felony charges against custodial mother

[mojo1327]

My husband's ex wife has 4 pending 3rd degree felony charges against her, her docket day is April 29th. The charges are for 1xorganized fraud and 3xinsurance fraud, if she is convicted and gets jail time or if she strikes a plea deal, is my husband automatically informed by anyone associated with the court system? Do we need to file paperwork for his son to live with us IF she goes to jail?
They divorced 12 yrs ago after a tumultuous 3 yr marriage. She is the "custodial" parent, step son is 14, she is remarried and has another son, 6 yrs old. We were in court just over a year ago to get rotating custody, which we "settled" w/out going before the judge to save the son from testifying and being made to choose sides. We live in the same school district and only 10 mins apart so my step son would not have to change schools.

[Attorney Cheri Hobbs]

You will not be notified by the court system. I would contact the court to get the progress of the case. You can also file a Supplemental Petition to Modifiy Time-sharing and put the facts as stated above in there and request majority time-sharing (custody/visitation). You can also consider filing an Emergency Motion for Temporary Custody or something to this effect and alert the family law judge that your spouse should have the child now pending the outcome of the case etc. An emergency motion is the quickest way to get before the court. Definitely include the information about same school district etc.

Attorney Cheri Hobbs

[mojo1327]

Ok sounds good, now I already do check the status of her case by going into public records of the clerk of courts so I know her docket day is 4/29/10 and her personality lends itself to a jury trial, but regardless, if she is found guilty and sentenced or merely convicted with a fine, do you honestly think a judge would think 3rd degree felony charges would even warrant a custody change? We went before a judge last year w/contempt charges against her, but we came to a BS agreement so my stepson wouldn't have to testify. She had petitioned the court to allow him to testify, and we couldn't bring ourselves to put him into a position, where at the age of 12, he may say things he would later regret. Our lawyer had also informed us that the judge hearing the case almost always sided with the "professional's" opinion regardless of any evidence. She had petitioned for his counselor, who is also her counselor and who he conveniently started seeing 6 months before the case, to testify. Outside the judges chambers the counselor had informed us she was going to recommend no change, so we were doomed before we ever presented evidence of contempt, which we never did. We don't have money set aside for lawyer fees and truly didn't expect this issue to arise and considering the last out come we are very hesitant to hire a lawyer, so as many forms as we can file ourselves and DIY this latest issue the better. Thank you in advance for your help and opinion.

[Attorney Howard Iken]

You should only hire a lawyer if the end-result is important to you.

Yes, the felony charges and subsequent consequences can help you with a custody change.

Attorney Howard Iken
The Divorce Center
703 W. Bay Street
Tampa, FL 33606
813-774-4529

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