Family Legal Questions

Your situation is unclear and it would be very unwise for any counsel to suggest a response without seeing the actual CPS and dismissal paperwork.  Yoiu should assemlbe all documents and schedule a consultaiton with a family law specialist to review the documents and determine yoiur precise situation.... Read More

If you have custody of a child in Indiana, you must comply with the relocation statute:  Indiana Code 31-17-2.2 for parents and 3101705 for grandparents with visitation rights.  Requirements include specific timelines for notice to the other parent and the specific items you need to incude in your notice.  The  notice also should be filed with the Court.  When you read the statute, you will note that the other parent has a time period in which to respond/object.  Either of you can request the Court modify the parenting plan.   Failure to file proper notice may subject you to orders to return the child to the state or other consequences depending upon the circumstances and what the other parent chooses to do about the move without notice.  Some of those are also outlined in the statute.  A history of not spending time wiith the child does not exempt you from the notice requirement.  I suggest contacting an attorney to assist in properly filing the notice.... Read More

Joshua: If you do not have a pending dissolution case, then either parent can have custody and within reason do as they see fit with regard to children of the marriage.  If you have a dissolution action pending, then the best way to get a set of "rules" addressing proper co-parenting is to request a provisional hearing with the Court for a temporary paenting time order.  The Court will issue an order they find is in the best interests of the children.  Once issued, both parents must follow the "rules" set by the Judge until and unless they are modified.  Whatever you do, do not make it worse for the kids by engaging in inappropriate behavior in front of them.  Also, I would suggest reading the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines to begin to learn what a Court will expect of both parents moving forward in a dissolution case.  ... Read More

Did you let the Attorney General know that there was family violence? That is very important so that your safety is protected in the order. Do you know if the order is a temporary order or did you sign a document for a final order?   It's not likely that the judge will flip custody just because the dad got an attorney, but you should certainly have an attorney to represent you. You are not entitled to a court-appointed attorney. You would have to hire your own attorney to represent you.... Read More

The most important question for you is whether you already have orders concerning your son. If the father does not have order adjudicating him to be the father then he is not legally the father of your son. If he does have orders adjudicating him as the father, then he would be the next person in line if something happens to you unless he agrees otherwise. Some people in this situation also ask if the dad's parental rights can be terminated. In your case, if he has already been adjudicated as the father of your child, he is not likely to terminate his parental rights. Courts generally do not terminate parental rights unless there is going to be an adoption of the child. If you already have orders, the best option is to just ask the dad if he would agree that your child stay with your relatives if something happends to you. Then you should get a document drafted that appoints your relatives as guardians of the children in the case of your incapacity or death. That would be done through an estate planning attorney. If there are no orders, then the dad would have to prove his paternity if he wanted to assert parental rights if you died before him.... Read More

If you are a US citizen, and your husband entered the country with permission, then you can sponsor him for a green card, despite that he has overstayed his visa.  If he entered the country illegally, then it becomes more complicated, but it still can be successfully processed. You should have a private phone conversation with an attorney to discuss the facts of your case. Some of us give free phone consultations.... Read More

Indiana paternity law is found in Indiana Code 31-14-5 - you can Google the statutes applicable to your situaition.  Also applicalbe is the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act.  Based on your report, Indiana is the proper state for jurisdiction.  Absent an adoption (which you must notice Father about), Dad will be able to attempt to establish paternity of this child for many years.  He can establish enforceable rights and obligations with respect to the child if he is the biological father.  Right now he has presumptive rights as described in the stattues.  A history of domestic violence is relavent to any determination of child access; however, the best interests of the child controls.  Child support will also be established.  If you have received state or federal benefits for the child, the local Prosecutor's Office may also choose to seek child support on behalf of the child.  They will contact you if that becomes the case.  I iwould strongly suggest contacting an attorney to further discuss your options.... Read More

There is a lot more informaiton needed to respond in detail to this question, but it sounds like you consented to a guardianship of your child/children.  If you no longer agree to the guardianship, you can request the guardianship be terminated by making a request to the Court in which the guardianship was filed in.  If there was a previous paternity or dissolution case, there may be other options as well.  In any case, you need to obtain any existing Guardianship Order to determine who has legal custody and if you have parenting time or have been ordered to pay child support.  ... Read More

You and your former partner have ended your relationship and as part of that break-up, he has agreed to pay you the sum of xxx as settlement of claims you and he agree are owed to you. To pay you that sum of money, he is willing to sign an agreement authorizing the lawyer representing him in a pending civil lawsuit to pay over to you the sum of xxx from the net proceeds of the settlement (which amount needs to be defined as a specific dollar amount).  It is not a difficult document to draft but as a lawyer, I would want to have him and the lawyer representing him sign an acknowledgment that you have a lien on the file and that no distributions can be made to him or to any other beneficiary until the satisfaction of the obligation owed to you. This is not the type of document that you should attempt to draft yourself nor should you ask the lawyer representing him to prepare. For reasons too voluminous to go into in this response, I would also not reference any claim for emotional damages flowing from the relationship in the preamble to the agreement since same may give rise to specific concerns by the other lawyer and blow up your deal. I would keep the language simple.   ... Read More

