I am in Georgia. Step son is 15. My husband is custodial and Mom has visitation (limited) Step son has run away(packed up and moved while we were at work) to stay with Mom. His Mom filed for custody and child sup.

If he is refusing to see his Dad, is she "withholding custody" of him? Understand, he is choosing this. He will not visit with Dad unless my husband puts him in handcuffs in the back of a police cruiser. He says he will just run away if my husbnad does this. It is of legal importance b/c our attorney filed action saying she could not file for a change b/c she was "withholding custody" from my husband. Your thoughts on this are appreciated. Thanks. donna d

Get mad at the kid, not his mother. She is just trying to make the arrangement created by the kid legal.
I also suggest that you back off because if you all push the kid too far, he may run away from both parents and really be a runaway. I think there are some other issues going on here where the kid needs to be the focus, not who legally has custody. The kid may need counseling of some kind and maybe there is a reason that is valid for running away, and it may not have anything to do with the father or you. Focus on the kid and be a parent interested in teh kid's best interest. The kid is a person, not an asset or property to be withheld or given by court order, especially at age 16.

My H is preferring to call her unfit. Leaving him there would be giving up on him. My H has not seen him in 2 months. So he has no parenting he can do . . . We had him in counseling and counselor is testifying in court that mother is unfit. Just wondering about the definition of "withholding", if it applies if the child is 15 and wants to be withheld. Actually, he is brainwashed and bribed with alcohol and drugs against his father. Sad that he will never get the counseling he needs if we leave him there. . . This is one my H and I are agonizing about.