[jenni_k]

My daughter just turned 1yr old on September 22nd. Her father left on January 16th of this year and has returned only for scheduled court hearings here in Wyoming. He did not physically see her during those times. Her father did make a few calls to check on her in the beginning of the year but has not made any phone calls since that time. He has not made any sort of effort nor initiated contact with her since the beginning of this year and he is now dealing with the court systems in Colorado. My questions are: How long does it take for a child to be considered abandoned? And even though he knows the town we live in does that still account for some kind considered contact through the courts eyes? And last, Is there anything i can do to make sure my daughter is safe from being taken by her father at any given time? (question being asked because of previous threats of taking her without permission.) Thank u for your time...

[ScottGem]

First, what do you think proving abandonment will get you? I doubt you could prove it but even if you do I don't know what you think it will get you.

Second, to keep your daughter safe, you need to first get a court order that limit visitation to supervised visits. You also have to alert any caregivers that care for your daughter not to turn her over to him.

[s_cianci]

Is there any type of custody or visitation order in place? If there's no custody order, then there's nothing to keep her father from taking her. And if there's no visitation order then you really can't claim that he's "abandoned" her since he's had no means by which to visit and have contact with her.