Mother Arrested After Defying Child Custody Order

Mother Arrested After Defying Child Custody Order

On behalf of Edwards & Associates posted in Custody on Tuesday, November 9, 2010

A mother had lost custody over her 1-year-old daughter. She was ordered to turn the baby girl over to the child's father. She chose instead to make a run for it. Her plan was to pick up her other child at daycare and leave the area, but the daycare staff became suspicious and alerted authorities.

Monday morning, the mother was arrested and charged with interfering with the child custody rights of the child's father. The child, unharmed, is now being cared for by her father.

Child custody can be a highly emotional issue for obvious reasons. But, it is unfortunate the lengths some people will go in child custody fights. In this case, the mother could not or would not accept a court order and instead took the law into her own hands. Had she been successful in her attempt, she might have been committing parental kidnapping and would have prevented her baby from having her father in her life. Since she was thwarted in her attempt, she is being held in jail without bail and has greatly damaged any chance she had of regaining custody.

As this story illustrates, when a court makes a decision in the other party's favor, taking matters into your own hands is highly self-destructive. When a decision goes against you, experienced family law attorneys understand that child custody decisions are always subject to modification.

If a parent can show there has been a substantial change in circumstances that affects the welfare of the child, then the courts are willing to modify child custody orders. Some factors that can contribute to a change in circumstances include one parent moving, a change in a parent's life style, or the wishes of the child. Family law judges do have a great deal of discretion in making child custody decisions, and the process of obtaining or modifying a child custody order can seem confusing, but experienced family law attorneys are available to help.

Source: TBO.com: Pasco mom arrested after abducting daughter, authorities say; 11/8/2010