Child Custody

[ironwindow]

My daughter’s mother moved to Illinois last year at the end of July.

I have been trying to get the money together to get a lawyer but unfortunately I do not think I will be able to gather as much money as I need, so I am going to file on my own sans legal counsel.

My daughter’s mother claims she is going to come down in April and take her daughter away.

My first question is, can she legally do this?

My second questions is how do I go about keeping this from happening since I am going to be counsel-less.

I have heard of certain states having laws that deal with “child abandonment”, does North Carolina have a law geared towards this?

Thanks for any help. Any further advice that you can give that may not be addressed, will be extremely helpful.

[Erin_Clarey]

She cannot take your daughter to another state to live without your permission. If she attempts to do so you can and should file an action for emergency custody to prevent her from leaving (or force the child’s return if she is taken).
Her leaving the child with you to live elsewhere does not constitute abandonment.