Browse By State:
How Can I Be Sure the Ex-Wife Doesn’t Try to Take Our Children??!?

Question by Chelsea: How can I be sure the ex-wife doesn’t try to take our children??!?
So my husband’s ex wife is literally crazy. She has put herself in and out of jail, she drinks, does drugs, sleeps around…if its bad, you name it. She does it. While my husband and she were married over two years ago, she conceived two different Children by two different men. Then she picked up and left after the second baby was born. She wants nothing to do with them in all sincerity. She texts about once every 6 months to see how they are, etc. then is done.

My husband and I are neither biologically related to our children, but have raised them from the time they were babies. He has full legal custody, with her only having limited right to speak to them. If we sued for full legal adoption, can we win without her possibly getting them, or the government putting them Into foster care? Like I said, she is crazy. She moves from home to home, job to job, and only acts interested once every six months. She never wants to talk to them. We have given them a stable home life for the past 4 years. How can we legally make sure she will never try to get them on some whim? Even though we are not biologically related, they have been ours since day one. Please help!

Best answer:

Answer by Strife and Discord
You need a family law attorney. Seriously, this is way beyond the dept of your well-meaning Yahoo-ers. Good Luck!

Answer by Divine
Your husband needs a court order to allow only supervised visits until she completes a treatment program and parenting class. When I say treatment I am talking a year or two in residential long term. Those 28-90 day “treatment” are just to placate judges for misdemeanor crimes or to keep a job. His ex need the whole long term treatment. If she agrees to it she can have visits with the kids there. I went to a 2 year treatment program a few years back and it really changed me for the better and now I have a life that is meaningful and the respect of others and myself too. It helped me and it could help her. You don’t have to like her because it is not about you or the ex, it is about the children. By the way you are a special lady caring for those precious kids. Kudos to you.

Call for specialised drug treatment prisons
Every year, 2,400 prisoners seek drug treatment when they are released. Only 1.6 per cent of them get access to a residential rehabilitation bed. There is a three month waiting list for the 286 residential drug treatment beds across the state. "The …
Read more on ABC Online