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503person · Jun 15, 2009, 08:09 AM

Hi

I filed for sole custody (with no visitation) of my son last year. His dad had tried to kidnap him after he had gone over to his house one weekend. I guess he was going to run off to Washington with him and hide him or something. His dad had been MIA for years so I had never bothered with the custody thing, but then he pulled that so I filed for custody. When I sent him the papers to allow him to contest it he didn't respond so I won by default. When I sent him the final papers with he order of judgment they came back saying "does not live at this address" so apparently he's moved. His number is also disconnected (I called it from payphone just to see if he still had it). So, this brings me to my question. In the custody papers, it states that I still have to give him 60 days notice before I move more than 30 miles from here. What happens if I want to move but I have no way to contact him? Should I even bother with it since he obviously has no desire to see him? If I do move and he does somehow find out about it what would happen to me if he went to court?

I think I shoud just write him off and move because I can't even contact him to tell him, but do I need to report that to the court somehow?

I am in Oregon.

stevetcg · Jun 15, 2009, 08:18 AM

Your best and legal bet would be to notify the court. They will instruct you as to how he needs to be notified. Last Known Address is usually sufficient especially since this is a technicality because it does not affect his visitation (he has none)

A call to the court clerk should solve this all pretty quick.

503person · Jun 15, 2009, 05:19 PM

Thanks a lot :)

Fr_Chuck · Jun 15, 2009, 05:48 PM

Yes if you don't try and contract him and show it to the court, he could even use your failure to try and force you to move back, or use it as a tool to try and go back for visits or other rights.

How is he sending child support, since that should have been in the order

503person · Jun 15, 2009, 07:11 PM

He's on SSD so we get a check for $50 a month from SSD dependent. I think that's what it's called. It's a government check though. Other than that he's not required to pay anything or provide insurance, he couldn't anyway because he is unemployed.

susangpyp · Jun 15, 2009, 07:38 PM

Check the requirements in your jurisdiction. Most require you to send a certified letter to their last known address or to a relative and then put a notice in the paper. You should definitely attempt to notify him and keep the letters if they come back.

timothy friel · Jun 16, 2009, 09:01 AM

File for a modificcation of the court order, request the court to enter summary judgement, and state the clame to the judge. But don't move if he does not know, it would be custody interference, another option, is post the notice in the news paper for one time a week for 4 weeks, that would be sufficient notice of intent.

susangpyp · Jun 16, 2009, 09:29 AM

I think you have all your terms mixed up. Summary Judgment is not the same as a judgment and I don't know what you mean by "state a clame [sic] to the judge." And I don't know what "notice of intent" means.

Each jurisdiction is different as far as notice goes. The newspaper notification is to satisfy notice and does in SOME jurisdictions. But others require a more pro-active approach such as sending letters to the last known address and/or the closest relative.

ScottGem · Jun 16, 2009, 12:31 PM

Originally Posted by timothy friel

file for a modificcation of the court order, request the court to enter summary judgement, and state the clame to the judge. but dont move if he does not know, it would be custody interference, another option, is post the notice in the news paper for one time a week for 4 weeks, that would be sufficent notice of intent.

There is no need for a modification of the court order since she got a default judgement awarding her full custody and no visitation. Also this means there could be no custodial interference.

The question was how can she comply with stipulation in the custody order for notification of moving. Generally all the courts want is a good faith effort.. In the OP's case sending a letter to the last know address would probably satisfy this requirement. All the OP needs to do is check with the Family Court clerk and ask what she needs to do to show a good faith effort.

Again I must caution you about the quality of the responses you have made.

503person · Jun 16, 2009, 07:38 PM

So just sending a certified letter to the last known address should be sufficient, and when it comes back returned I will definitely save that as proof that I actively tried to contact him. Also, I don't know where his closest relative is. His whole family lives in California somewhere. I'll also check with the family law clerk and make sure that I satisfy all requirements. Thanks so much for the good advice!

ScottGem · Jun 16, 2009, 07:51 PM

Originally Posted by 503person

so just sending a certified letter to the last known address should be sufficient, and when it comes back returned I will definitely save that as proof that I actively tried to contact him. Also, I don't know where his closest relative is. His whole family lives in California somewhere. I'll also check with the family law clerk and make sure that I satisfy all requirements. Thanks so much for the good advice!

I would say COULD be sufficient. Definitely check with the court.