Ex-Wife Indicted, Now What?

[skittles972001]

I've posted on this forum before regarding my situation here in Ohio with my ex-wife and custody of my now 5-year-old daughter. My ex and I share custody currently, and I pay child support to her. While I was on vacation with my daughter to see family in New York, my ex-wife suddenly checked herself into rehab. I did not go for temporary full custody at that time because to be quite honest I didn't have the money to do it.

I found out today through an article in the crime section of the community newspaper that my ex-wife was indicted on 4 counts of Deception to Obtain Dangerous Drugs. She is still in rehab and was supposed to be released at the end of October but told me through her mother that she wanted to extend her stay for 30 days. I do not have full information regarding her case because I didn't learn this information until it was too late to make some phone calls to the police department and court.

My question is what should I do? I feel like I should definitely file for full custody at this point, but if I file and the charges are dropped or even reduced what will that do to my case? Should I wait and see if she is convicted?

[tbyte]

You should file for temporary custody right away.
It is not expensive. You can do it yourself, with a motion and an affidavit. Two or three pages typed, max.
Should the charges against her be dropped, you will be no worse off than you were before.

[skittles972001]

I will do that. Once I get temporary custody, is there a likelihood that when all of this is over with, if the charges are reduced or dismissed or she's found not guilty, that the current parenting schedule will be thrown out? Will we have to start from scratch to come up with a new agreement or will the court just automatically uphold our current agreement?

[tbyte]

Either of those are possibilities, but in my experience courts tend to stick with the status quo. Meaning that if you have temporary custody you have a decent shot of turning that into temporary custody, or at least residential parent status where the children are with you the majority of the time and you will not be paying child support.