TAKING CUSTODY AWAY FROM MOM
Taking custody away from a Mom is the hardest work in Washington family law.
This is called a "major mod" (short for major modification of parenting plan).
The courts and the legislature don't want custody fight losers to keep coming back for more fighting, so they've made it very difficult to win a major mod.
In order to win a major mod, you have to win twice -- first you have to convince the court that there is "adequate cause" to set the case for trial. Then Mom gets until the trial to fix what's wrong with her parenting; if she can do this, you lose the trial. To win at trial, you need to convince the judge that Mom is still such a bad parent, the court needs to change custody to Dad.
Some major mods can be easy; for example, if Mom is sentenced to prison for many years, that's an easy case. But most take a lot of work; you have to get what I call "200% proof" -- 100% proof to win adequate cause, and then a different 100% proof to win at trial. A lot of work means expensive.
You should never start a fight you can't win. Don't start a major mod without "200% proof" and a big litigation budget.
I like major mods because I like taking kids away from bad parents and putting them in good homes. I also enjoy a challenge, and nothing in family law is more challenging than a major mod.
A Dad came to me once who wanted to take custody of two teenage girls away from their Mom; Mom had been primary residential parent since the girls were babies. He had already talked to six other top family law attorneys, all of whom told him it was impossible. I won for him, and I might be able to win a major mod for you -- but keep reading.
Here's a common situation, one where I do NOT recommend moving for a major mod.
Millions of Dads across America in fact are the primary -- or even the only -- residential parent, but they're still under court order to pay child support to Mom.
Dads in this position often come to me, asking me to represent them in a major mod.
But when you move to change custody in this situation, Mom will usually fight, because she doesn't want those "child" support checks to stop coming in every month.
The first thing she'll do is grab the kids back -- and now you don't have adequate cause anymore. You also don't have the kids anymore, so that's one reason not to move for a major mod.
The other reason is dollars and cents.
Especially when the kids are teenagers, or almost teen-aged, it doesn't make good financial sense to spend a lot more to take custody than you would save by not having to pay child support any more.
(Yeah, I know -- in theory, Mom is now supposed to pay child support to you . . . good luck with collecting that!)
You would pay ransom to a kidnapper to get your kids, wouldn't you? If you're a Dad who's lucky enough to have de facto custody of your kids, even though the court order gave custody to Mom, be glad you have this chance to pay ransom to Mom every month -- a lot of guys would gladly trade places with you.
You should fight for custody only if the kids are being abused or neglected at Mom's home, not because you don't want to pay child support.
Joshua Foreman Attorney at Law
call: (206) 524-5537