Updates...not so good

Dont know of any lawyers of in the area, yet you are correct. They are two differant entities and if the children are living with you in that county that is where the adoption is to be filed. I have my child custody case in a whole nother county and I was right to file the adoption in the county we live in. What did the social workers report say. did it recommend the adoption. That is what the investigation was about. they are to find out about the other cases in other counties, states etc. If you are smart enough on your own to file the paperwork and the judge is surprised how well you are doing I would not fret. Just keep doing what you are doing. The judge has to grant the bio parent certain rights before actually terminating them. Let me read up on you real quick I may have more to say.

OK so I reviewed the case. Just because he did indeed show up dont worry too much. How did the case in Ohio happen. Did you live there? If he did try to get you in contept of the court order how long was it after he did not see the children? Did he know you guys where in california all this time? Did it seeem more of a headache to him to see the children. You said the social workers report looked good and she even talked to him, right? Then if he made these statements to her about the children I would not worry too much, it should be in her report. Many bio parents jump back in the picture when the adoption issue comes up. They see it as primary oppertunity to hurt the ones who actually love the children. Him showing up may actually make your case better then worse. Especially if the judge seems irritated with the BF. Just sit back and take a double take at the situation from out of the box. See everything he can do or say and whether or not it is true. IF he is full of all lies and you can contridict his lies you will win. Hope this helps

AJB, do you know of any rulings that state they are seperate issues. I would like to go in with something hard.

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It is simple. child custody and visitation is held in family law courts. Now adoption is in probate. Two differant courts. Ultimately probate has overhead of the probate. I am a little confused on what you are asking. My case was alitlle like that. I had BF file paperwork for visitation when the adoption paperwork was filed. I tried getting the judge to put the custody visitation on hold pending the adoption, HE didnt. So I still had to obey the court order for visitation. It hurt but it worked out. The philosophy for the family courts is to continue a relationship between both parents regardless how many times they abandone the child. Now adoption looks at what is in the childs best interest and how many times or how many years the Bio parent has abandoned the child. As long as you were obeying the court order in ohio and you were not the one to break it you should be fine. Have all the custody papers from the ohio case for the adoption ready. For instance. My ex had my daughter unsupervised 2 and a half years ago. Well he got incarcerated and did not see her for a year. He called me to see her and I was willing to settle it out of court this time. I was going to let him see her on supervised standards. Well he never saw her and went back to prison. By him not seeing her he violated the court order, not me. Why would I feel obliged to take him back to court to see her when my life is better without him in the picture. Do you understand what I am saying. If the last time he denied seeing the children how it was court ordered then you did nothing wrong. If he never filed for another order. Is this how the visitation ended with him?

So, I spoke with a lawyer and he said that Ohio most likely does have jurisdiction since the custody case is out there. And looking at the family code laws its looking pretty bleek. Unless there is some precedence that states jurisdiction is truly out here, it looks like we have to head back to Ohio to handle everything. This is not good news.

Which family law codes are you looking at? CALIFORNIA FAMILY.CODE SECTION 9000-9007 9000. (a) A stepparent desiring to adopt a child of the stepparent's spouse may for that purpose file a petition in the county in which the petitioner resides. This code clearly states that you file in the county you reside in. Adoption and custody are two different things. They are handled in two different courts with different procedures. Check with a different attorney.

Thank you Kallen that is very encouraging. I was reading stuff from 3421-3430. One last question. Even though the precedings for the stepparent adoption are to be brought up in the county which the petitioner resides, could it be that the Termination of Parental Rights precedings need to be brought up in the state that has jurisdiction on the custody case?

