My ex and I have never been married. When we split up, I left him and I was not financially stable and my family was not able to help me financially. My ex's family was willing to help him financially, so the best choice at the time was to leave my 2 daughters in the custody of their father. However, custody has never been legally determined by a court or any type of paperwork. 2 years later...during this time I have moved 150 miles away to another state, I have kept in contact with my daughters every week by phone calls and have made effort to visit them every couple of months whenever I have the money to travel there. I have bought them clothes and asked my ex every chance I had extra money if they needed anything at that time. My ex has moved in with his parents with my daughters and I have gotten remarried (almost 2 years now) and have a little boy with my husband who is 8 months old. Now, me and my husband are financially stable, both have jobs and take good care of our son. My children do not have their own rooms where they live, my oldest daughter (5) sleeps with her grandparents, my children are allowed to stay up until all hours of the night, and I have reason to believe my children have not been kept up to date on doctor visits or immunization shots. Me and my husband believe that it would be in their best interest to come and live with us. I want to file for full custody. What I want to know is if anybody believes I have a chance. I live in a three bedroom and have plenty of room for my daughters to have their own room and own beds and my son is completely up to date on everything medical. Me and my husband support ourselves while my ex lives with his parents and sometimes doesn't even have enough money to come home. Does anyone think I have a chance at custody? Please respond back.

Nobody here can tell tell you what chance you have of getting custody, but I can tell you that you that you will need a lawyer.
I am guessing that you will have a hard time getting custody, since you left them behind and moved 150 miles away. I am not sure what the laws are where the kids live are about living conditions, but immunizations are not mandatory, with the exceptions of two states. Not being up to date on the recomended immunizations is not even a issue.

I don't even want to think of the psychological consequences of the children being left behind by their mother.

The MA courts are all about what's best for the children. You couldn't provide for them, you got your act together and it sounds like you can provide a more stable environment than their father can. I think you have a chance.

Win, lose or draw, I think for their psychological well being, the kids need to know you at least tried.

Thank you for replying. Everyone hits hard times and I did for a long time, and no, it wasn't because of drugs or alcohol or anything else like that. I lost my job and didn't feel I could give them everything they needed at that time and I was not going to make my children sacrafice because of that. I want what is best for them and they tell me every week when we talk on the phone how much they love me and I tell them how much I love them and miss them, they have a relationship with me. Now I can provide for them, and you're right, I will try and do whatever it takes. Thanks again for replying.

My ex and I have never been married. When we split up, I left him and I was not financially stable and my family was not able to help me financially. My ex's family was willing to help him financially, so the best choice at the time was to leave my 2 daughters in the custody of their father. However, custody has never been legally determined by a court or any type of paperwork. 2 years later...during this time I have moved 150 miles away to another state, I have kept in contact with my daughters every week by phone calls and have made effort to visit them every couple of months whenever I have the money to travel there. I have bought them clothes and asked my ex every chance I had extra money if they needed anything at that time. My ex has moved in with his parents with my daughters and I have gotten remarried (almost 2 years now) and have a little boy with my husband who is 8 months old. Now, me and my husband are financially stable, both have jobs and take good care of our son. My children do not have their own rooms where they live, my oldest daughter (5) sleeps with her grandparents, my children are allowed to stay up until all hours of the night, and I have reason to believe my children have not been kept up to date on doctor visits or immunization shots. Me and my husband believe that it would be in their best interest to come and live with us. I want to file for full custody. What I want to know is if anybody believes I have a chance. I live in a three bedroom and have plenty of room for my daughters to have their own room and own beds and my son is completely up to date on everything medical. Me and my husband support ourselves while my ex lives with his parents and sometimes doesn't even have enough money to come home. Does anyone think I have a chance at custody? Please respond back.

As another poster said, you really need to hire an attorney to have even any chance at all. It will most likely be expensive, but will be worth it to have a court order of any kind that spells things out legally.

At least in my case the courts also took my criminal background and relationship with my finacee's son and the relationship my daughter (his half sister) and him had into account before giving physical custody to him. In Minnesota that fits into the "best interest" equation (closeness of the family). I think it not only important for you to have maintained a relationship with your daughters but also your new husband and your son. If you think about it these are the people that you are also asking the courts to have your daughters live with.

I agree with the last post, the people who have my daughters do love them, I never doubted that. I do, however, believe that there are things that are important for my daughter's well being (Ex. school, regular check-ups, normal sleep schedules, etc..) I never said I wanted to take my daughters completely away from his father and family, I simply believe I am more responsible to make better decisions for them. Anyway, thank you everyone for your replies, they are very appreciated. This is going to be a drawn out situation and I am consulting a family lawyer and in the end only the court will decide what is right for my children.