Utah mother says her ex allegedly kept her from their 11-year-old daughter, then she asked for a welfare check: ‘they don’t live there anymore’
She says the school told her the girl was withdrawn on a Friday and that two weeks passed without any word from her daughter.
A Utah mother says her ex refuses to say where he is living with their 11-year-old daughter, and she has gone to the police. According to The Nerd Stash, she laid out the situation in TikTok videos. The girl’s school informed her that the child was withdrawn from school on a Friday, the mother states. She adds that two weeks went by without any word from her daughter.
At the home where she thought they were staying, she asked for a welfare check and learned the pair were not living there anymore. She states, “I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.” She urged anyone who has had online contact with the girl, including through Roblox or Snapchat, to get word to her. In a later video, she states that she is talking with her daughter again, but the custody fight has grown more heated. She has also opened a GoFundMe for her legal battle. Her account in the TikTok videos could not be verified independently.
Utah Courts explains that a parent whose existing Utah court order is not being followed can ask the court to enforce it. The filing is called a Motion to Enforce Order. Before May 1, 2021, the same process was called an Order to Show Cause. The paperwork includes a verified motion for sanctions, supporting proof, a request to submit for decision and an order to attend hearing.
What the judge decides at the hearing
The court sets a hearing if the papers show how the other parent is not obeying the order. The other parent must be served at least 28 days before the hearing. At the hearing, the judge or commissioner decides whether that parent knew about the order, could follow it and willfully failed to comply. In extreme circumstances, penalties can include fines and jail time.
Custody fights between exes do not always stay private, as a single mom’s public custody dispute showed. Welfare checks like the one she requested also appear in other viral stories, including a police welfare check on a pregnant TikToker.
A separate process applies in the Third District, which covers Salt Lake, West Jordan, Summit and Tooele. A motion over denied parent-time there goes through mediation first, with a Parent-Time Dispute Referral Form. Mediation is usually about 15 days out and costs $40 per hour, per person, with possible reductions based on income. A custody or child support order from another state must be registered in Utah first.
Changing an order is a different step. Utah Courts states that a court can modify parent-time when circumstances have changed since the last order. Either parent can ask by filing a petition to modify, which must be served within 120 days of filing.
A temporary change requires showing it would prevent “an immediate and irreparable harm” or that it confirms changes already made. Either way, it must serve the child’s best interests.
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