I live in TEXAS My daughter’s, 4 ½, dad who has not been there for all her life 5 years is suing me
along with my mom who searched for?
him after my mom and I got in an argument. Now that were aren’t speaking, my mom went to team
up with my x and he is taking me to court asking the judge to give my mom custody of my
daughters and for me to pay child support. He has not helped me at all, he is about to get his Dr's
nursing. I never filed child support because he threatened to take my daughter to Nigeria- where he
is from. My mother also told him to back off and not bother me. Now I don’t have money for a lawyer
want to ask the judge for more time to get one, my court date is 8/9/11. Do you think the judge will
grant me more time? I have asked for assistance and one said that my case is not bad enough and
that other people need those lawyers and that there is just not enough lawyers, The other place I
called said that there is a waiting list, and I am on it-which can take up to 3 months. I am looking for
a job and I am willing to hire a lawyer, but I need more time. I called the court and asked the clerk
but she was very short and said for me to get a lawyer and that she isn’t one for my court date and
ask the judge for more time. What do I do?!
My mom and my daughters dad are accusing me of all sort of false things. They are saying in the
legal paper (lawsuit) that I am crazy and that I need to get an evaluation done by a pshycologist.
That I am a bad mom. That I threatened my x many times, yeah, I have not seen him in 4 years. My
mom has always wanted legal custody, and another thing, she filed taxes with my daughters ss#
and got over 5k. I was told not to put my daughter in my taxes because I got unemployment, but I
have made the 1040x amended for and have now added my daughter and I am getting back the
1000.00 I paid in taxes, so I RS will get that money my mom by fraud got for claiming my daughter
Update:my mom also went to Party city one day i was shopping and attacked me my friend was with me and she threw big rocks at me outside the store. someone called the police, but i didnt press charges because I felt pity over her becuase she is my mom( christian too sopposely... but now look what she is doing.
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
Scott is absolutely correct regarding documentation of everything. I'd like to add a few things though:
To take custody away from you and give it to your mother would require absolute proof that you are unfit, a danger to your child, or that your child suffers from abuse and/or neglect. Courts are unwilling to place children in foster care unnecessarily. Additionally, even if the Court did grant their motion to give your mother custody (i.e. foster care) , it would only be temporary. The law requires that biological parents be given the opportunity to get custody of their children back. So even if they were to give custody over to your mother, then you would only have to meet the courts requirements in order to get custody back.
As for the father taking the child out of the country. There are several things you can do to help ensure that this doesn't happen.
The first thing is that the US requires that passport applications for minors have BOTH parents signatures on it and that the application be notarized. That's to help protect against one parent faking the other parent's signature.
You can also place a flag on your child's name so that if an application is sent in, you would be notified immediately.
You can also file a motion with your court informing them of the father's threat to remove the child from the country without your permission.
"If a court determines that a credible risk exists that the child will be abducted, it may then enter an order containing provisions and measures meant to prevent abduction. The act lists a number of specific measures that a court may order. These include imposing travel restrictions, prohibiting the individual from removing the child from the State or other set geographic area, placing the child’s name in the United States Department of State’s Child Passport Issuance Alert Program, or requiring the individual to obtain an order from a foreign country containing identical terms to the child-custody determination. An abduction prevention order is effective until the earliest of the order’s expiration, the child’s emancipation, the child’s 18th birthday, or until the order is modified, revoked, or vacated."
The court can also require that the other parent surrender their passport as an added protection.
Check out the first couple of links provided below to visit the Hague's Child Abduction website.
As for the problem with getting a lawyer. Definitely ask, but the Judge doesn't have to give you any time. Be prepared to (at the very least) have the necessary documentation to help support your case in addition to filing the appropriate paperwork.
If you go onto your local Family Court website, they will likely have all the documents you will need to fill out. Most Courts have a "help" center that can help you fill out the necessary paperwork or answer any basic legal questions -- but they can not give you legal advice regarding your case directly. But they can tell you what forms you might need to request an abduction prevention order.
A quick google search provided this link for a lawyer in Houston who deals with international abductions:
http://pview.findlaw.com/international-child-custo...
These links deal specifically with Texas law and abduction prevention:
http://law.onecle.com/texas/family/153.501.00.html
http://law.onecle.com/texas/family/153.502.00.html
http://law.onecle.com/texas/family/153.503.00.html
Document EVERYTHING. Remember the old adage: "it's not what you know but what you can prove". In any court it is all about proof. They can say whatever they want but they have to be able to prove it. Line up any friends, witnesses, documents, text messages, phone records, and anything else that can help prove your case. Asking for more time is smart but you should be as prepared as possible just in case the additional time is not granted. The absolute worst thing you could do is show up unprepared.
"He used to be unemployed for over four years, rode at the unemployment wagon" Where have you ever been for the duration of this Mancession in which guys are 4X much more likely to be laid off than females, there are 7 guys for each and every process, and anybody greater than 30 days unemployed are instructed to not practice? Don't you watch the inside track? Congress is making an attempt to arise with a solution to make it unlawful for employers to show away the unemployed for candidates.