Type of Case: Emergency Custody Granted to Third-Party
Case Result: The client was given exclusive legal and physical custody of both children. The opposing party was not given any visitation at this time.
County: Forsyth County
A client rushed to retain our firm for help getting two children back in her custody immediately. Our family law team, which handles emergency custody cases regularly, quickly met with the client and proceeded to file an emergency ex parte custody motion with the court. But, not before overcoming a few legal challenges along the way.
Visitation Goes Wrong
The client had been granted Intervenor status. She had cared for the children full-time in her home as their primary caregiver for the past two years. The opposing party, in this case, was the biological mother who had an existing visitation schedule with the children. During the last visitation, the mother took the children from the premises of supervised visitation and fled with them. The visitation supervisor, a relative, refused to tell our client where the mother and children were staying. Law Enforcement got involved but would not let our client know their whereabouts or return them to her custody. It was becoming an increasingly stressful situation for our client. That’s when Dummit Fradin stepped in.
Filing an Emergency Ex Parte Motion
After our client’s unsuccessful attempts to locate and regain custody of the children, our team filed an emergency ex parte motion for custody. With the emergency custody order granted along with a warrant for a law enforcement officer to find and pick up the children, our client could finally breathe again. The children were found after four days with minor injuries that required immediate medical treatment.
Next, we helped our client prepare for the ten-day return hearing. Our client was nervous about testifying in court. So, our attorney worked with her so that she knew what to expect. At the hearing, she had the challenge of cross-examining the mother. The mother claimed she had no knowledge about the proceedings and adamantly denied absconding with the children.
Emergency Custody Granted
Despite the mother’s testimony, the judge ordered that there was an emergency and commented that it was lucky the children were found when they were. The judge then took the time to clearly explain to our client in court what her rights were (sole legal and physical custody). In addition, the judge removed any right to visitation for the mother.
The situation our client faced was not easy. One of the biggest challenges was actually finding the children. The client was not given any addresses of where the mother could be. However, contacting some of the mother’s contacts and obtaining a redacted police report from the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office eventually uncovered a few leads.
It was also very advantageous that our client retained our services promptly after the children were taken. If she had not acted quickly, she could have lost her status as an Intervenor in the custody action. She could have been ordered to resume custody visitation with the mother even though it was clearly a dangerous environment. Not to mention, the mother already showed that she was a flight risk.
Fortunately, the Forsyth County court system sided with our client in this emergency custody case. Our client will be able to retain full custody of the children and continue parenting them as she had been doing. She won’t have to live with the fear that they will be removed from her care and put in harm’s way again.
Are you Third-Party Intervenor in a Custody Action?
If you’re facing a similar emergency situation, do not wait to reach out to an attorney. The act of waiting too long to file hinders a parent or guardian who has serious concerns and fears about the welfare of the children with a person who is unfit in some way.
Our Family Law Attorney also recommends to “always get written address and working phone numbers for everyone who will be spending time in or around your children. Make clear your expectations about the parameters of appropriate visitation beforehand and in writing, confirmed and agreed to by the other person(s).”
Contact our family law attorneys if you believe your situation calls for an emergency custody order. We have offices in Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and High Point.