Arkansas Child Custody Legal Questions

If your ex-wife has primary custody of your children, she has the right to make the final decision regarding significant issues related to your children, and their education falls within that category. Even though she has the right to make the final decision, she does have an obligation to communicate with you regarding her basis for home schooling the children and to hear your concerns. If you can present a factual basis of a history of poor decision making, neglect, abuse or other circumstances negatively affecting your children by the custodial parent, you can investigate whether a change of custody would be in your children's best interests. I do recommend being as involved in their home schooling process as is possible to make sure they are getting proper instruction and be involved in that process. She does have an obligation to provide you with all information about the program, to include the information necessary (passwords for example) to allow you to log in to check in on their progress.... Read More

The Office of Child Support Enforcement Unit (OCSEU) normally only opens a child support case  if one of the parents (custodial parent) has enrolled the minor child in a program, namely AR Kids 1st health insurance, income based, provided by the State of Arkansas. When a parent enrolls a minor in this program, they sign a form wherein they assign the right to collect child support to the OCSEU who then initiates a claim. Oftentimes the parent signing the form assigning the rights to collect does not really read that paperwork and is not aware of the process they have begun. If you have been served with a Summons and Complaint/Petition, you need to read the Summons carefully and note the deadline you have to file an answer or otherwise respond to same or a default judgment may be taken against you.... Read More

Hey Jennifer, there is a lot to consider in order to predict what can or can not happen. You lost the custody to your mother, but still have been taking care of the children. Depending on what is the background of the case will depends on what can happen. It would be best for you to seek a privte attorney to discuss your case directly and go over your options. A Child custody lawyer charges anywhere from $2,500 to $4,500. If you can not afford a private attorney, you will need to follow up with family court clerk to see if they can provide you a legal aid or pro bono attorney. Feel free to contact my office and speak with a case manager at 877-866-8665 or email help@smsattorneys.com as we do also offer reduced price services for PRO SE people who can't afford an attorney or would like to represent themselves in court.... Read More

What you would need is to request the court for Primary Custody of your son based on the circumstances you are alleging. If there is a custody order already in place you can request the court for modification. As a general rule of thumb, you can represent yourself in court and save the costs of an attorney by using a paralegal to draft the court forms. However, if you do chose to hire a lawyer in Arizona, you can expect to pay anywhere from $3,000 or so. I am licensed in New York and New Jersey. Feel free to contact my office and speak with a case manager at 1 877-866-8665 or email help@smsattorneys.com to go over your options.... Read More

Hey Rachael, you can obtain guardianship of your niece. You will need to present your bases for such request to the court. You can represent yourself in court or hire an attorney. We are based in New York but we do provide services in your state, as well as have monthly payment plans available. Above answer and comments to questions are for general purposes only. Feel free to call 1-877-866-8665 for Case Manager.... Read More

Biological parents have rights. Family Law cases are all about who has the best attorney to present the case in a manner that the judge can favor the represented party. He is not on the birth certificate, as long as you can present that he is not a fit parent and should not be around the child without supervision, you should be okay. Please contact an attorney directly to discuss your case and possible options. We are based in New York but we do provide services in your state, as well as have monthly payment plans available. Above answer and comments to questions are for general purposes only. Feel free to call 1-877-866-8665 Ahsan Syed, Case Manager. ... Read More

Can he file for child support while you are deployed will depend on your state laws and the judge that might grant him. As long as he serves you properly you should be able to respond / contest it through your military channels if they permit it otherwise most times courts and judges do give a judgment by default for no show and no response. If the support gets established while you are gone than the court might have you back pay it when you return. what if you filed for it now? You can certainly file for it now while you have the kids and the court will most likely approve it because he makes more money than you and you have the kids right now. What you can do is what I was thinking possibly get on child support now so he will pay you. You save that money for when you are deployed and pay him monthly for support when you are gone using the same money you collected from him. But don’t disclose this fact that you are pursuing support to pay him support while you are away. Pursue support if you really need it. one you are deployed and he is on child support he will wake up and realize he has the kids and you are not taking care of them so why is he paying you. That is why when I said you should get on support now save the funds and when you are deployed you pay him half of the support or whatever you can afford to pay.    Its better to discuss personal case details via phone or text. Looking forward to working with you.... Read More

It sounds like the "Guardianship" you have is simply an agreement between you and Grandmother. A Court has not made findings that are required to obtain or order a legal guardianship. Really, a lawyer needs to review that document and confirm that it was not submitted to a Court for the purpose of establishing legal guardianship of your child. Richard Hughes (501) 376-1112 ... Read More

You probably need to file a paternity case establishing formally that he is the biological father of the child (this can be agreed to). Then a Court will dictate visitation, child support, etc., including ordering him not to harass you. He will get some type of visitation if he acts right but it will be limited initially and controlled. It is very unlikely that he will get custody.... Read More

Based on what yu have stated in your email there seems to be no grounds for this man to take you to court. As far as him being  annoying, there is just not much that can be done. However, if he goes farther than annoying you will need a judge to restrain him. If he hasn't shown any signs that he will injure yoour child, I don't believe that the prior offense that you mentioned is suffficient to take him to court. Please let me know if the situation escalates. Thanks, Richard L. Hughes (501) 517-1100 HUGHESLAWOFFICE1@GMAIL.COM... Read More

Grandparents do have rights here under certain circumstances. If the child is in the custody of DHS I assume that the parents are in some kind of trouble. You might consider a Petition for guardianship. Many factors play into this type of situation. However, the best interests of the children is tantamount.  I'm surprised that DHS would not allow some visitation given your history with the one grand daughter.... Read More

You must assert your rights when it comes to children and most other legal issues. You need to respond to the petition and have a dna test of you and the child during the course of the proceeding. No action on your part may cause you to forfeit your parental rights.  You did not say whether there is a petition for guardianship or adoption. Either way, you msut respond. I suggest you seek the help of a lawyer.... Read More