family law, how on earth does anyone afford a lawyer...help!?

Question

my daughter has a child from a previous relationship which ended about 5 years ago, the father ( mega dropkick) has hardly bother to see the child and has probably only done about 3 times and then it was under supervision with his parents, my daughter has recently married and wants to change the child's name ( at the moment its both her and his surname hyphenated) to her married name, which the child has being going under for the last 4 years. When she applied to the courts, the father turned up and said he wanted visitation rights and so until that sorted she cant do anything about the name change, the father is now taking her to court for visitation, unfortunately the family earns too much for legal aid and it seems that its going to cost a few thousand to fight it / appear in court and they just have not got the money. My daughter is very upset and does not know where to turn to next and no one seems to be able to help, she does not want her child to have contact with the father ( at least until she is older), he is a very irresponsible person ( he has had 4 children since by 4 different girls, 2 of them born 11 days apart!!)
please don't say that the father has rights, this is not the issue at this stage ( and if you knew him you would understand this). we just need a little advise in how to get legal help.
OR.... know any dirty tricks we can use????

C · Accepted Answer

It could depend on what State you are located in.  From what you've written, this bio dad will not follow through anyway.  In the state of CA there is what's called Child Support Services who will help with paperwork on visitation as well as child support.  If child support arrangements/visitation has never been officially established I would recommend putting that in order first no matter what.  Chances are this guys ego is getting in the way b/c if he has only exercised visitation 3 times in four years & has all these other children he'll run from any real responsibility.  Don't spend any money on attorneys at this point.  Respond when and if this bio dad really does anything by showing up at scheduled hearings etc & get the paperwork in place ASAP for child support just so the track record will start recording on this guy.  In my own experience I spent a lot of money on the attorneys & went through the courts for child support & visitation.  The bio dad quit his job, stopped paying anything, stopped visitation and all communication. So, from here the court documents are not worth the paper they are written on unless you want to chase these guys around and enforce them which will cost more.  I turned it over to CSS to make sure the state was aware & if I ever get any support I will deposit it in the bank.

Good luck & BTW legal name or not the child can go by what ever name her Mother chooses.

wendy c · Answer

I feel for you, and have a family member who "lost" her kids because they could not afford a lawyer. The other side committed pure perjury and got away with it. 
If I could.. I would find some way to create a network/ cooperative of some kind for these issues. Legal aid is a joke.

YUYA · Answer

check with legal aid to represent the child not the mother, after all the child is the one involved in this case. legal aid will represent the minor rights. good luck

Ally · Answer

my uncle's a law err so find some family members that can hook you up!

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family law, how on earth does anyone afford a lawyer...help!?

4 Answers