Custody question
Forums:
My question is how much will a custody battle cost me?
Some info: I'm a single mother, never been married and am wanting to try and get custody of my 2 year of daughter. I will have my own apartment and financially support me, my daughter, and my preemie twins. Any more info needed let me know. I'm on a fixed income for now and would Iike to know a cost range I would be looking at.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Have a great day and God bless.
Answer to questions 1) I
Answer to questions
1) I haven't talked to a judge or started a case yet. I want to make sure I'll have the money first.
2) he is the biological father. He might fight a little but he married now and doesn't care for our child like he should. He doesn't bath her and that type of issues.
3) we have never been in court. her father and I broke up about 7 months ago. He got married and does not take care of her when she is there. For example he doesn't bath her. The diapers are too small that he puts on her. He refuses to Potty trail and she is 2 years old now. Things to that nature make me feel I need to get custody of her.
4) Arkansas and yes it's a mother state.
I'm looking to get full custody and him see here everything other weekend, spilt holidays, and 6 weeks of the summer. I'd Ike to do this before she turns 3 so she can go to preschool.
You and her father broke up 7
You and her father broke up 7 months ago and he is already married to someone else?????
F*ck me that's fast work....
sorry - nothing useful, just shocked the pants of me that did.
Actually - so - were you both living together up until 7months ago?
Is her father also the father of the preemie twins?
Does he have full custody at the moment - physical custody - I get you haven't been to court but did you leave her with him when you left, and if so what were the arrangements you made with him regarding this? Like - did you and he discuss you getting yourself and the babies settled and then having her on a split basis or full time - anything?
dupe
dupe
Most, but not all states if
Most, but not all states if the parents are unmarried at the time of birth the mother is presumed to have custody.
OP has an intersting tag
OP has an intersting tag line.
First, it's best to remove
First, it's best to remove the personal names. Your user name is your daughter's name and you've named the twins in your bio clip.
Second, what is your custody situation currently. You say you want full custody, but who is the custodial parent right now? Is it a 50/50 split? If you've never been to court with the toddler's father, how do you currently decide things that normally are in a court order such as CS and visitations?
While Not bathing a child as often as you might like the father too and putting her in too small diapers and not training might be areas for your individual concern/worry, a judge isn't going to be too alarmed over it. Your first stop might be children's protective services who might do an investigation and offer/require the father to do parenting classes or something along those lines.
Is this man the father of your twin babies also? I'd question the sense of trying to take on 100% full single custody verses trying to work out 'fixing' the personal care that concerns you on his part. A 21yr old with a 2yr old and twin babies all on her own 24/7 may not be your best route of correcting bathing and diapers. It may be you that comes into question if you go the full custody direction with so little to argue.
My DW was a 16yo single teen
My DW was a 16yo single teen mom. When SS was 1yo his SpermIdiot egged on by Sperm GrandMa filed for custody. That started a battle that lasted a full year and cost my DW who was 18yo at the time ~$7,000.00
That combined with the CS and visitation battles that followed cost us a total of ~$10,000.00 over a total of ~10 years.
As a single mom it is likely you will be automatically granted custody of your children. Rather than seek custody I would just file for CS against your DD2yo's baby daddy. That order will establish you as the CP.
That is how it worked for my DW. When she filed for CS against the SpermIdiot she was established as the CP and that is how it stayed. Though as I said the SpermClan did try unsuccessfully to get custody.
Good luck.
I live in Florida and won a
I live in Florida and won a custody fight with my ex last year. He had wanted to take over primary custody of our daughter, mostly because of issues related to his paying child support. I ended up paying about $17,000 in attorney fees to keep our custody arrangement (I have primary custody and he takes her every other weekend) the same.
First off you need to get to
First off you need to get to a custody agreement filed with the court, it will make life considerably easier down the road. It will also set up a support order which will help your finances. You have a few options as to representation, if your ex has the money to hire an attorney you will want representation, but you can also both appear pro se (without attorney's) which is obviously the cheapest option as it will only cost court costs. You could also contact Legal Aid and they will charge based on your income so that cost will vary depending on your income. You could also hire your own attorney which will likely cost you between $100 and $200 per hour of their time. Most attorney's require a retainer of anywhere between $1000 & $5000 up front. Most non-complicated situations will run you between $2000 & $3500, more if it's more complicated.