Ask Me Help Desk - Child Abandonement

My husband at the time has custody of my child and I am currently paying child support
1. he is the biological father to my child
2.he has custody of my child
3.he dropped my child of at my mothers home 3 months ago
4.He has not called nor in any way contacted the child since
5.He has taken my child support every week and kept for his self rather than giving it to my mother whom is raisin my child
6.Our court papers state that the child is not to be in any other care but the fathers and he is not abiding by court order
I guess what Im asking is do I have any grounds or at least my mother does she have any grounds to get custody and how long with out seeing a child with out it being abandonement?

I think you and your mother need to go back to the child support court and tell them to cut off the child support because he left your child with your mother 3 months ago and is spending the money on himself. Then your mother (if you and her agree that she wants the child) tell them she wishes to raise your child.

NOhelp is right, you've got to report this immediately!

Yes report it! It can not be considered abandonment because that would mean leaving the child uncared for. Luckily for the kid he left them with the grandmother. Once you report it you with your mom's help can not only stop the support being paid to him but also ask for him to be charged with contempt because your papers state that the child is to be in his care.

There is frequently a misunderstanding about abandonment that is cleared up if one reads the threads in this forum. Abandonment occurs when someone leaves a child uncared for. So this is not a case of abandonment.

What it IS a case of violationg of the custody agreement. After the first I would have been in court asking for a modifivation of the custody/support agreement since he is no longer caring for the child.

Child abandonment can be described as follows: A parent's failure to provide any financial assistance to or communicate with his or her child over a period. When this happens, a court may deem the child abandoned by that parent and order that person's parental rights terminated. Abandonment also describes situations in which a child is physically abandoned -- for example, left on a doorstep, delivered to a hospital or put in a trash can. Physically abandoned children are usually placed in orphanages and made available for adoption.

So TECHNICALLY, yes, this could be considered child abandonment, or at least an abandonment of his parental responsibilities. What will matter the most in this are the laws in your area regarding such matters.

The previous posters are correct in that you need to go back to court and report what has happened and let the court either modify it's previous order or issue a new order for support and custody.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Izannah

Child abandonment can be described as follows: A parent's failure to provide any financial assistance to or communicate with his or her child over a period of time. When this happens, a court may deem the child abandoned by that parent and order that person's parental rights terminated. Abandonment also describes situations in which a child is physically abandoned -- for example, left on a doorstep, delivered to a hospital or put in a trash can. Physically abandoned children are usually placed in orphanages and made available for adoption.

So TECHNICALLY, yes, this could be considered child abandonment, or at least an abandonment of his parental responsibilities. What will matter the most in this are the laws in your area regarding such matters.

The previous posters are correct in that you need to go back to court and report what has happened and let the court either modify it's previous order or issue a new order for support and custody.

Could you post a site for the "Child abandonment can be described as follows ..." quote? I have never seen this legal definition before.

Of course, the definition does vary from State to State but I can't locate this particular definition and it is not the definition I "usually" quote or see quoted.