Yes…I am one of the many fathers in this country that has lost parental rights and is now ready to do absolutely anything (legal of course) to have the ability to have my children in my life. I am anything but a high roller and as you know, the costs involved in retaining legal counsel are astronomical. If you have any knowledge of funding for a person in my situation I certainly would appreciate a point in the right direction.
Thank you.
Luke Anderson
Oregon
If you can’t afford to finance this on your own, you can’t afford to raise those kids once you have them.
Do you really want to raise your kids on your own, or are you just trying to make your ex’s life a nightmare? I strongly suspect the latter. :dubious:
p.s. Nowadays, courts are VERY reluctant to deny parental access to a child unless there are some overwhelming reasons to do so.
Moderator Note
nearwildheaven, making insulting personal remarks when you have no real information about the case is inappropriate for General Questions. No warning issued, but don’t do this again.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Since the OP is looking for advice, let’s move this over to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
I don’t see anything to indicate that he’s trying to make his ex’s life a nightmare. He’s just trying to have his kids around, not take them away from the ex.
I think in some states you can check with the family court to see if they have any low cost or free representation. I don’t know if it’s something you walk in and ask about or what, but I’m sure they’ll help. You can also represent yourself.
Luke A. would you care to let us know ***why ***you lost your parental rights? No need to go into specifics, especially not personally-identifiable ones, but at least a general overview would be helpful. Also, I assume you meant you lost ALL of your parental rights, but I hate to assume, so … do you have partial custody? See 'em every other weekend or something? Are you allowed to see them at all, even for supervised visits?
The two most relevant programs would probably be the legal aid society and the state bar’s modest means program. Legal aid is usually where most of the pro bono work in a state goes through, although sometimes the state bar might have their own program too. It’s also geared towards people whose income is low enough to qualify for public assistance. The modest means program just acts like a subsidy, so you still have to pay a big portion of the lawyer’s fee, but a lot more people qualify for it.
Here’s the Oregon legal aid website: http://sites.lawhelp.org/program/694/index.cfm
And the Oregon Bar’s Modest Means application: Programs to Help you Find the Right Lawyer
Stopping in to talk to the people at the legal aid office if there’s one near you would probably be a good first step since even if you don’t qualify for their programs they could probably point you in the right direction. They may also be able to point you to some resources for doing your case pro se, which might be a reasonable option if your situation isn’t too complicated.
This isn’t true. There is a world of difference between budgeting for children over the course of the month and coming up with $5000 all at once for a retainer and then figuring out how to pay the rest of the fees (mediation, parenting classes, filing fees, plus whatever the lawyer winds up costing in the end) in addition to that.
Check out these sites. Fathers 4 Justice and National Parents Org used to be Fathers and Families.
Sounds like a messy divorce. Good luck.
Nope, false allegations is all that’s required. Happens all the freakn time.
And a parent who makes them can, and will, get in some VERY big trouble if they are exposed to be false.
Have your parental rights been terminated, or have you just lost custody? Those are two very different situations. If your rights have been terminated, you probably have a limited amount of time to file an appeal, or it’s game over. If you lost custody, but are paying support, you should be entitled to some form of visitation.
Given that all but a handful of courts default to joint custody, I would guess there is more to the story. Care to elaborate?
I see the OP hasn’t posted before or since. I wonder what’s happened in the meantime.