I wrote alot yesterday and then I guess it did not got through on posting it. But Kallen summed it all up and actually gave the code for it. The termination has to do with the adoption not child custody. So it would be safe to say that the temination would take place where the adoption takes place. The thing is, No family law court will terminate the rights of another parent. At least as far as I know. It is juvenile court or probate that does that kind of stuff. So to go back to Ohio to terminate would not really make sense. You would be opening a case out there just to transfer it here. I would not give up . You have already started the proceedings, right? The judge would have told you that he could not take the case after the hearing when the BF showed up. So what happened? did you get another hearing date? You are not the first ones who the BF showed up last minute, after all you do serve them with the papers trying to state that there will be a hearing. The judge gets the BFs number real quick and knows whether or not the BF is making false accusations and lieing. The BF did know where you were living, Right? and you came to california legally with the children, right? As long as the answers are Yes, I do not see much too worry about. Also, I would try and find out info on the judge. For instance, the judge in my county does not like men or women who abandone their children, expect someone else to raise them and then are unwilling to relinquish their rights, for whatever reason it may be. Our judge pretty much rules in the petioners favor granted the abandonement did happen. So if you can find out more info on the judge then you may be able to put your mind at ease and rest a little better.

AJB, thank you. We have another hearing date in May. When the BF asked about jurisdiction, the judge told the BF to write up a motion. From what the social worker said, our judge seems to be similar to your judge, as far as not liking parents who abandon but wont give up rights and stuff like that. So I guess we will just have to wait and see in May.

Codes 3421-3430 have to do with child CUSTODY not adoption. Codes pertaining to adoption and termination start at 7800. In fact venue is described in CALIFORNIA FAMILY.CODE SECTION 7845 7845. The petition shall be filed in either of the following: (a) The county in which a minor described in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 7820) resides or is found. (b) The county in which any of the acts which are set forth in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 7820) are alleged to have occurred. The circumstances in which a petition for termination of parental rights can be brought starts in CALIFORNIA FAMILY.CODE SECTION 7820 7820. A proceeding may be brought under this part for the purpose of having a child under the age of 18 years declared free from the custody and control of either or both parents if the child comes within any of the descriptions set out in this chapter. So both adoption and termination petitions can be filed in the county in which the child and petitioner reside.

Kallen, Thanks for the info. We will definately use this info.

I have done a lot more searching on the issue of jurisdiction. There are a couple issues that have come up. The UCCJEA states that the state where the initial proceedings were brought up shall have exclusive and continuing jurisdiction concerning the custody of the children unless that state releases its jurisdiction. Now, Family Code 7822 under the title "FREEDOM FROM PARENTAL CUSTODY AND CONTROL" to me that sounds like a custody issue and should be heard in ohio. There is a section concerning venue, Family Code 7845, that states "The petition shall be filed in either of the following: (a) The county in which a minor described in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 7820) resides or is found. (b) The county in which any of the acts which are set forth in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 7820) are alleged to have occurred." But venue does not mean jurisdiction. I understand the we filed in the right place I am just curious if the courts have the jurisdiction to rule on this. Thats the first issue and that is what worries me the most. My arguement to the previous issue is the following. Family code 3403 states This part does not govern an adoption proceeding or a proceeding pertaining to the authorization of emergency medical care for a child. So my arguement is: The adoption proceedings provide a type of umbrella for the FREEDOM FROM PARENTAL CONTROL AND CUSTODY and does not fall under the UCCJEA. Therefore this court has both the jurisdiction and venue for this case. If it were not for the adoption hearing we would not be petitioning the FREEDOM FROM PARENTAL CONTROL AND CUSTODY. Am I right on this or is this a bunch of bunk? Also, since the court in Ohio has no version of the FREEDOM FROM PARENTAL CONTROL AND CUSTODY, it would mean that they are unable to rule on an issue like this and could not have venue over this matter?

