Friday, November 11, 2011

Florida child custody advice!?

I am in need of legal advice, my daughter is 19months old me and her father have never been married. He was very mentally and verbally abusive throughout my pregnancy. most of it he was not around, but when my daughter was born he popped up and convinced me he wanted to be around and do the right thing i have him that chance and we ended up moving in with him during that time he continued the mentally and verbal abuse. He did drugs, drank alot and this caused many fights i told him it had to stop or i was leaving... well in July of last year my daughter got very sick and was hospitalized, her father (i was still iving with) abandoned me at the hospital refused to come visit, bring me clothes or money to eat. While in there he decided it was best for us to leave, so i consented to moving out not like i had a choice since he packed up our stuff and put it out on the carport. After that i attempted to contact him and was told he would not give me any money to help with her until a judge ordered it and would not see her until a judge ordered that as well. That was all i heard until he was ordered to pay child support, he made two very weak attempts to see her inwhich the conversation ended up in him screaming and becoming verbally abusive once again. that was january 09 i heard nothing else until July 09 when i was served with a petition for visitation. when i recieved that i contacted him and agreed to voluntarily let him see his daughter everything was find we went to court and the judge said we should fill out a parenting plan but i have not recieved that from his lawyer or recieved anything in the mail. There is nothing in the courts as to visitation. I have continued to let him see her but, he is becoming verbally abusive again, refuses to come and get her, i drive her there i usually pick her up. I had to go out and find the things she needs while she is there (crib and carseat) i have to bring her things there that she needs as they refuse to buy them. I feel i have gone out of my way to help him be a part of her life... but recently he is becoming difficult to deal with, he is insisting on him having her every weekend for the entire weekend. He refuses to call me, instead has his moom call unless its to scream at me than he calls. Last weekend was the second time i let her stay the night, she came home dirty, smelling of dog urine, she seemed traumatized, and had a bruise on the back of her leg that appeared to be finger prints. it has been brought to my attention that he does drugs, his dad sells them out of the house, and he has guns (do not know if they are legal or not). With this information my question is... Do i legally have to let her go over there since there is no court order? and if i do does he legally have to give her back to me? Would any of this information hold up in court trying to get limited visitation between him and her? I am going to file for Sole custody, is that something that is generally granted or is there a chance there could be another ruling and what might that be? I am petrified of him getting frequent visitation she has gone there twice without me present and has come back in very bad shape. His aggresiveness and the fact that he just keeps pushing and pushing and i feel as if he is no longer thinking of her best intereast instead it seems as if he is doing this because he is paying. He has actually stated that before (if im gonna pay child support i wanna see the kid). I strongly feel its not in her best intereast at this age to be there for over night visits and i really do not believe she is ok there unsupervised. I am afraid of the drug use, guns and his behavior as a whole. the only reason i consented to letting her go is because i was trying to do the right thing and his mom stated she would stay around and her visits would be solely in her care, but i have seen that is not happening and even in her care she is coming back bruised, hungry, acting very odd, smelly, and dirty. What are my rights?? does anyone know of any legal help that isn't legal aid that could help me in this case or give me legal advice as to what direction i could go. I want to do what is best for my daughter. she's too young to have a voice, i can merely go off of the person i knwo he is, how she returns to me. Any help is appreciated!

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