My fiancee has two boys (5 and 8) from a previous marriage. His exwife moved the boys from Kansas (the state where the divorce was final) to Missouri in the middle of the school year, because she was pregnant, had just gotten fired from her job, and needed the financial support from the father of her new baby. She has recently put the 5 year old on Risperdal because he is supposedly "bi-polar". We asked if she got a second opinion, but she didn't. She said she was just sitting in the exam room, and the dr said that he thought the 5-year old was bi-polar. He acts like a zombie after being given this drug.
Also, everytime we drop the boys off at their mother's house, they cry and cry, until she literally rips them out of my fiancee's arms.
Last month she called my fiancee crying because she didn't have enough money to buy the 5 year old shoes (she gets $618/mo CS). We sent him shoes, and the very next day, she called us and told us that her new husband and herself had put an offer on a piece of land.
We live about 6 hours away from the boys, so we see them about once a month. We do call about 5 nights a week and talk to them. This weekend, they told their grandma (on their own, no prompting) that they wanted to live with their dad, but not to tell their mom, because she would get really mad.
We've spoken with an attorney, but we need to pay her retainer fee before she'll do anything for us. Do you think we have any chance of getting them to live with us? Any advice would help.
Thanks.

My fiancee has two boys (5 and 8) from a previous marriage. His exwife moved the boys from Kansas (the state where the divorce was final) to Missouri in the middle of the school year, because she was pregnant, had just gotten fired from her job, and needed the financial support from the father of her new baby. She has recently put the 5 year old on Risperdal because he is supposedly "bi-polar". We asked if she got a second opinion, but she didn't. She said she was just sitting in the exam room, and the dr said that he thought the 5-year old was bi-polar. He acts like a zombie after being given this drug.
Also, everytime we drop the boys off at their mother's house, they cry and cry, until she literally rips them out of my fiancee's arms.
Last month she called my fiancee crying because she didn't have enough money to buy the 5 year old shoes (she gets $618/mo CS). We sent him shoes, and the very next day, she called us and told us that her new husband and herself had put an offer on a piece of land.
We live about 6 hours away from the boys, so we see them about once a month. We do call about 5 nights a week and talk to them. This weekend, they told their grandma (on their own, no prompting) that they wanted to live with their dad, but not to tell their mom, because she would get really mad.
We've spoken with an attorney, but we need to pay her retainer fee before she'll do anything for us. Do you think we have any chance of getting them to live with us? Any advice would help.
Thanks.


this link is interesting:
http://www.dadsdivorce.com/news/artdet.php/46636.html

My fiancee has two boys (5 and 8) from a previous marriage. His exwife moved the boys from Kansas (the state where the divorce was final) to Missouri in the middle of the school year, because she was pregnant, had just gotten fired from her job, and needed the financial support from the father of her new baby. She has recently put the 5 year old on Risperdal because he is supposedly "bi-polar". We asked if she got a second opinion, but she didn't. She said she was just sitting in the exam room, and the dr said that he thought the 5-year old was bi-polar. He acts like a zombie after being given this drug.
Also, everytime we drop the boys off at their mother's house, they cry and cry, until she literally rips them out of my fiancee's arms.
Last month she called my fiancee crying because she didn't have enough money to buy the 5 year old shoes (she gets $618/mo CS). We sent him shoes, and the very next day, she called us and told us that her new husband and herself had put an offer on a piece of land.
We live about 6 hours away from the boys, so we see them about once a month. We do call about 5 nights a week and talk to them. This weekend, they told their grandma (on their own, no prompting) that they wanted to live with their dad, but not to tell their mom, because she would get really mad.
We've spoken with an attorney, but we need to pay her retainer fee before she'll do anything for us. Do you think we have any chance of getting them to live with us? Any advice would help.
Thanks.

Just speaking from experience, your best bet to get them to live with you is to convince the mother to let them. I have found that the kids pretty much have to be abused and/or neglected to the point of severe trauma before they'll change custody in the courts. While your situation sounds like it would be better for the kids in your custody rather than the mothers, you don't have a good chance of getting them unless you can prove abuse/neglect, or unless you convince the mother to let them come live with you. The courts won't change custody based on who is "better", once custody is established the only way to change it is to prove that the current custodial parent is unfit and harming the children. Therefore, your best bet is to entice or convince the mother to allow it. Good luck.