In 2008 I fought my ex wife on taking my kids out of state,I won the battle but then let my kids talk me into letting them go,now my 13 yr old son after 2 yrs wants to move in with me,his mom is refusing to let him, he says his older sister is hitting him all the time and his mom is never home constantly leaving him home alone while she works and goes out do I have any legal standing in this matter could I get custody of my son. She also half the time won't let me speak to them,she is constantly putting me down to the kids,I can't even talk to her on phone without her calling me every name in the book. All this is just making my son depressed he is now on adhd medication,and my oldest daughter has totally turned against me telling me now she wished I was dead.we had a great relationship when they lived here and now she hates please tell me what my options are they live in Florida I live in Ohio

Curious to hear the answer to this for Ohio... I know in the state of NY you can, or she would lose custody of them... personal experience with an ex-girlfriend years ago... She had to move back to NY from MD or her ex-would get gain full custody when she had it before.

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Originally Posted by heartbrokendad

in 2008 i fought my ex wife on taking my kids out of state,i won the battle but then let my kids talk me into letting them go,now my 13 yr old son after 2 yrs wants to move in with me,his mom is refusing to let him, he says his older sister is hitting him all the time and his mom is never home constantly leaving him home alone while she works and goes out do I have any legal standing in this matter could i get custody of my son. She also half the time won't let me speak to them,she is constantly putting me down to the kids,I can't even talk to her on phone without her calling me every name in the book. All this is just making my son depressed he is now on adhd medication,and my oldest daughter has totally turned against me telling me now she wished i was dead.we had a great relationship when they lived here and now she hates please tell me what my options are they live in florida i live in ohio

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Why would you fight for something just to give in after winning? That makes no sense at all. Were you fighting because you believed the move would be detrimental to them, or was it just to spite your ex? If you really thought the move was not to their benefit, you had absolutely no reason to allow it after the judge granted your request because s/he obviously agreed that the children should not move.

How old are the children? Why do you state that you only want custody of your son and not your other child(ren)? At 13 years old, your son is old enough to take care of himself while his mother is at work. Are the children not being cared for or abused?

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Originally Posted by smoothy

Curious to hear the answer to this for Ohio.....

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Actually, the OP says the kids are in Florida. Since they have been there for two years, an action to change custody would have to be filed in Florida, not Ohio.

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Originally Posted by AK lawyer

Actually, the OP says the kids are in Florida. Since they have been there for two years, an action to change custody would have to be filed in Florida, not Ohio.

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If Ohio is the originating state and the Op still resides in that state then it remains there.

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Originally Posted by califdadof3

If Ohio is the originating state and the Op still resides in that state then it remains there.

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I was wrong. You are probably right. Assuming that the OP has always been in Ohio, the original decree was done there, and that jurisdiction remains in Ohio according to the terms of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction And Enforcement Act.

I was fighting because I didn't want them to go,I have never been away from them nor them me,but I let them talk me into it they thought they would like it. My son is the one that wants to move back in with me he has always been daddy's boy

The girls the one is 17 she loves it there the other is 12 and she is not sure what she wants there mom leaves them all the time while she goes and gets drunk,the oldest girl is hitting on my son because he takes up for me

Their mother works till 1-2 am and the oldest girl is out running the two youngest are home alone and I feel at that time of night they should not be left alone.

Yes all divorce and custody issues were dealt with here in Ohio,then she moved to Florida

First, please don't use the Comments feature to post followups. Use the Answer options instead.

You asked whether you could "get custody" or had "legal standing". This confuses me. The original divorce decree should have established custody and legal standing. If you won the battle to prevent them from moving that affirms you have, at least, joint legal custody. Letting them move wouldn't change that, so I wonder about this.

For you to have won that battle, you must have had a visitation schedule that you couldn't continue with if she moved. When you allowed the move, did you agree to any change in that schedule?

But the bottom line here is you should be able to apply to the court for primary physical custody of your son. Despite the fact that you allowed the move, if you have kept in contact and supported the children you have a good chance of getting it, especially if he wants it. While 13 is young for the courts to put much weight on his preference, the circumstances you describe may help. But you only know if you try. So file for a modification.

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

... Despite the fact that you allowed the move, if you have kept in contact and supported the children you have a good chance of getting it, especially if he wants it. ...

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It appears that you allowed the kids to stay with your ex despite the fact that your decree gave you primary physical custody. If this is the case, if there was never any formal modification of the custody order, you might simply ask that the original order be now enforced. In other words, no change to the actual order is actually needed.

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Originally Posted by AK lawyer

It appears that you allowed the kids to stay with your ex despite the fact that your decree gave you primary physical custody. If this is the case, if there was never any formal modification of the custody order, you might simply ask that the original order be now enforced. In other words, no change to the actual order is actually needed.

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He stated his exwife wanted to move in 2008 and was trying to take the children with her, which implies that she was/is the custodial parent; he fought that in court and the judge denied her request to relocate. He later gave in, let her relocate and take the children with her - now he wants to know how he can undo what's been done.

So yes, a change to the order is needed. He doesn't have primary custody and he now wants it. He can't "enforce" something he threw out the window(the denial for her to move).

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Originally Posted by this8384

He stated his exwife wanted to move in 2008 and was trying to take the children with her, which implies that she was/is the custodial parent; he fought that in court and the judge denied her request to relocate. He later gave in, let her relocate and take the children with her - now he wants to know how he can undo what's been done.

So yes, a change to the order is needed. He doesn't have primary custody and he now wants it. He can't "enforce" something he threw out the window(the denial for her to move).

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Clould be, but probably they simply did what the parents and kids all agreed to do. Usually folks don't pay big bucks to lawyers if they don't absolutely have to. I'm guessing that's what happened here. If OP comes back perhaps he will tell us.