I am in the US Army. I have 2 boys. Their mother & I have joint legal custody. The mother had primary care after our divorce in 1998 in Riverside, CA. I have re-married & was sent on a 3-year tour to Germany in Jan 2001. That very month, she had to send the boys to some friends of hers in San Diego, CA to live because she had them living in a house with a child pedophile. The boys lived with this family for over a year because she was unable to financially move from the child pedophiler's home. In order for the boys to come live with me & my new wife in Germany, she had to get a court stipulation signed by a judge granting me primary custody. We still have joint legal custody. The boys came to live with me in Feb. 2002. In January 2005, we moved to Texas. She has since moved from the child pedophiler's home. I agreed to let the boys visit their mom in CA this summer. She picked them up last week & she has already (a week later) started trouble. I feel that, in the boy's best interest, they need to be with me because I know that she is still doing drugs, mentally & emotionally unstable & the oldest has 2 more years of school here & the mother always kept them moving. They have never had a stable home until they came to live with me. The youngest was 10yrs old when he had to live with this other family & he couldn't tie his shoes, button buttons, write legibly or do simple math. The oldest was 13yrs old & he was made into the father-figure & she manipulates him with guilt. Now....my questions.....(1) Is it a felony to keep child support when you are the primary care giver in CA but the children don't live with you? We found out the whole time the boys lived that year with this other family, she kept all the child support payments. If so, what do I need for proof? (2) In CA, is there a certain law saying that a child of a certain age can decide where he/she wants to live? (3) Since our divorce was filed in CA, can I make her come to court here in TX to settle this once & for all? Could I possibly look at getting full custody? (4) If she doesn't have the boys home on Aug. 1st (this was verbally agreed in front of the boys, my wife & my ex-wife's boyfriend), can I call CPS or the local police & have them go to her house? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you

Your questions are too specific to be answered in this discussion site. You need to go see an attorney because most of this will hinge on the wording in the custody and support orders, so all I could do is venture a guess. If support is payable to her and was not temporarily made payable to the guardians by court order, I see nothing criminal. The mother had bad choice in men, but she did get the kids away, so she is not the first mother to have bad taste in men and she did act to protect her children even if she took some time to get out. She may have had emotional abuse or fear of life and limb, and did not feel it was safe for her to leave until the kids were out of the country. So I would not play that up too much. If you believe she is doing drugs, report it to DCS to investigate, but if they find nothing, then you will look bad in your quest for custody and like you are trying to ruin the mother's name for the kids. This is not what you want to hear, but you need to face that you had children with this woman, so she is not going to disappear no matter how much you want her to, and while you may think it best she is out of the kids' lives, most courts know mothers are important to the emotional development of a child and if she is working reasonably to maintain a relationship, that is not going to be taken away. I suggest trying to come to a private resolution that is placed in writing and ratified by the court.
If the mother is still in California, I think jurisdiction will likely remain in California since it would be the preferred jurisdiction in spite of your recent move to Texas. Kids can usually make their requests for primary custody known starting @ age 14 depending on the state's laws, but this is not the basis of the decision, but just a factor. Under the circumstances, I think it best if you keep the kids out of this because I suspect they love Mom and Dad and do not want to be pit against the other parent and would not like being put in that kind of position.