Status Quo orders

In my ignorance of the law, I suggest you invite fishin' to the discussion by PM.

We don't see you often enough, Boomerang. This is your first warning.

Hi roger!

My life is in such turmoil that I don't see much of anyone or anything lately. I'm trying to get it calmed down but nothing seems to be working.

I'm not sure how the private message thing works yet, and I have to leave for work in just a few minutes so I will check it out when I get home this afternoon. Thanks for the tip!

Boomer what state do you live in individual state laws can differ?

Hi Boomerang. Long time no see.

If we knew what state you lived it, at least we could look up some of the laws of that state. There are a lot of great legal sites on the net!

Maybe Jespah could help.

Boomer lives in Oregon, Phoenix. I'll get a pm off to fishin'.

Oy, family law. Not my area.

What is the status quo order supposed to do? Keep the child wherever s/he's been living? If that's the case, it seems that parenthood wouldn't be a necessary criterion, but again I caution that I'm not familiar with such things.

I'm kinda surprised that 2 lawyers (I'm assuming they have expertise in this area) didn't know shinola about it. You'd think they'd want your business, or at least be able to farm it out to someone else and take 1/4 in referral fees.

You might want to contact your local Law School and ask to speak with the Family Law professor. Assure this person that it's not meant to be a professional consultation (though you'll pay for their time) and you aren't necessarily looking to hire them; you're just trying to see if this course of action is feasible.

About now, Boomerang, you should have received a PM full of PM instructions. If there is a pop up box, close x it and look just above the banner ad. You should see the note "You have one new message". Click on that message.

oh boy, boomer.

never the easy road, but the right one? i thought so.


to add to the mix Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
>>> Sections 1 to 41 of this 1999 Act may be cited as the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. <<< click

This is a link to the Oregon State Bar Webpage which provides links to many legal services in that state.

Links to the Oregon legal services family help topics

Hi all and thanks for your replies!

Roger is right, I do live in Oregon.

Thank you, Roger, on the info about how to send a PM. I'll give it a try. And yes, this has truly been an ordeal.

I don't really know what to say about the attorneys and their response to us other than that no body seems to want to get involved with a third party custody battle - we are not related to this child by birth or law and that is making things very, very complicated.

Social services says that the parents have put the baby in a safe place and they are unwilling to step in unless someone takes the baby to a place that is dangerous. Then they will put the baby in foster care until they determine where he should live.

We are not trying to take the baby away from the parents - they left him here. We really just want to be able to put him on our insurance and enroll him in Montessori school so that I can go back to work.

Every time that the parents start fighting again they start threatening to "snatch" him away which puts my husband and I in a difficult position. They are both unemployed and both living in houses where I am certain drugs are being used. I have told them that if they take the baby to one of these places that I will call the police and social services to be sure that he is protected but that they can take the baby and move in with any member of their family or on their own.

Neither has applied for custody or is making any attempt to get their life in order to claim the baby. He's been here for 10 weeks now. He's happy and doing great. We're happy he's here but we are at our wits end about having no legal protection and lots and lots of legal liability.

When I came across this Status Quo info it sounded like maybe that would be a way to work around the system since he's been here almost three months.

Now, I'll go check eBeth's link!

Thanks again to one and all.

Thanks for the link, JoanneDorel - I've spent a lot of time at that page already! It was through a link I found there that led me to the Status Quo thing.

In fact, as that site advised, we were working on getting a Power of Attorney form signed and everything was agreed to when the parents started fighting again and the world went to hell this week.

That's an excellent site. Thanks again.

Hi Phoenix - I know what a great researcher you are and I'll happily take any links you can give.

Gezzy - did you call the lovely Jespah to this thread? Thank you.

Jespah - From what I understand a Status Quo order is a court order that prevents a parent from interfering with the child's routine. It is almost like a restraining order. However, the forms I have seen say "regarding the marriage of ...." Here is a link (I hope) to the document I saw: http://www.ojd.state.or.us/osca/cpsd/courtimprovement/familylaw/assets/Order-6B.Ver02.pdf

The easy road, eBeth? What is that, pray tell?

You guys are the best!

No advice that hasn't been given, but just wanted to send my sympathy and my admiration for what you're doing.

Hi and thanks sozobe.

I really thought I was doing the right thing but I'm quickly learning about those good intention paver stones that line the path to hell. Still, it's nice to have a voice in support - especially when so much negative verbage has passed our way.

(And hey - are you watching Survivor? Christy rocks!)

boomerang,

I don't have any information on Status Quo but are you familiar with CASA? I'm not sure, but they may be able to give you some guidance. Have the parents abandoned the little guy? Is there a way to have the court appoint you and Mr. boomerang as foster parents?

Hi Swimpy!

I'm not familiar with CASA but I will check them out for sure.

According to the social services agencies I've spoken with it is not considered abandonment because both parents are still in contact with him and with me. It seems very strange to me how someone can spend 40 or so hours with their kid over 10 weeks and not be considered to have abandonded him but.......?

<sigh>

By the way, I adore your signature quote!

I'm going to try to get hold of someone with CASA first thing Monday morning - what a cool looking group.

Thanks again, Swimpy.

boomer, good luck! Wish I had some knowledge on the subject.