In desperate need of FAMILY LAW advice. Cannot afford an attorney at the moment.?
Ok, so I recently gave birth to my daughter in the state of AZ 3 weeks ago. Up until the beginning of August, my baby's father was never involved with the baby or my pregnancy. He had asked me to move in with him so we can work on things and so I did. However, he began to make violent threats against my family and began drinking again so A week before I delivered on September 21st, I left him and gave birth without him, giving my daughter MY last name. Because my mom & dad were in the process of moving to MN during the midst of all this craziness, I obviously made the choice to go with because MN is where my support system is. I have nowhere to stay in AZ. Two days before my flight, my baby's father served me papers basically stating he would like a DNA test and sole custody of my daughter, asking the courts that I could not leave the state. Nowhere in the documents did it say I couldn't leave AZ tho. However, it did have a court date for November 4th, in which I obviously am unable to attend. It also had a judges signature and stated that I have the choice to respond to the documents before the court takes what he's asking into consideration. I'm curious to know what I should do from here. Neither I or my family can afford a trip to AZ for court, and I was escaping an abusive relationship in order to have the support and love I need from family. I am a single unmarried mother, and like I said, his name is NOT on the birth certificate.