- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Blended Families
Another 'court without lawyer' question
Good evening ladies.
DH has a court date regarding SS1 (12) next month. Long story short, BM is unstable and not in the picture most of the time. SS lives with his maternal grandmother and has since Hurricane Katrina. Before the storm hit, SS lived with DH but he lost everything and evacuated to another state. Due to SS school/DH's unstable living arrangements, all involved parties agreed to let him live with his grandmother.
DH has since moved back home, we met and have had a stable relationship and living situation. SS comes over every weekend, and stays summers with us. His grandmother is aging, and her health has deteriorated. BM is in and out of the picture and cannot get custody without rehab and other conditions that she is unwilling to complete. Also, SS failed last year and it's become obvious that he isn't getting the support he needs at home. Grandma has agreed to sign custody back over to DH.
DH is confident that this will all go smoothly and that he doesn't need an attorney. I strongly suggested that he hire an attorney, but still helped him research and request a court date, which we have for next month.
What are your tips on preparing for court? All they requested was that we bring proof of income and living arrangements.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Another 'court without lawyer' question
My guess is you will come to court, the judge will have you sign the custody stuff in mediation and if there's any concerns gma has the court may order a home investigation then you will be done.
Good luck!
It looks pretty straight forward to me.
I went through most of my court process without a lawyer. I knew that my ex wasn't going to show up most of the time and that we would just get a new court date. I couldn't afford to pay a lawyer to hang out with me at the courthouse a couple hours just to get a new court date.
If things don't go as planned and she doesn't sign custody over, there's probably a way to delay and get a new court date. (At least here it seems like you can delay once or twice without issue.)
While I am sure that things will go smoothly, I would be ready to answer the Judge's question of "Why did it take 7 years and Grandmother's deteriorating health, ie not wanting the child anymore, to get interested in taking care of your child?"
Because I on another blended family board, there were at least TWO BioFathers whose children lived with their Grandparents (who were also willing to give back custody) who had trouble getting their child(ren).
Unstable living conditions should have been cleared up within the 7 years. And other than finishing out that year, changing schools is a non issue (thousands of children do it all of the time).
You will still get custody, because it is cheaper for the state in the end, but be prepared for a good judge to actually ask you to justify it.