Maaaring maghain ang sinuman ng:
- Petition for Custody sa Family Court kung saan nakatira ang maghahain o ang bata; o
- Petition for Habeas Corpus sa Family Court o sa isang regular na hukuman, kung wala ang presiding judge ng Family Court.
Dapat nakasaad sa Petition for Custody ang mga sumsunod:
- Ang mga personal na kalagayan ng petitioner at ng respondent;
- Ang pangalan, edad, at kasalukuyang kinalalagyan ng bata at ang kanyang relasyon sa petitioner at respondent;
- Ang mga mahalagang impormasyon na nagpapakita ng pagkakait ng kustodiya; at
- Iba pang mga bagay na may kaugnayan sa kustodiya ng bata.
Dapat mapatunayan sa Petition for Habeas Corpus na:
- Ang petitioner ay may karapatan sa kustodiya sa bata;
- Na ang nararapat na pag-iingat sa bata ay inaalis mula sa petitioner ng respondent; at
- Na ito’y sa pinakamabuting interes ng bata na mapunta ang kustodiya sa petitioner at hindi sa respondent.
Ang “Habeas Corpus Case is a full-blown custody proceeding in its own right”.
Iginigiit ng hukuman na “in passing on the writ in a child custody case, the court deals with a matter of an equitable nature. Not bound by any mere legal right of parent or guardian, the court gives his or her claim to the custody of the child due weight as a claim founded on human nature and considered generally equitable and just.
Therefore, these cases are decided, not on the legal right of the petitioner to be relieved from unlawful imprisonment or detention, as in the case of adults, but on the court’s view of the best interests of those whose welfare requires that they be in custody of one person or another. Hence, the court is not bound to deliver a child into the custody of any claimant or of any person, but should, in the consideration of the facts, leave it in such custody as its welfare at the time appears to require. In short, the child’s welfare is the supreme consideration.”