<human>: My divorced 23 year old Sister (on my Stepdad's side ) who lives in Germany has 2 daughters, aged 2 and 4.we'll call her Mary. She's been dating a man for a few months and has become pregnant with twins with her new man.

Mary and her ex are currently in a custody battle, with the usual stuff flying back and forth, he claims she treats the children like animals, leaving them in their own filth and refusing to change their dirty clothes - she claims he threatens to kill her and the kids whenever he gets angry, hard to tell who is telling the truth and who is lying in these situations.

Mary's sister sides with the ex, they've got a strained relationship, always trying to make the other seem like a bad mother so her testimony is suspect.

Anyways, on to the dilemna, Social Services have stepped in and taken Mary's children, according to Mary they will be in care until a decision is made on who the kids will live with, is this a likeley scenario in Germany, or is it more likely that she is actually an unfit mother? Mary doesn't seem to be doing anything towards regaining custody of her kids, after 2 weeks she finally told me she'd arrange an appointment with a lawyer, she has no clue what her rights are in this situation and doesn't seem to be in any hurry to fight for her children - she just bought a new house with her new man, in preperation for the twins arrival.

We are ignorant as to how the German custody system works, as we live in the UK but we need to know whether or not my Mother and Stepfather can step in and request custody, does anybody have any experience with the German social care system?

Ideally we want the kids to go back to their Mother, as we have no evidence that she is an unfit mother, but if it is permanent and not temporary and she is just lying to save face, we have a loving home waiting in the UK for them.

I am a 21 year old female, my Husband wrote this for me because I have dyslexia.

Can you provide a brief rundown of the text in within 3 sentences?
<bot>: German sister loses kids to Social Services; We need to know if it is temporary or if she has really lost full custody due to neglect, so we can make our next move.