Even though there is a custody agreement in place, your brother can always file for a change in custody if he can show a significant change in circumstances that affect the best interests of the children. It sounds like if she has been making them sleep on floors, not feeding them, hitting them and not complying with visitation, he may have some good grounds for changing custody! It also sounds, though, like she may have some things she will try to say about him, especially if she was able to obtain a 50b against him. The judge will listen to and weigh all the relevant factors and rule based on what s/he believes to be in the best interest of the children. Good luck to you and your brother!
-Amy
Amy K. Kirkhum
The Rosen Law Firm
4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 200
Raleigh, North Carolina 27607 NCdivorce.com
(919)787-6668
The response posted above is based upon the limited factual information made available and is not intended as a full and complete response to the question. The only reliable manner to obtain complete and adequate legal advice is to consult with an attorney, fully explain your situation, and allow the attorney sufficient opportunity to research the applicable law and facts required to render an accurate opinion. The basic information provided above is intended as a public service but a full discussion with an attorney should be undertaken before taking any action.
The children are my main concern, and they too should be the main concern of your brother and the children’s mother. To that end, I must toss in my opinion that whatever agreement the parties signed is not working now and will likely not work in the future. I would add that in my experience, many agreements which in effect leave the majority of visitation decisions up to one party or the other have little chance of working. The reason? Signing an agreement, by itself, solves nothing. Especially in the case of child custody/visitation, and especially if the agreement doesn’t spell out as specifically as possible who will have the children and when. Why? Because the parties were fighting about custody before the agreement, and the agreement many times changes nothing. In other words, many times the problem which led to the need for the agreement survives and rears its ugly head later. A signature on a piece of paper sometimes doesn’t change that reality. My advice to your brother is to consult with an attorney who is skilled in matters of domestic law, especially since these children may be in physical or emotional danger. The children matter more than the adults.
David L. McGuire
Attorney
The Rosen Law Firm
4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 200
Raleigh, North Carolina 27607 NCdivorce.com
(919)787-6668
The response posted above is based upon the limited factual information made available and is not intended as a full and complete response to the question. The only reliable manner to obtain complete and adequate legal advice is to consult with an attorney, fully explain your situation, and allow the attorney sufficient opportunity to research the applicable law and facts required to render an accurate opinion. The basic information provided above is intended as a public service but a full discussion with an attorney should be undertaken before taking any action.
I am looking for info …My brother has been separated for about 4 months and they agreed to sign custody papers without going to court over it. They signed the paper under the impression that it would be joint custody with him having every other weekend and for them to work out extra visitation. Now the problem comes to where now his soon to be ex wife wont let him have extra time with the kids and is very nasty. She has been reported to CPS for having the children sleep on the floor while she is living at someone else’s house not their own among not feeding them properly and taking care of bug bites and hitting them in the mouth. Constantly calling him at his job and harassing him when she took a 50-B out on him just to get the years separation to get a divorce. Yelling at them cause CPS spoke with the children and came to talk to her and the people she is living with. I mean this woman is even saying that they cant have clothes here cause that is against the custody order. Now have crazy is that?