Can we get custody if the mother keeps moving around with the child?

Question: Here is our situation honestly and briefly:
My husband has a 5yr old son born when he was 19yrs from a one night stand. Paternity was proved when his son was 6months old and he has faithfully paid CS ever since. He and his ex have never liked each other much. She was 16 when my stepson was born. She has always viewed him as HER child only. After she got her child support order she started moving around. My husband lost contact with her as a result of this. They were never married and she didn't put his name on the birth certificate so even though he had a CS order he had to go to court to establish legitimization and visitation. He was unable to do this until he could locate her to serve her papers. She has never held a job so this wasn't easy. He finally found her by a fluke a year and a half ago and started visiting at her convenience for about 6 months until she disappeared again. We simply went to pick him up and the house was empty. My husband hired a PI and located her again about 4 months later and finally got joint custody, legal paternity and visitation established in December. My step son loves my husband and they have become close in the time they have. His mother is living with a man 12 years older than her (not married) and has had 2 more children. Collectively together they have 5. He operates a forklift. They move constantly (about every 6 months). She is a dropout and she has never had a job. No one in her entire family has graduated high school. She draws welfare and medicaid and has for the last 6yrs. My husband and I are more than financially stable and are business owners. I am finishing my Master's degree and am going to be a teacher. We would like to get custody and have been keeping a journal recording all visitations, etc. Any advice or anything else we should be doing?

Answer: It appears that you are doing what is necessary to help establish a case. Make sure that your husband takes all the visitation ordered by the court and as much as possible that is agreed upon beyond the court order. He should make sure he attends any school functions and is involved with the chlid's extracurricular activities. Keep a close eye on the child's grades when that becomes an issue. If the child is not progressing in school or his discipline problems, that maybe a good time to file for custody. Have a PI check the back ground of the mother and mother's current boyfriend. I suggest doing that every year. Finally, make sure that the child support is current when you file for modification.

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