Rhode Island Family Legal Questions

In California, animals are usually treated as property, so "custody and visitation" disputes do not arise. In other words, the Court will see your pet the same as a sofa or television. There is one exception to this. In situations where a domestic violence restraining order is issued, and good cause is shown, the Court may make orders regarding animals (see Family Code Section 6320). I believe it helpful to you that the dog was given to you as a gift and you have paid for much of its care. Gather as much evidence as possible in this regard to help prove up your case. Also, your question implies you were not married to your ex-boyfriend. As a result, unless you had children together you would not be able to bring an action in Family Law Court all all, unless a domestic violence restraining order was requested as discussed above.... Read More

It sounds as though there was a bench warrant issued as a result of your non-appearance. Therefore the police did not need probable cause for the arrest. However, if they took you into custody without reading you your Miranda rights, then any statements you made to the police after you were in custody can be excluded from your trial.... Read More

If it was given to your son, why is it in your husband's name? Just for insurance? If your son cannot live by the house rules, he needs to move out. He can then sue you and your husband to have the title transferred to him. Of course, he will then have to pay all of his own living expenses. Look, this is more than a legal issue - your family needs help. I suggest all three of you go to counseling.... Read More

If you are awarded custody of your son, you can allow your fiance to have contact with him. Your husband can ask the court to prevent contact between your fiance and your son, if he thinks such contact would be detrimental. It does not sound as if your fiance's criminal cases would limit his ability to interact with your son when he is released.... Read More

The court can modify a joint custody arrangement if there have been substantial changes in the circumstances of the parties and if the modification would be in the best interests of the children, or if the parties are no longer capable of implementing the joint custody arrangement set forth in the last court order. If the father has been exercising more than alternating weekend parent time, the court may not reduce his time with the children, unless there have been problems that would be solved if he saw the children less often. If he has only been seeing them every other weekend for an extended period of time, the court will likely modify the the order or decree to be consistent with what has been happening. You may want to determine exactly why you want to change from joint custody to sole custody. Changing the custody arrangement may not be necessary or it may not be effective to resolve your issues.... Read More

Whether a judge would share letters that he obtained in your case depends on the purpose of the letters and why the judge kept them. For example, sometimes people write letters to a judge on behalf of a defendant at sentencing and those letters are kept in the file, but the court usually does not publish or share them. If a judge accepted letters you wrote as evidence in a case, then the letters may become part of the record in your case and the letters could be made public. A judge can't discuss the details of an ongoing case, but again, if your case is public record then the letters could be made public. If you are worried about the letters becoming a part of the record then you can file a petition to have them sealed.... Read More

If the size of your living situation is the only problem with placement then you could simply rent an apartment which meets the state requirements. In dependency homes can be disqualified when there are too many people living under one roof. Normally two children of same sex per bedroom is the standard.... Read More

It sounds like you need to get a bigger house. Having said that, you may try going to court and getting a guardianship outside of the States framework. If the court makes you the guardian, it will be difficult for the state to keep the child away. However, if you dont have a separate bedroom for your cousin, the court will probably not allow you to have guardianship of him either.... Read More