Do we need a lawyer??

[TxStep]

This is regarding a case in Ventura County, California. My husband and I need to modify his visitation agreement regarding his son. The divorce decree was set up when he lived in state and we now live out of state. We want to change the arrangement from the standard "every other weekend and wednesdays" to half of school vacations and every other holiday. We also want to set up a transportation agreement for flying him out to see us. Do we need to hire a lawyer for this, or can we do this ourselves? Any advice from those who have "been there, done that" would be appreciated...

 

[4theloveofachild]

You may want to hire an attny. What my brother did with his child was have an attny set up a visitation schedule, which stated when he could have her, who would be transport the child, and no parent could leave that state in which they reside without permission of the other parent. This was all done with a one time fee, and luckily, both parties agreed.

 

[TxStep]

Well, unfortunately in our case, the mother does not want us to see my step-son at all. I am afraid she will make this very difficult, so we probably need to just hire a lawyer. It just bugs me that we are going to have to lay down thousands of dollars on this because she wants to be difficult.

 

[4theloveofachild]

Good luck TxStep! Some advise I would give is try going to CSE for pamplets on low cost lawyers. I have not used one from there, but I do know that they have the information there. Another place you may check, is at a credit union banks, or your local bank. Some banks (more credit unions) wil offer lawyers at a discounted rate. They also offer some free consultations, and some will also help you without a retainer. I hope that everything will work out for you and your family. It is a shame that there are non-custodial parents who really want to see their child, and the other parent is just out to hurt them at the expense of the child. Please keep me posted. I'll try to do some more research for you.