A lesbian couple have two children and are breaking up.She needs help with custody issues..?
They have been together 4 years.They have two 28 month old children.The biological mother is threatening the other by saying she'll take the kids and wont let her see them again if she leaves.the non biological mother wants to leave,but wants to be sure she still can be with her children to some extent.Her name is on the birth certificate and they have her last name. She's supported them financially their entire lives.Is there anything that can be done so she can get custody, joint custody or even visitation rights??
Answers:
It depends a lot on the state as someone said previously. We do not look at sexual orientation when awarding custody in my state and my partner and I represented 2 children in a similiar case that was affirmed in the court of appeals of my state. The non-biological mother got custody because she took the children to their doctor's appointments, went to the parent-teachers conference, stayed home from work when the kids were sick, that kind of stuff. Using a "best interest of the child" analysis, whichever parent was the primary caregiver gets custody. If the children were older, my state would allow them to privately express their wishes to the judge. If the non-biological parent has adopted them, she has equal rights. If your state follows the "parental rights" doctrice, children are considered property and the non-biological mom will lose.
It depends on the state.
Has she adopted them. If not, it will be really hard.
So you are saying that the nobiological mother is on the birth certificate somehow and they use her last name? Those certifactes will immediatly be ruled as invalid.... you are the parent or not.
The actual parent trumps all. Even if the other person can provide better the courts are generally not going to take children from a parent or feel inclined to grant visitation. And it has only been 4 years. This would be tough enough for a biological father to deal with. much less a gay couple. This is tough enough for a stepfather.. even if he supported the kids for ten years.
It needs to be looked at in a different way. Why would this other person threaten this? Why would your friend stand for it? The kids are only 28 months old so they will forget all of it. Maybe your friend needs to realize that she is going to lose in the end and focus on the why. Who would want to be in such a controlling situation? And you know... the soon to be ex can always pull out the classic.... now that I am a mother I have realized that my children need to not be exposed to a lesbian relationship. Of course the judge will go for that.
I read a few months ago where a couple was having the same issue. But the children were 6. The women finally got some visitation as the mother finally said fine.. after the other spent $100,000. Then it was appealed and visitation was dropped.
Best thing your friend can do is leave immediatly. The bio mother will be shocked that she actually did it and the power will shift to your friend. The mother will realize that control is not the key and feel horrible. She scoots and goes from there.
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Answers:
It depends a lot on the state as someone said previously. We do not look at sexual orientation when awarding custody in my state and my partner and I represented 2 children in a similiar case that was affirmed in the court of appeals of my state. The non-biological mother got custody because she took the children to their doctor's appointments, went to the parent-teachers conference, stayed home from work when the kids were sick, that kind of stuff. Using a "best interest of the child" analysis, whichever parent was the primary caregiver gets custody. If the children were older, my state would allow them to privately express their wishes to the judge. If the non-biological parent has adopted them, she has equal rights. If your state follows the "parental rights" doctrice, children are considered property and the non-biological mom will lose.
It depends on the state.
Has she adopted them. If not, it will be really hard.
So you are saying that the nobiological mother is on the birth certificate somehow and they use her last name? Those certifactes will immediatly be ruled as invalid.... you are the parent or not.
The actual parent trumps all. Even if the other person can provide better the courts are generally not going to take children from a parent or feel inclined to grant visitation. And it has only been 4 years. This would be tough enough for a biological father to deal with. much less a gay couple. This is tough enough for a stepfather.. even if he supported the kids for ten years.
It needs to be looked at in a different way. Why would this other person threaten this? Why would your friend stand for it? The kids are only 28 months old so they will forget all of it. Maybe your friend needs to realize that she is going to lose in the end and focus on the why. Who would want to be in such a controlling situation? And you know... the soon to be ex can always pull out the classic.... now that I am a mother I have realized that my children need to not be exposed to a lesbian relationship. Of course the judge will go for that.
I read a few months ago where a couple was having the same issue. But the children were 6. The women finally got some visitation as the mother finally said fine.. after the other spent $100,000. Then it was appealed and visitation was dropped.
Best thing your friend can do is leave immediatly. The bio mother will be shocked that she actually did it and the power will shift to your friend. The mother will realize that control is not the key and feel horrible. She scoots and goes from there.
The answers post by the user, for information only, FreeLawAnswer.com does not guarantee the right.
Answer question:
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