This question is too complicated to answer on the forum. Even if you do not have the funds to retain an attorney do you have enough funds to have an initial consultation so your attorney can review the facts of your case with you?
P.S. Please feel free to bring up this or any other topic on our live call-in show every Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. EST. Visit radio.rosen.com/live for details
Helena M. Nevicosi
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm
4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 500
Raleigh, North Carolina 27607
919.787.6668 main phone
919.787.6361 main fax
Charlotte Office
301 McCullough Drive
Suite 510
Charlotte, NC 28262
Main Phone: (704)307.4600
Main Fax: (704) 9343.0044
Durham & Chapel Hill Office
1829 East Franklin Street
Building 600
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(919) 321.0780
The response posted above is based upon the limited factual information made available and is not intended as a full and complete response to the question. The only reliable manner to obtain complete and adequate legal advice is to consult with an attorney, fully explain your situation, and allow the attorney sufficient opportunity to research the applicable law and facts required to render an accurate opinion. The basic information provided above is intended as a public service only, a full discussion with an attorney should be undertaken before taking any action. The information posted on this forum is available for public viewing and is not intended to create an attorney client relationship with any individual. These answers are provided for informational purposes only, a person should consult with their own individual legal counsel before taking any action that could affect their legal rights or obligations.
Yes, we have consulted for free via phone w/ few lawyers as well as paid a consultation to one. During our consult, he said it was an open and shut case in our favor to have a modification order done, but he would require an up-front-in-full $3000.00 retainer.[V]
You do not have to have a lawyer to go to court. It is something you can do yourself, but you will be responsible for knowing the rules the same way an attorney must know them. You may want to call the clerk in your county and see if there are any services available to pro se litigants.
P.S. Please feel free to bring up this or any other topic on our live call-in show every Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. EST. Visit radio.rosen.com/live for details
Helena M. Nevicosi
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm
4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 500
Raleigh, North Carolina 27607
919.787.6668 main phone
919.787.6361 main fax
Charlotte Office
301 McCullough Drive
Suite 510
Charlotte, NC 28262
Main Phone: (704)307.4600
Main Fax: (704) 9343.0044
Durham & Chapel Hill Office
1829 East Franklin Street
Building 600
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(919) 321.0780
The response posted above is based upon the limited factual information made available and is not intended as a full and complete response to the question. The only reliable manner to obtain complete and adequate legal advice is to consult with an attorney, fully explain your situation, and allow the attorney sufficient opportunity to research the applicable law and facts required to render an accurate opinion. The basic information provided above is intended as a public service only, a full discussion with an attorney should be undertaken before taking any action. The information posted on this forum is available for public viewing and is not intended to create an attorney client relationship with any individual. These answers are provided for informational purposes only, a person should consult with their own individual legal counsel before taking any action that could affect their legal rights or obligations.
In answer to your questions; the child is a teenager (I don’t publicly post specifics, sorry), and a step-wife/step-husband is your current spouse’s ex…genderize however you need to. The rest is self-explanatory. Go back to my original post, dated 5/18/08 titled “move to another county?” on this forum, and you’ll see where it started.
My step-wife and my husband have joint legal custody and she has full physical custody thru a consent agreement signed last year. Since then, she has done/said things to children that have caused them to change their view of her, my husband and myself (see my earlier post entitled “move to another county?” dated 5/18/08).
We have had the first 3 of our 6 week summer visitation w/ the kids and now the oldest is refusing to return to the mother’s house. She has stated that if anyone tries to make her return to mom’s house, she will run away.
The mother has stated that if the child doesn’t return in the next few days, she’s never to return and she wants all of the child’s clothing and a very expensive gift from the child’s grandfather (that was made directly to the child) returned to her home. She has also stated to the child that she will never be allowed back into her house and she will be completely disowned. The mother is verbally/emotionally abusive toward all the children, and any time one of them does something that she doesn’t like, she punishes them by telling them she’s going to “send them to live their father because she won’t be disrepected in her home”. Then she calls my husband to tell him that the kids will be moving in with him over the weekend. As soon as she calms down, anywhere from minutes to weeks later, she acts like nothing has ever happened, and when she is reminded of her statements/behaviors, she says she never has said any such thing. She also is mentally unstable, and has been known to attempt suicide on more than one occasion.
The child has visibly changed in the last few weeks, going from a shy, untrusting girl standing in the corner with her arms crossed over her chest to a girl who is making new friends, talking to more adults, and standing straight with her held up and a smile on her face. She has also quit binging and purging and obsessing over the size of her non-existent tummy. She has a job here, and is heavily involved with church and friends, and wants to be signed up at the school here for the upcoming school year. This is something that she completely decided on her own, without any input from her father or I other than us telling her that we would support her decision regardless of what it was when she first came to us about this. She stated that this was something she had been considering for months.
What can we do for her? We do not currently have the ability to hire a lawyer. Are there any family lawyers in NC that will do pro bono work as long as it benefits the child?
Also, what will happen to my husband if he stands behind his child and doesn’t force her to return to the mother’s house?