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BEANIEBABY124 · Oct 29, 2009, 07:15 AM

I moved from CA to Texas three months ago. I left the father of my son due to his negligence and being unhappy. My son is 19 months old. There is no court papers, custody papers... Nothing. Was it illegal for me to leave the state with my son? There was no court order. He directly gave me papers but I was not served correctly so they are invalid. There was a court date but I was never served as I was supposed to have been. It would have to be law enforcement or someone other then the father of my son right? Please let me know because he keeps making threats that I will go to jail for kidnapping. There is also no paternity done, he did sign the birth certificate. Does he need a paternity test? Thank you.

stevetcg · Oct 29, 2009, 07:42 AM

If he gave you the papers, you were served. Direct service is perfectly legal. You currently have not kidnapped your child, but you may be compelled to return to CA with the child.

If he signed the birth certificate he is presumed to be the legal father and unless that is challenged, no test needs to be done.

There was a court date? Is it in the past? There may have been a default order issued against you and then you MAY be guilty of violating that. While kidnapping is always a possibility, most likely its just contempt of court at this point.

cdad · Oct 29, 2009, 01:20 PM

Originally Posted by stevetcg

If he gave you the papers, you were served. Direct service is perfectly legal. You currently have not kidnapped your child, but you may be compelled to return to CA with the child.

If he signed the birth certificate he is presumed to be the legal father and unless that is challenged, no test needs to be done.

There was a court date? Is it in the past? There may have been a default order issued against you and then you MAY be guilty of violating that. While kidnapping is always a possibility, most likely its just contempt of court at this point.

I hate to disagree but many states do not allow direct service of a summons to appear. It usually has to be done by a third party. In Calif that's the way its suppose to be or service by mail with a witness. The problem is that if the courts aren't notified and illegal service isn't used as a defence and they just don't show up the will lose all the way around.

Maybe the honorable Judy can come take the bench and preach a bit on this one shortly.

stevetcg · Oct 29, 2009, 01:31 PM

However, even in states where its not legal service, its only an argument to get the current default judgment vacated and nothing more. It's a delaying tactic. And frankly, if the op tells the judge that she knew about the court hearing, he is going to be P.Od that she is using the illegal service argument. It's a delaying tactic and a total waste of the court's time.

cdad · Oct 29, 2009, 01:34 PM

Originally Posted by stevetcg

However, even in states where its not legal service, its only an arguement to get the current default judgment vacated and nothing more. Its a delaying tactic. And frankly, if the op tells the judge that she knew about the court hearing, he is going to be P.Od that she is using the illegal service arguement. Its a delaying tactic and a total waste of the court's time.

I just was trying to clarify that in the OP's case if its out of Calif the service wasn't legal but as both you and I have said it still needs to be dealt with.