paternity advice - fjoy1986 - moved post

[Attorney Howard Iken]

by fjoy1986
I am a 23 year old mother of a 3 year old boy who has been served by my ex with a paternity lawsuit. The father has NOT been involved in his life much at all and now he wants to get visitation and custody because he found out that I had gotten married and the fact that my husband is the new father figure for my son . I cannot afford a lawyer and I have tried legal aid already and they did not have the resources to take on my case so I need info on a low cost or pro-bono lawyer for my family case. My ex hired a cheaper lawyer for $3,000.00 to get this case taken care of. I have proof that my ex is a liar and he has made multiple false DCF reports about my husband and I, he lied to get an injunction on me because he told the courts that we were living together for the last 2 years which is not true. I want to know what I can do to gain full custody of my son and prove that my ex is unstable at the age of 26 years old, no job, living at home with his parents, and does not have adequate facilities for my son if he was granted visitation. Please help me with advise. Thank you so much!!!!!!

[Attorney Cheri Hobbs]

Make sure you submit an Answer/Response to the Clerk of Court and your ex in reference to the Paternity lawsuit. You can actually file an Answer and Counterpetition which would give you the opportunity to briefly and concisely articulate how/why your ex having shared custody would not be in the child's best interests. I would like to warn you though that recent legislation and caselaw is very Father friendly and it will be an uphill battle to try to prove that you should have sole parental responsibility. Make sure to document any and all reports to DCF and times your ex is or attempts to be present in the child's life.

Our firm does offer several Flat Fee services that you may want to consider if cost is a factor.

Attorney Cheri Hobbs