Thank you for your question. Only in very rare circumstances would a judge make changes to a consent order.  In fact, it is practically never the case in which a Judge would override an agreement between the parties.  In some circumstances a Judge might change agreed upon deadlines to exchange documents or perform appraisals (e.g., if the agreed timelines far exceed those allowed by the Court Rules) but a judge likely would not change financial agreements or agreements regarding restrictions on a particular party’s conduct.  That being said, if you have further questions or need to discuss this in more detail you should consider speaking with an experienced family law attorney. ... Read More

Short answer:  18.  See NRS 129.010 Age of majority. All persons of the age of 18 years who are under no legal disability, and all persons who have been declared emancipated pursuant to NRS 129.080 to 129.140, inclusive, are capable of entering into any contract, and are, to all intents and purposes, held and considered to be of lawful age.... Read More

Dear Anonymous: You can file a Petition to Determine Paternity.  There are forms on line that will guide you, including a request for a paternity test.  Check out https://www.flcourts.org/Resources-Services/Office-of-Family-Courts/Family-Courts/Family-Law-Forms?sort=&view=embed_custom&searchtype=form&limit=50&query=petition%20to%20establish%20paternity&offset=0 . Look for family law forms 12.983(a) and 12.983(e).  This will get you on your way. The court will probably order the father to pay child support as the father has a legal as well as a moral duty to do so. I hope this helps and wish you the best of luck.   Cindy S. Vova Law Offices of Cindy S. Vova, P.A. Broward-Boca Raton-Miami-Dade 954-316-3496/561-962-2785  ... Read More

If your daughter died before signing the settlement papers, then an estate would have to be opened up in order for a judge to allow the papers to be signed by the executor of the estate and then distributed to the beneficiaries. If she died without a will and she did not identify her beneficiaries, then the settlement proceeds would pass to her closest living blood relatives (most likely her parents) if she did not have a husband or children. So you need to hire a probate lawyer to open up an estate and appoint you as executor and allow you to act on the estates behalf. Additionally, if the death of your daughter was in some way related to the actions of the defendant who caused her personal injuries, then you may have an additional claim for wrongful death. So you have to consult with both a probate lawyer and a wrongful death attorney To explore these issues.... Read More

No. Everything you have earned post-separation is yours. Just make sure you don't comingle your earnings (combine it) with assets or accounts that you both owned during the marriage.    File for child support. You can go to Child Support Services in the county you live in. You can visit the website for child support, they have a child support calculator where you can enter your income, his income and the percentage of custody he has (In this case ZERO) and you will get a guideline amount of how much he would have to pay you for Child Support.   Or you can hire a competent family law attorney that can assist you in obtaining a divorce, custody and child support.  ... Read More

While you can check with the estate bar layer referal service, 800 968-0738, I do not believe you have a case: first damages for emotional distress are rarely if ever granted in Michigan. second, proving damages would be hard, proving the facts will also be an issue, you would need DNA evidence, possibly from people who are no longer alive. I am sorry that this is distressing to you. What I can tell you is that who you are as a person matters a lot more than who your parents are. The person looking back at you in the mirror each morning is probably a pretty good person who is decent to others and does their best in life. Dwelling on the past will neither give you the answers you need nor make your life any better. With COVID and so many things wrong in the world, it would be wiser to live your life free of matters you had no control over and focus on living each day you have now.  Perhaps not the answer you were looking for, but best of luck to you either way.... Read More

At first blush, it looks like your ex's family loses, but it still has to pass the smell test or else you will find yourself in the middle of litigation and legal fees. If this was simply a pure gift with no strings attached and no conditions, then it seems odd that they are demanding the return of the car. If they are demanding the return of the car, the next question is why did they buy it for you, what were you supposed to do with it and was it intended for you or for their son's benefit. Something seems to be missing from this story, that needs to be fleshed out.  As an example, if they purchased a car for your use because their son could not drive and the plan was that you were to use the car to drive their son to and from his job, therapy, etc and 3 months later, you and he break up, I can understand why they are upset and in that setting, you knew that the purpose of the purchase was not purely a gift.  Conversely, you and your boyfriend have been togther for the past 10 years and because of a million acts of kindness shown to the parents over that 10 year period of time, they decide to surprise you and buy you a car with no strings attached - different story than presented above.  My suggestion is that you get a clearer understanding of why they purchased the car in the first place and why they feel that you owe them money today for it because a lawyer cannot give you a simple answer without you providing all of that information. ... Read More

The Department of Social Services not only intervenes when a parent has abused or neglected their child but also in situations where a parent has placed a child threat of harm for abuse or neglect.  If they have concern that a parent knew, or should have known that an environment or individuals have the propensity to cause abuse or neglect of a child, the parent can be subject to DSS actions, findings, removal of children from home, or intervention for delivery of services.... Read More