My 13 year old son was kicked out of his moms house after she was unable to place him in an orphanage/group home. He is not a bad kid and has never been in trouble with the law. He was sent to live with a family member and when I found out I went and picked him up and he has been with me ever since. Every time he speaks with her on the phone she upsets him so much it takes me a couple of hours to calm him down. My question is By kicking him out is she guilty of abandonment? Note: she sees him about once a month for an hour or two.

Welcome to AMHD. She may be guilty of something. Does she have others? And, what state?

Most likely, and several other issues, ( assuming she has legal custody)

So you need to file for full custody of the child, and can also ask for child support

To the best of my knowledge she does not have any other children. We have joint custody and she is currently the custodial parent. I intend to file for sole custody and child support by state guidelines. It should be noted that I was not always a good involved dad but thought I was doing right by my son and always paid my support.

As we have seen many times on this board situations can go to the extreme rather quickly. You need to make that filing right away because depending how your papers are currently written then she in theory could show up at your door with police and take him from you. You need to be aware of that so Im not sure if when you file you can get emergency orders in place.

Go for custody and child support ASAP, as I think it odd she would not call you before placing him elsewhere. What's up with that?