I was wondering, my friend left her eight year old home alone (the neighbor's were coming downstairs to get her as soon as they got home), but before they could get her her daughter's dad had came and got her and took her away after calling the police to say that she was neglect. The mother she has custody and the dad has visitation every other weekend. Is there any way that he is able to take her daughter and not give her back without them going to court first, even though they don't have a court date over it? Any advice that I could give her would be great. Thanks

Well he did, so I guess he can, it is not what he can or can't DO, it is what is legal or not legal. If the court decides that leaving a 8 year old alone at home is neglect odds are the father will be praised by the court for his protecting of his child, and have a chance to get a high custody of the child.

If the court decides there is no problem with a 8 year old being alone at home, then the father can be found in contempt of the court order and will be ordered to return the child and most likely get a warning from the court for this, ** although they could do more.
So she has to file for an emergancy order to have child returned and a court date for him to be present in court with the child.

She might possibly better off leaving her with him until she has a better idea if there is any chance of Child Protective Services coming and taking her before the court date.
What did the police say? Did they contact CPS? What all was she told?
If they just gave her a warning and didn't contact CPS I would say she should be able to just get her back and not do anything to get in trouble again.

Not sure where you live but some states have laws on the books already about how old a child can be before being left alone. That's the first place to start.. find out what it is for your state / province you live in.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by califdadof3

Not sure where you live but some states have laws on the books already about how old a child can be before being left alone. Thats the first place to start .. find out what it is for your state / province you live in.

---

I just got involved in one of these cases, trying to prove leaving the child alone was not an every day thing, it was an emergency and so forth. CPS did step in.

The child is 12 and this is NYS.

And I often hear of 12 yr olds babysitting... with no problem. My CPS (late 1990's) workers said it depended on how mature, how long they are left and so forth.

I am not aware of specific laws in any state ( not saying there is not, just have never seen them)

The issues are that no one ever says anything, nothing happens, until something happens for example that 12 year old babysitting, no issue until a child is missing and then the parents get filed for allowing a child to watch their kids,