English
EspañolWhat are the steps to file for custody? (discusses filing petition and rest of steps)
Although I am not knowledgeable about the custody procedures in your county, specifically, I can tell you that the general steps of filing for custody are as follows: First, a parent will file a petition in court, usually at the petition room or the clerk’s office within the court house. Here is the contact information that we have for the courthouses in STATE but you may want to call the one in your county to be sure that this is where you’d go to file for custody and to check the hours that they accept petitions:
GET COURTHOUSE INFO FOR HER COUNTY IF SHE MENTIONS HER COUNTY AND PASTE - OR JUST LINK TO COURTHOUSE PAGE
When filing the initial petition, in some states, the person will appear before judge on that court date, which would be necessary if the person was trying to ask for an ex parte temporary custody order, for example. However, in most cases, the person will just file the petition and then get a return court date to appear for a hearing in a few weeks or months. During the time before the return court date, the person has to have the other party served with the court papers - there are specific rules for service. You may want to ask the clerk for the instruction on how the other party must be served.
On the return court date or on a subsequent court date, there may be a hearing where both parties can present evidence and try to prove to the judge why the child should be placed with that parent. Or, in many cases, the parties will negotiate and come to an agreement without the judge having to make the decision. Some states will have mediators or other court personnel to help try to come to an agreement - or if the parties are represented by lawyers, the lawyers will generally handle the negotiations for the client. Here is information about custody in your state: LINK and here is a list of factors that a judge in STATE will consider when deciding custody:LINK
It is generally best to have a lawyer represent a person in court since hearings can involve complicated rules of evidence and presenting witnesses and cross-examining witnesses can be very difficult. Here is a link for lawyers, some of which are free if you qualify: LINK
