OK here is my story I hope someone can help me on this, I had a child for my mother and she and her husband had him till he was 6 years of age and my mother left her husband to be with a woman and took my son with her and I saw that she wasn't doing right by him so I took him and placed him with his *daddy* (moms husband Jon)and then I was told by my son that jon kicked him out of the house and placed with jons parents and by this time the paper I had noterized for my mother had run out but I didn't know until it was the middle of this year so I left him there to finish his schooling and then I was going to go get him and file for custody but by the time school ended this woman had already filed for custody and she also filed for child support... and all of my sons life down there I had been in his life and I would go get him and bring him to my house and spend time with him, he knows he came from me and he knows who I am and he knows who his real father is too. What I am thinking is that these people are going for abandonment.. please tell me what I can do, if anything I want to try and get him here with me if possile... please help


Sincerely,

This is almost too complicated to answer and I have no idea what you signed, if it was filed, where it was filed.

If you want custody of your son, then get an Attorney and argue against the request filed by the person who has been raising him.

The Court will look at all parties and decide which is more stable, which is more financially able to provide for him, what is in the best interest of the child.

It sounds like there has been absolutely no stability in this child's life - and the Court will look at that, too.

I don't see abandonment here but, again, I don't know what you signed or where it was filed.

I signed a piece of paper for my mom giving her temperary guardianship of my son but the papers noterization expired 4 years ago and yes I want custody of my son I wanted him to finish school before I went and got him but they had already filed so as

A paper doesn't expire because a notary's commission expires - if that is what you are saying. The paper you signed does NOT expire unless there is a specific expiration date in the paperwork.

You are going to have to go to Court and fight the person who has filed for custody.

Yes, a notary is just a witness, it does not make a paper any more legal, only shows who signed it was checked.

A notary on a paper does not expire, it will be a valid notary 100 years from now. If there was a date on the paper, since as a temp guardianship that is a different issue.

And being frank, I am not sure what would be best for the child, you have played games with his parents like he was something to be traded.

First, please don't use the Reply button to post follow-up. We are experimenting with a new interface and there are still problems with it. Use the Answer This Question options instead.

I agree with Judy that your question is confusing. Part of the problem here is you are unclear as to what you actually did. Notarization means ONLY that someone confirmed that you were the person signing the document and attested to that effect. Such witnessing never expires.

Also, signing such a document may not have been fully legal. Guardianship and custody usually needs to be affirmed by a court. So just signing a paper without court approval may not have been enough.

Also abandonment is not an issue here, so don't worry about that.

It is not clear where the child is now or with who. You need to define that and explain how he came to be with these people.

But what you really need to do is go to Family Court and petition that you get custody back.

Just for clarification and I think people who post regularly on the legal boards know this but people who do not (and I've been asked this before) often believe that a document expires when the notary's commission expires - and this is simply not true. Once notarized, it's good forever (or until challenged if it was improperly notarized).

- just for clarificaiton.