Ask Me Help Desk - Custody in Illinois

My son resides in Illinois. He has an 8 month old daughter but has not been to court for custody or visitation yet due to financial constraints. His name is on the birth certificate. The mother is 17 years old and he is 18. They lived together for a short while over the summer but it did not work out. She got a consumption ticket and od'd on pills both while my son was gone and she had the baby with her. DCFS forced her to go live with her parents. She is now upset with my son and refuses to let him see the baby. When he is able to get an attorney... can he ask for drug testing to be done and is there a chance he would be able to get custody of his child if the mothers drug test comes back positive? The baby is with a sitter or my husband and I 5-7 days and nights per week(we live an hour away from our son and he comes to see the baby at our house without the mother knowing) while the mother goes out or works part time and goes to school during week.
My sons calls and/or texts the mother everyday to see the baby but so always responds "No, stop calling me"
Is there anything that can be done right now until we can get a custody/visitation order in place?

He can start the process by filing on his own. A judge can help facilitate a visitation schedule, but he needs to get a lawyer as soon as possible to file for custody, but the more he is doing now to help himself the better it will look when he files for custody.

First he needs to stop texting her, this could be considered harassment by the court, esp after she said not to.

What he does need to do is start the process, if he has no money have him go talk to legal aid

And to answer your question of can he request drug testing by court order the answer is yes. Since he can show history with the " ticket " she had received. That's enough to at least ask for one. And if she is positive on the test that could be grounds for greater visitation for your son it all depends on the mood of the court. Nothing is in stone and no one can actually do better then guess at the outcome.

My son resides in Illinois. He has an 8 month old daughter but has not been to court for custody or visitation yet due to financial constraints. His name is on the birth certificate. The mother is 17 years old and he is 18. They lived together for a short while over the summer but it did not work out. DCFS forced her to go live with her parents. She is now upset with my son and refuses to let him see the baby. If my son were to keep the baby after we had her,until a custody/visitation hearing were set in place, is that illegal?

Quote:

Originally Posted by reddawn

. If my son were to keep the baby after we had her,until a custody/visitation hearing were set in place, is that illegal?

Yes. Without a court ordered custody arrangement the mother is presumed to have full physical custody. Refusing to return the child to the mother would be kidnapping and would very much hurt your son's case for custody.

Unless the mother goes to court with an attorney, your son might not need one. If there is a law school in your area, see if he can get a law student to help prepare the petition. But if he goes into court pro se (without representation) the court will understand. Family court is not as structured and cases often are conducted without attorneys. But he needs to make sure his documentation is setup. He needs copies of the DCFS case files etc. He also needs to document the amount of time the child spends with you.

Now, I'm going to say that if they were living together there is going to be a presumption that they both did drugs together. So your son will need to voluntarily submit to drug testing as well.

If he is clean and can prove the mother's drug use, there is a good chance he can get physical custody.