Can I gain full custody or have the agreement modified if the father hasn't been taking care of our child? 38 Answers as of January 09, 2012

In Texas, custody and possession have nothing to do with one another. If you have a 50/50 possession schedule and your ex cannot and is not doing his part, that would certainly be a material change in circumstance supporting a modification of the possession schedule (and an increase in child support if he is paying at a reduced rate). If you don't use it, you may lose it.

Of course you can have the prior agreement modified. But you will need to go to court and I suggest you get an attorney to help. Hopefully you have kept good records and be able to prove Dad's failure to exercise the visitation that he has.

It is possible to modify a Custody Order upon a showing of a substantial change in circumstances and if a change would be in the best interest of the child. A change in schedule for a year sounds like a substantial change in circumstances.

You can file papers with the family law court to have a mediator look and the situation and decide whether full legal and physical custody will be in the best interests of your child.

If he fails to be there all the time, yes, you could file a motion to modify the custody orders and seek primary care.

Custody issues are always subject to the review of the court upon a showing of a material change in circumstances. If your son's father is not abiding by the terms of the agreement, you can file a motion to modify custody and request that you be awarded sole custody. The court would make its determination based on what is in the child's best interest. I would encourage you to consult with an experienced family law attorney to fully discuss your case.

It sounds like you do have grounds for a modification of the current custody order. Seek and retain a lawyer to represent you in a custody modification case.

In order to modify the current order, you need to file a petition to modify the parentign plan based upon a substantial change of circumsatcnes. Unfortunatelty, there is no magic formula to determine what constitues a substantila change in circumstances as each case is different.It is up to the Judge to deterrmine if the modification should be allowed based upon the evidence supploed by the moving party.

Yes, you can file a Complaint for Modification seeking sole physical custody of your son with visitation to father, if he wants it. You will have to include in your complaint that there is a material change in circumstances from what existed at the time of the previous order concerning custody. The material change in circumstances will be that father has not been co-parenting according to the original order and his behavior and actions have resulted in you having sole physical custody of your son since last January.

You have a basis to request the Court to modify the current orders.

In Colo the term "full custody" is meaningless by itself, so it isn't possible to properly address your question. But, having a court give you total and unlimited control simply because father isn't doing what you want him to do is not a likely result. The real question, however, seems to require an understanding of what you really want to change. It sounds like you simply want a court to say to father, "since you haven't taken care of your child very much in the past, we won't let you do anything in the future". And, that sounds more like punishment than anything that will benefit the child. As a practically matter, what benefit results from changing the current court order - other than your own ego and sense of being in charge? You need to concentrate on what specific changes in the current order that you want before anyone can say whether those are realistic expectations. Since there isn't much you or a court can do to force the father to get involved, it would seem that modifying the order would just be a waste of time, effort and possibly money.

If he literally has not seen the child since January 2010, you could consider seeking to terminate his parental rights under the grounds of abandonment. Alternatively, you could seek sole physical custody and legal custody based upon the same allegations.

Your situation clearly justifies a return to court to rearrange the parenting plan so the timeshare is more workable.

In California after a final Judgment you have to show a change of circumstances to change custody. From the facts you have given they would be a change of circumstances because he has not been exercising his parental time. As a result, based on the limited information you have given, you should be able to get a modification of the custody.

You can always seek to modify visitation so that it is based on the schedule agreed to by the parents.

It is unclear from you question whether your "agreement" re the residential schedule of your son is in the form of a Court Order. If it is in the form of an Order (called a Parenting Plan in Washington state), you must file with the court a Petition for Modification of the Parenting Plan based on father's voluntary relinquishment of the 50/50 schedule for the past 12 month period.

You do not say whether you have a parenting agreement or a consent order for custody which has been entered with the court. If so you can file for modification based on a "change of circumstances" which has to be proven in order for the court to hear your matter. The "change of circumstances" must be related to the best interests of the child. In your case the change is the father's failing to fulfill the time allotted to him to be with his child. The fact that he lives in another county (if this was not the case originally) may also be a factor and the courts like the parents to live in close proximity to each other in a shared custody situation, so the child spends less time in the car being driven to school.

You should file a motion to modify custody and parenting time. If the child has lived primarily with you for a year, the court will probably grant your request.

Yes, given the facts you stated, you can file a custody modification motion to modify physical custody (i.e., timeshare). As for legal custody, more facts would be needed to advise on whether it would be likely to gain sole legal custody. Best to hire a local family law lawyer to help you.

Without an agreement you will have to file a motion with the court to modify the parenting arrangement. It sounds like you have a good case.

It's impossible to say what the chances are of your request being successful. However, you are within your rights to request a modification. The only restrictions are that 1) you cannot file a request for modification if you've filed one within the past two years; and 2) you must be able to show a change of circumstances, since the most recent order, that makes a modification necessary. The decision regarding custody will then be made based on what is in the child's best interest.

A parent can modify custody if there is a material change of circumstances. The other parent's failure to exercise his custodial time would be a change of circumstances necessitating a modification.

In Georgia, in order to have a custodial agreement modified, you must first present a substantial change in circumstances from the time the custodial arrangement was first put in place. Then, you have to convince the Court that it would be in the child's best interest for the custody agreement to be modified.

Yes, you can file to have the custody and visitation modified. However, unless there are exceptional circumstances, courts don't like to see these filed within 2 years of either the original order or the last modification action. It would be a good idea to discuss all your options with an attorney.

It may be possible to modify custody under Minnesota Statutes if the child has been fully integrated into one parent's custodial home with the other parent's consent. There certainly seems to be a strong argument in that regard based on your inquiry.

Yes, you can file for a modification and ask for sole custody. The petition to modify is filed with the court and outlines the "contining and substantial change in circumstances" which you feel warrant the modification.

It's not clear if you have a parenting plan or not. If not, your request is reasonable and probably likely outcome if you go to court. If you do have a plan, his lack of care for such along time is probably a basis to modify your existing plan.

If your child's father will not agree to this, then you must ask the Court to order this. The judge will have to decide if that is the best thing to do for your son. This area of law is complicated, and you will want to plan this carefully.