Need Help-Question about my nephews-Were they legally kidnapped?

Hello everyone.I will make this as short as possible.My brother married a woman and when they married they had a 4 year old son.They were married in Sacramento California.She then went on to become pregnant again but she cheated on my brother and left him while pregnant.His second son was born.Months later she files for divorce in the same city of Sacramento and through straight BS she is awarded primary custody and my brother had my nephews every weekend,every other holiday,and certain events and he has to pay child support.About 3 years after she divorced him she moved to Florida.She did not go through any kinda legal matter.My brother and her at first worked out a deal for him to have the boys certain times and her to have the boys another time.On his latest visit he drives all the way to Florida and she packed up her bags and moved and disconnected her phone.After talking to a few legal people they say there is nothing that can be done unless we dump out thousands and thousands of dollars because the divorce was filed in California and not Florida.Its now been a year and he has not even heard from his kids and is still having child support taken out.Please tell me this cant be right and what actions can be taken because this does not seem fair to him or my family.

 

If you have already gotten legal advice, then you already know the answer.
She got custody, so that is that; at this point, him not being able to see the
kids is just a technical matter since she got custody. If she is not a criminal
then no is going to chase her down over this, and I doubt the court would
reverse any money she is getting just because she is keeping them away from him.

 

Wow,so I guess if I every have kids,I can cheat,get a divorce,move with the kids and change my number and the father will never be able to see his kids again and still pay child support.Thats basically what you just said.Also I didnt get legal advice I was told that it would cost alot of money to get lawyers for this and that.They have shared custody if you read what i wrote.Probubly wasent the best place to ask this question as saying that a mother can just take her and the fathers kids to another state,change her number and address especially when it says that she has to let him know at all times her residency and phone.99% sure she cant just do that.

 

I know exactly what you wrote, and as I explained it, even though he has shared custody, that
is nothing more then a technical term, even though he has shared rights, you cant call it kid-napping
simply because she was awarded custody of the kids, and honestly, unless the court said the
mother is unable to take care of the kids, then mothers will out-weigh any fathers rights....

Even if you got the court to tell her she can not leave the state with the kids...
No one is going to put a warrant out for her, or force her to come back...

But I am not a lawyer...
at the very least, consult a family
lawyer, and see if the court can do something.

Is what she doing ethically right? no\

So unless you are able to get the court to put out a warrant
to bring her back, then there is little motivation for her to return.

 

But you keep saying she was awarded custody of the kids.She was not.They have "JOINT"custody.I didnt say anything about a warrant I just said is there anything that can be done.The last part of your post made sense when you said consult a family lawyer and see if a court can do anything,that would of been the best answer possible which i appreciate,its alot better than saying someone with joint custody of their kids can have the other party dissapear with their kids and still pay money.We havent heard a word from them in a year.

 

You said she was "awarded primary custody...."
She gets primary custody of the kids w/ shared custody.
You are saying she is not honoring shared custody...

and you are right, there are probably better forums
out there that would certainly be more fitting...
and more knowledge concerning these matters...

In fact, if you are on Avvo.com then
ask for free legal advice concerning custody,
and explain the issue....

 

I am not a lawyer, either, and I cannot speak to California law, but in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island, if the noncustodial parent paying support loses access to court-ordered visitation and the custodial parent left the jurisdiction the court agreement was entered into without court approval, the noncustodial parent often can get a judgment to reduce or even stop support payments until visitation is restored. It will cost money to file the motion, etc., of course.