Have you been through a custody battle without a lawyer? Seeking advice for navigating coparenting and GAL interactions in Newport News, VA. #custodybattle #gal #coparenting #lawyerless #NewportNewsVA #parentingadvice
Background:
– Son separated from wife in 2017, has 2 kids (F15, M10)
– Increased parenting time since 2020
– Wife had another child with another man
– DV incidents with new man, kids fear him
– Son wants to change kids’ school zone but wife has legal papers
– Son had a lawyer but fired them, filed for custody without counsel
Current Situation:
– Son has been advised not to contact GAL or Court clerk by coparenting instructor
– GAL has not been responsive, only one call back
– Next hearing in May, worried about lack of GAL
Looking for advice and opinions on handling custody battles and coparenting without a lawyer. Any insights on navigating GAL interactions and court hearings in Newport News, VA would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
If the GAL wasn’t appointed by the judge via an order, there’s no point in calling the GAL over and over again. Your son needs to get a copy of the order from the prior hearing and see what’s in it.
Your son basically has two options at this point:
1. He can hire a new attorney.
2. He can wait for the next court date and get more info directly from the judge. He’ll have followed the instructions from the prior court date (calling the GAL and taking the co-parenting class).
Unfortunately, the legal system, including family court, is not easy or simple to navigate without legal representation. Also unfortunately, legal representation is expensive.
I only wanted to add that depending on your state, children can reach an age where they can request or “express” which parent they want to live with. That may help in court, if an “of age” child says they want to stay with your son, rather than the mom, despite the existing custody arrangement.
Also, if you haven’t already, you need to be keeping track of dates, conversations, etc. If the kids are with their dad full time, then that should be easy enough, but also when and how did that start? Keep text messages, emails, notes.
If you believe the kids, at any point, may have been the victims of DV AND you can prove it, you can also file a police report, which might get you a RO. This could kick things into the next level though and make things worse. Since the kids are with their dad and currently safe, I wouldn’t do anything until the next court hearing.
I’m in CO but my daughter is going through family court stuff too. While searching for attorneys, I have found that many firms will help with paperwork and filing, kind of a la carte, without a huge retainer.