Expert: Melanie Nathan - 3/10/2008

Question
My question is this. I left my husband in August of 2007 and moved back home from Texas to Nebraska. I brought my 7 year old son from this marriage with me and my son from my first marriage. Right after I moved here, I filed for legal separation. There was a restraining order against my husband and the Nebraska court gave me temporary custody of the 7 year old. My husband went to court in Texas and told the Judge there was nothing pending against him so he gave him permission to come to Nebraska and take him back. When I went to court in Texas, the Judge gave him temporary custody. I believe the reasons being that he has quite a bit more income than I do, Texas is where my son was born, I had had affairs(never around the children), and problems with depression. My husband travels quite extensively with his job, does not get home from work until 6 or 7 at night, so his 14 year old son is babysitting quite a bit and is not very responsible. When he goes on trips, the children are left with adults whose children have various social problems and are poor influences. My son's only family in Texas is his father and his half brother. In Nebraska, he has both sets of grandparents and various aunts uncles and cousins. Is there any hope at all of getting custody of my son?
Thank you.

Answer
Michelle, i am sorry you are in this awful position.  There are many questions that need to be answered to truly assess you case. The simple answer is yes, there is always hope.  
Did the judge in TX give a reason as to why s/he ordered the custody for him? Income should not be a factor- as Courts can order child support.

Does the child express any preferences?

This is complicated because of the different Court jurisdictions.  I would start out consulting an attorney in nebraska and see if they can work with texas attorney. It seems you need to order custody evluations to show that he is not home and the children are being left.  The Court is supposed to order according the children's best interests.  This is tough and I wish there is a clearer answer, but this is case specific.