Your right and you have the basic idea. Adoption is a sort of umbrella. Think of it in this manner. You are not asking to modify custody. Your not giving the other parent a different visiting plan. etc. Now even if you were....you could petition the State of Ohio for a change of venue and you would get it. Why? Because the primary custodial parent and the children live here. Now what is throwing you off is the phrase "Freedom from Custody and Control." This has to do with adoption and termination of parental rights. This is something family court has no jurisdiction over. So it is not something that could be handled in a family court. It would be like trying a criminal case in small claims court. Can't do it because it is not the proper court or venue. Don't be confused by the phrase, it's just the legal terminology that is used. It has nothing to do with custody in a family court setting. Here is the legal definition of venue: venue n. 1) the proper or most convenient location for trial of a case. Normally, the venue in a criminal case is the judicial district or county where the crime was committed. For civil cases, venue is usually the district or county which is the residence of a principal defendant, where a contract was executed or is to be performed, or where an accident took place. However, the parties may agree to a different venue for convenience (such as where most witnesses are located). Sometimes a lawsuit is filed in a district or county which is not the proper venue, and if the defendant promptly objects (asks for a change of venue), the court will order transfer of the case to the proper venue. Example: a promissory note states that any suit for collection must be filed in Washington County, Indiana, and the case is filed in Lake County, Indiana. In high profile criminal cases the original venue may be considered not the best venue due to possible prejudice stemming from pre-trial publicity in the area or public sentiment about the case which might impact upon potential jurors. For these various reasons either party to a lawsuit or prosecution may move (ask) for a change of venue, which is up to the discretion of a judge in the court where the case or prosecution was originally filed. Venue is not to be confused with "jurisdiction," which establishes the right to bring a lawsuit (often anywhere within a state) whether or not it is the place which is the most convenient or appropriate location. And now jurisdiction: jurisdiction n. the authority given by law to a court to try cases and rule on legal matters within a particular geographic area and/or over certain types of legal cases. It is vital to determine before a lawsuit is filed which court has jurisdiction. State courts have jurisdiction over matters within that state, and different levels of courts have jurisdiction over lawsuits involving different amounts of money. For example, Superior Courts (called District or County Courts in several states) generally have sole control of lawsuits for larger sums of money, domestic relations (divorces), probate of estates of deceased persons, guardianships, conservatorships and trials of felonies. In some states (like New York) probate and certain other matters are within the jurisdiction of so-called Surrogate Courts. Municipal courts (or other local courts) have jurisdiction over cases involving lesser amounts of money, misdemeanors (crimes not punishable by state prison), traffic matters and preliminary hearings on felony charges to determine if there is sufficient evidence to warrant a trial by the Superior Court. Some states have police courts to handle misdemeanors. Jurisdiction in the courts of a particular state may be determined by the location of real property in a state (in rem jurisdiction), or whether the parties are located within the state (in personam jurisdiction). Thus, a probate of Marsha Blackwood's estate would be in Idaho where she lived and died, but jurisdiction over her title to real estate in Utah will be under the jurisdiction of the Utah courts. Federal courts have jurisdiction over lawsuits between citizens of different states, cases based on federal statutes such as fair labor standards and antitrust violations, charges of federal crimes, appeals from bankruptcy proceedings, maritime cases or legal actions involving federal constitutional questions. Sometimes regulatory agencies have the initial jurisdiction before any legal action may be filed in court. More than one court may have concurrent jurisdiction, such as both state and federal courts, and the lawyer filing the lawsuit may have to make a tactical decision as to which jurisdiction is more favorable or useful to his/her cause, including time to get to trial, the potential pool of jurors or other considerations. Appellate jurisdiction is given by statute to appeals courts to hear appeals about the judgment of the lower court that tried a case, and to order reversal or other correction if error is found. State appeals are under the jurisdiction of the state appellate courts, while appeals from federal district courts are within the jurisdiction of the courts of appeal and eventually the Supreme Court. Jurisdiction is not to be confused with "venue," which means the best place to try a case. Thus, any state court may have jurisdiction over a matter, but the "venue" is in a particular county. Now family court does not handle adoption cases. Therefore it does not have jurisdiction. Depending on your county and what court handles adoptions either juvenille court or probate court has jurisdiction. Therefore that is the venue to file in. Hope this helps.

Thank you so much Kallen. This makes me feel better. I think adoption is handled by probate in our county. There were a few probate cases being heard at the same time they were going to hear our case.