Potential legal battle brewing with toxic family members involving my child - do I have enough to win?

[Anonymous]

So I may need to file legal action against an extended relative involving my child. I may need to get them legally barred from ever seeing my child again. Well, they think they can deem me unfit because of the past. When I was pregnant with my child, their dad was verbally abusing me and staged a setup to get me to say I wanted to kill myself. My child's dad had me on speaker phone where the problematic relative and another relative could hear it. I don't think it was recorded though.

This has been over a year ago and there is zero evidence that has ever shown me to have mental illness or be unstable or unfit. I have a good job, a place to live and am always the one buying and doing things for my child. I have proof via receipts that I'VE paid for 99.9% of the child's necessities (food, clothes, etc). I also could get proof from the child's doctor that shows I am always at appointments alone and the other parent has came to maybe two basic ones and maybe a couple specialist visits. I have proof via the child's pediatrician that I'M the guardian. I am labeled as the guardian and the other parent is listed as the primary emergency contact.

So, would this stand a chance in court? Could that seem me unfit? Even the responding officers at the time were not amused and totally dismissed the allegations and apologized for disrupting my evening.

I do not have video evidence of the verbal attacks, but I did document it and could take a lie detector to prove it. Could me yelling back at the attacker in front my son seem me unfit? I was defending us both. They were attacking me verbally and also making comments about my child and I let them know what I thought.

I also have documentation about their other behaviors involving my child that was inappropriate (trying to take control) and I have documentation of toxic behavior with them involving others that shows they are an aggressive person and a witness to back me up on that.

Updates

1 y

I have a CRAP load of proof that shows where I have bought a ton of stuff myself. I have proof of where I pay for all medical care, provide insurance cover and as I said I can get proof from my child's healthcare providers that show I am the parent always there for appointments. And I can prove through documentation (no video) and witness accounts that this family member is highly aggressive and toxic.

[Screenwriter]

There are Legal Aid offices that charge nothing for legal advice. Why don't you consult with a local one. Also there are colleges that have attached law schools that often have grad students that take on cases such as yours with a teacher a moderator of the student's case. Both of these cost nothing for you.

You would get sound advice and put your fears to rest.

It does not sound like these people have a case and they are threatening you to see if you'll back down.

No. 1. Why don't you take the father off as your emergency contact for your child. He doesn't sounds like he's involved and doesn't sound like he's paying you child support either. If he isn't paying child support, this sounds like a boondoggle. A nothing case. And if these are his relatives, I bet this man is behind this, too.

Put a solid friend down as your emergency contact. Don't tell him anything about the change. I think you need to get this man out of your life. He doesn't sound invested in this child. Maybe his FAMILY wants the kid to raise.

But, don't worry about this. You get the legal advice you need and see a counselor so you can calm yourself about this. A legal team will set you up for success. And I think that is what will happen. GOod luck.

[Asker]

Thank you. No he doesn't pay child support and yes this is his family doing this

[Screenwriter]

Sounds like you have a good case against this man. And his family has no claim over your child unless you are not providing for him. Just keep taking care of him as you are and sue that guy for child support. He should be paying it.

[Asker]

He does not pay hardly anything. Not even food and stuff. I have receipts to show where I pay for everything. And he does not attend or pay for any medical care/appointments. I do and I can get something from my child's care team that states this. The family is very nasty and toxic and they think they are entitled to whatever they want. My child definitely will not be on that list and I will fight them for my child for sure!

[Nikki1989]

The fact that this was a single incident over a year ago, and there's no ongoing pattern of concerning behavior, works in your favor. Courts generally search for a pattern of instability, not isolated incidents, especially if they were provoked or manipulated.

[Asker]

Like I said, the cops were involved when that suicide thing happened. And yes. I was absolutely coaxed into saying it. I hung up several times. I would get called back and kept getting pressured to say those exact words. Then admitted NOW that yes, I was on speaker phone. They called the police to investigate me. The cops were not amused at all. They were very kind and they understood the problematic situation at stand. They knew I was not in any trouble and was not a danger to myself or others. The exact words I heard were "so, this was all just a wild goose chase then?". They said clearly, they did not have any business being there and they apologized for disrupting my evening and went on. You know in their repor they wrote it off as a prank call. They used the words too - prank. So the police had zero issue with me and didn't feel I was a risk or threat at all