My son has lived with his father since he was 7 and is now 13. His father has been arrested twice within the last 3 years on drug related charges. There has never been a custody agreement. I want to get my son out of this situation. Can I legally remove him from his dad's care in Indiana, even though I live in Ohio? I was reading that as long as a child was born in Ohio to an unmarried mother, the mother has legal custody of that child. I am uncertain how this works since he has not lived with me for almost 7 years. Any ideas?

Possession is 9/10ths of the law. If we were talking about an infant that would be a different story. But your son has lived with his father for 6 years. The court would recognize this as defacto custody. I would not advise just taking the child as there could be serious legal consequences.

I would get an attorney and file for custody.

If he has been recognized as the legal father, then he has the same custody rights that you do, married or not. Since he now has custody of your son, it would take a court order to change that against his will.

I completely agree with Scott that you'll want an attorney to begin this process.

You will have to do it though court at this point. Also remember the child may not even want to go with you.