need lawyer

[prideluv]

What is the name of your state? MO

Well my daughter finaly woke up a little bit anyway. She left her fiance and father of her baby. He physically and verbally abuses her. 3 of their friends have also told us that they have seen him abuse the 20 mo old child, by hitting him in the head and throwing him across a room, and cussing him out, telling him the get the f*** away from him.

However, my daughter is still having trouble accepting it all. She still hopes to work things out with him thru conseling.

He has already seen a lawyer and is trying to get her to sign some custody papers. They give him physical custody, but he tells her it is just a formality....she wants to believe him. We have told her that it is not what he says.

I finally got her to call legal aid today because she has no money. Lost her job today due to illness which she has seen a doctor about. She is staying with a girlfriend temporaily.

Legal aid told her that she would have to wait 1 mo before they could help her because, even tho she gets medicaid and food stamps, since she was working they couldnt help her yet.

I am afraid that in the meantime, he will go forward with his lawyer and get things done before she can get legal help.

Any suggestions on someone that will help her now, even tho she has no money?

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state? MO

Well my daughter finaly woke up a little bit anyway. She left her fiance and father of her baby. He physically and verbally abuses her. 3 of their friends have also told us that they have seen him abuse the 20 mo old child, by hitting him in the head and throwing him across a room, and cussing him out, telling him the get the f*** away from him.

However, my daughter is still having trouble accepting it all. She still hopes to work things out with him thru conseling.

He has already seen a lawyer and is trying to get her to sign some custody papers. They give him physical custody, but he tells her it is just a formality....she wants to believe him. We have told her that it is not what he says.

I finally got her to call legal aid today because she has no money. Lost her job today due to illness which she has seen a doctor about. She is staying with a girlfriend temporaily.

Legal aid told her that she would have to wait 1 mo before they could help her because, even tho she gets medicaid and food stamps, since she was working they couldnt help her yet.

I am afraid that in the meantime, he will go forward with his lawyer and get things done before she can get legal help.

Any suggestions on someone that will help her now, even tho she has no money?

Please make sure that your daughter DOES NOT sign those papers! They are no formality. If she signs them he will then file them with a court and get a judge's signature...and he will then have custody.

Yes, he will probably file a case if she doesn't sign the papers. However she will have time to respond, and she can make a response on her own. It takes a while to get a court date and hopefully legal aid will be able to help her by then.

 

[BL]

If he files , she can request a court appointed attorney. The court should send her to see if she qualifies. Also at the first hearing she can ask for a continuance long enough for her to qualify for legal aid , if need be .

The court would most likely set a new hearing date so she can have an attorney, and everything can be reviewed and brought in front of the Court .

 

[stealth2]

This is a relatively common misconception, I believe - the court does NOT appoint attorneys for civil matters - custody is a civil matter.

Your daughter can, and should, contact a women's shelter - if she doesn't know where to find one, she could contact the Nat'l Domestic Violence Hotline - their website is ndvh.org and they have an 800 number on that site. They will be able to provide her with a local number. Either they or the local number should be able to provide her with numbers to call for legal resources. She should also call the state bar association and ask them for a list of attorneys who have not yet fulfilled their pro bono quota for the year (needless to say, this late in the year the pickings may be slim). Depending on where she lives, there may be a law school that has their seniors run legal clinics for practice - someone there may be able to help her.

She ABSOLUTELY MUST NOT SIGN his papers! If she does, she WILL LOSE CUSTODY!!!

Even if he files them with the court, it's okay. That actually buys her time since the law requires her a certain amount of time to respond, etc before it goes before a judge. If she gets ANYTHING that indicates a court date, impress upon her that she MUST be there or she may lose the kid(s).