A.R.

BACKGROUND

At the end of April 2024, mother filed a petition to determine parental relationship, seeking sole legal and physical custody of the parties’ two three-year-old children. The next day, she sought a temporary emergency order granting her full custody of the children on the ground that father had taken the children in the middle of the night and would not tell her where he took them. She also filed an application for an immediate court hearing and order. The trial court denied the request for immediate hearing and set the matter for a June 2024 hearing, ordering the parties to attend child custody mediation beforehand.

1 A few days later, mother filed another application for immediate hearing, requesting emergency custody of the children. Attached to the application was an unsigned statement apparently from mother, asserting that father had taken the children during the night without mother’s knowledge, after she and father had agreed to separate. It further stated that father had severe mental health problems and that, despite multiple requests, father was refusing to let mother see the children or tell her where they were. The statement also expressed concern that the…