Officially Filing for Custody

                    The filing process

It was now up to me to navigate the process but also attempt to gain an understanding of all the paperwork and verbiage. I now understand why lawyers charge so much!  There is so much involved in these types of cases that you never have to see or figure out when you have an attorney.

In our state it turns out that even if the parents were never married a custody case is filed much like a divorce, but without the splitting of assets and required divorce classes. Also, since we were never married we both had to agree that he was her biological father, or he and/or I could request a DNA test. Neither one of us requested this.

 The paperwork I filed was as followed (even though I was not requesting child support, I was told all documents were required to file):

Verified parenting petition- This is basically an overview of current facts (addresses, income, child's detailed info) and also what exactly you are asking for.  The schedule you want in detail, who you want to pay for child care, medical insurance, and who you believe has the right to claim the child on taxes. There was also a section available to list additional provisions. I wasn't sure exactly what was being an asked of me in this section so I just listed the reasons why I was filing, and why I felt it was in Cindy's best interest for these standards to be set in place. I also requested a psychological evaluation as well as parenting and anger management classes for Charlie.

Income verification in compliance with the uniform child support guidelines- on this form I needed to list both of our income information to the best of my knowledge.

Child support worksheet- based on our incomes this form calculates the child support amount.

Notice of URCP 26.1 disclosure and Discovery requirements in domestic relations actions- this just stated what documents we needed to submit. The financial declaration, 12 months of pay stubs (if applicable), the value of any real estate we individually owned,12 months of loan application history, and our previous 2 years tax returns.

Affidavit of other parents earnings - this state's what I think his yearly earnings are (a lot of the documents were very similar to others, but I proceeded to submit whatever documents were listed)

Finding of facts and conclusions of law- same exact thing as a verified parenting petition.

Parentage decree and judgment- same EXACT information as the finding of fact and conclusions of law AND the parenting petition.

Acceptance of service, appearance, consent and waiver- I had to submit this paperwork when I served him and it stated that he has read everything and he understands his rights. Also that he understands what I'm saying and asking for it even if he doesn't agree.

Summons- this is to let him know that he is required to file an answer within 21 days of receiving my paperwork. He must file it with the court and serve me with an answer. Basically it states that he's being sued for custody.

The filing fees came out to about $350 and I was also required to hire someone to serve him with these documents. I choose to go through the authorities to make sure it was done properly. There was a base fee plus a mileage fee for serving.

I was certain that I would hear from him the minute he received this paperwork.