Hello, I am writing on behalf of my boyfriend. Here is his situation: He has a 3 yr. old daughter with his ex-girlfriend. At the time, they both lived in FL. She has now moved to MA with the daughter. My boyfriend sends money each month - there has never been any court ordered custody or support payments. He did sign the Birth Certificate. However, recently, he received a letter from the State of MA stating they were suing him for child support because the mother is on welfare in MA. It also stated, If he was sending non-court ordered money, to stop sending money until ordered by the state.
He does go to MA to visit his little girl, however, there are many other factors - the mother is a prescription drug addict and an alcoholic. So, needless to say, the visits are few and usually end early because of her drunken outrages while he is there.
Also, while the mother and daughter were still living in FL, my boyfriend did contact Family Services because of the drunken states he would find the mother in with the little girl. Family Services made 2 or 3 surprise visits, the mother was sober, so the case was closed.
What can my boyfriend do? He does want custody of his daughter.

He should hire a lawyer and file a petition for custody. He has been pretty foolish for letting things go without court ordered support/custody.

He will need an atty to represent him in MA in the support issue as well. He also needs to get together his cancelled checks to prove he has been providing some support.

He needs to go to court and file a motion for custody. I'm not sure, but my guess is that Fla. Would still have jurisdiction so the place to do it would be in the Fla. Court system. Speak with an attorney to be sure. Be sure to share with him/her all correspondence received from both Fla. And MA.