently married my daughter's father.
In our divorce papers it states that I have reasonable seasonable supervised visitation. Which nobody will tell me exactly what that means either. My ex-husband stated that it meant whenever he said it was okay, but he only said that after I started dating someone. He was letting me get my son every other weekend, but he has no gotten upset with me and doesn't want to let me or anyone from my family see him. I am just trying to learn a little more about all of the laws, so I have a clear understanding of them.

Reasonable seasonal supervised visitation would mean something like alternating holidays and blocks of time during the summer. The supervised part is what bothers me most. Generally supervised visitation is ordered when the parent may be a danger to the child. You said you voluntarily gave him custody of one child while you retained custody of the other. If that's the case, I see no need for supervised visitation, so that part bothers me.

But, since the court ordered some sort of visitation, he cannot keep your son from you. If you can prove you have with him on alternating weekends for a period, then you should IMMEDIATELY go to court and request he be cited for contempt of court for not allowing visitation. Let him explain to a judge why he hasn't been allowing you visits.

But that really