Anyone pro se?
Hello!
Does anyone have any experience representing themselves or even better, representing themselves and winning the custody case? My SO has a consult with a lawyer on Monday but we are very tight on money right now and may need to be pro se. His case is also sitting at a pro bono lawyer's office and we are hoping it gets picked up. We are also waiting on contact from an office with a sliding fee scale.
HCBM is unstable. On Monday this week, she was arrested for driving under the influence, alcohol in the car, driving while barred, possession of drug parephernalia (which she also got charged with last year but it was dismissed), and interference with police. She got bonded out less than 24 hours later.
In December, she went to jail for child endangerment (NOT against my SS, against her other child with a different father, although SS was there when it happened). It got dropped to a disorderly conduct - fighting or violent behavior. At the time we filed for emergency custody and were only told we get to keep SS while she is in jail. The judge said we should fill out a whole new petition to modify custody, not a motion for emergency custody. My boyfriend filed a whole new petition two days ago.
In November, she was in jail for theft.
In January and February this year, she was in eviction court.
SS has missed so much school on HCBM's time that the school sent a letter about it and had both her and my SO sign something. By December he already had 34 unexcused absences. The year before that he had 60.
Is it even worth it to fight for full custody, even with evidence of her being so unstable? This is BM #2. My SO's first BM got her parental rights terminated due to being a hardcore meth user and even that took 6 years and she was far more neglectful than HCBM.
I just worry that she will
I just worry that she will keep getting away with things and 50/50 will remain.
Would child protective
Would child protective services be of any help given her history and current issues/
I strongly recommend people go to court with competent legal assistance... going on your own.. it's risky.
Both of his exes seem to have bad problems.. there is nothing in his history that could bite him is it? (birds of a feather and all).
CPS was involved when she was
CPS was involved when she was in jail in December because a meth pipe was found in her home by her other baby daddy. The report came back unfounded and she only tested positive for marijuana.
There is nothing in his history that could bite him, no. He just has shitty luck I guess.
Did they run a hair follical?
Did they run a hair follical?
Was it a hair follicle?
Was it a hair follicle?
(sorry, i asked about cps. I see that they did have some involvement)
I honestly am not sure
I honestly am not sure
It will be very hard
To get a free lawer on a child custody case. Much easier to get a free lawer on a DWI charge where jail time is on the table. Sorry. You just get all the free advice you can. A hope you get a judge with a heart. The bigger question is. Do you really want SS after years of doing what he wants. I.E. not going to school. Can your marriage survive this change in living arrangements?
Good luck with this, my DH’s
Good luck with this, my DH’s ex is a meth addict, and he only got fully custody after she got arrested for the third or fourth time. He had to get a lawyer to ensure he got custody, sadly getting custody didn’t mean anything. He spent the next seven years in and out of court with Meth Mouth trying to retain custody, because no matter how unfit Meth Mouth was (in and out of jail), the courts were bending over backwards to get her kids back to her.
Not on the custody part. That DW had an attorney for.
We did go pro se on a CS modification and won. We did see our pit bull attorney before the long delayed hearing in order to map out our strategy, to identify key elements to include, and for things to watch out for. The Spermidiot had been dodging the summons, refusing to pick up the several mail summonses that where sent, and finally physically ran from the Constable who was serving him in person. All of that was beneficial to our position.
Theyalso played the delay card when they filed for custody of SS 9yrs before the CS mod hearing. They filed for custody then postponed the court date repeatedly for nearly a year. Even when we got to court the Judge attempted to postpone. Our attorney contested that postponement due to the 4 prior postponements that the SpermClan used as a tactic to drive up the financial burden on my then full time single mom college student GF. We married 4 days before the custody hearing finally happened.
If he truly wants custody, get an attorney. Though with the courts inherent bias to the womb donor over the sperm donor, even with a lawyer and BM being a crackhead POS with a long arrest and CPS record it is not a likely full custody outcome. Idiot Judges want kids with their mommy even if mommy is a crack head and daddy walks on water, talks directly to God, complete with a halo.
Good luck. I truly hope you can save this child from their toxic BM.
I would not recommend "pro se
I would not recommend "pro se" .in family court.
Is cps in bm's town involved?
Does cps know dh is available for placement?