Court date - Apr 23rd. Advice, plz?

[slayerforever]

Some of you may be familiar with my case. Here is the problem I have now. In February, my aunt - who is paying for my sister's lawyer - made a deal with my husband whereby we agree to leave the kids with my sister for the moment so that we could work on the relationship between the children and ourselves, bringing them home gradually. We upheld our end of the bargain. They came home on the weekends to spend time with us. I was waiting for their medicaid to come through so that I could get them into some sort of counseling. Last weekend, we learned that my aunt was unable to hold up her end of the deal. She says that she contacted the lawyer about it and was told that they could not withdraw the guardianship request. However, she failed to notify us of this until now. Then on Tuesday, she sent us a text message asking for our address, saying that they had gotten their papers with a court date set for April 23rd and needed to send them to us (still haven't gotten them yet, though). This has left me scrambling to find legal aid! I told my husband that I think that we should just get the kids up out of there right now because when we go to court, my argument is going to be that her home is not a good place for my kids to be, for a lot of reasons. I think that if we leave them there, the judge will think that 'if it's so bad, why did you leave them there after you knew the deal was off?' My husband on the other hand thinks that it will just cause a lot of drama that will look bad for us in court. While I do not doubt that there would be tons of drama, I just don't know what to do, and I am panicking!! So, in your professional opinions, what would be the best course of action for us at this time - do we avoid the drama, or bring them home? TIA for your help!

 

[army judge]

Some of you may be familiar with my case. Here is the problem I have now. In February, my aunt - who is paying for my sister's lawyer - made a deal with my husband whereby we agree to leave the kids with my sister for the moment so that we could work on the relationship between the children and ourselves, bringing them home gradually. We upheld our end of the bargain. They came home on the weekends to spend time with us. I was waiting for their medicaid to come through so that I could get them into some sort of counseling. Last weekend, we learned that my aunt was unable to hold up her end of the deal. She says that she contacted the lawyer about it and was told that they could not withdraw the guardianship request. However, she failed to notify us of this until now. Then on Tuesday, she sent us a text message asking for our address, saying that they had gotten their papers with a court date set for April 23rd and needed to send them to us (still haven't gotten them yet, though). This has left me scrambling to find legal aid! I told my husband that I think that we should just get the kids up out of there right now because when we go to court, my argument is going to be that her home is not a good place for my kids to be, for a lot of reasons. I think that if we leave them there, the judge will think that 'if it's so bad, why did you leave them there after you knew the deal was off?' My husband on the other hand thinks that it will just cause a lot of drama that will look bad for us in court. While I do not doubt that there would be tons of drama, I just don't know what to do, and I am panicking!! So, in your professional opinions, what would be the best course of action for us at this time - do we avoid the drama, or bring them home? TIA for your help!

Did you just ask your relative to take care of your kids while you got your act together as a favor?
In other words, you said something like this, "Hi, Aunt Esmerelda, here is your Great-Niece, SuSu, and your Great-Nephew, ChewChew. Thank you for letting them stay with you, while we get our lives together!"

If this is essentially how it went down, just go get your kids. If you can't properly care for them, speak with DFCS, and discuss your options.




Or, was it more like this, "Hi Aunt Cruella. The court proceeding went well, and we're ever so grateful for you accepting temporary guardianship of your Great-Nephew, Lester, and your Great-Niece, Lucretia. Wasn't Judge Hangingthem so understanding?"

If it went down like this, without a real lawyer that you've hired, seeing those kids in your custody, control, and care again might be very difficult.



My comment:

Its no crime to admit you can't care afford to care for your children.
Children require love and concern, but so do horses, and neither one is cheap these days.
Having parented my children into adulthood, I'd never do it again, today.
Its so much harder being a parent today, than it was 20-30 years ago.

Horses are somewhat like kids, as they also require a great deal of care, and they are very expensive.
However, raising horses today isn't much harder than it was 50, or even 100 years ago.
In fact, those in the know say its easier.

My point is, that you made a very difficult choice.
You tried to do what you thought was best for those kids.
I know it must have been hard.
But, it seems the people you chose to care for them are doing far worse than you ever did.

It takes much longer for people to get back on their feet financially today.
In fact, you might not do it for another decade.
You might want to speak with DCFS about relinquishing your parental rights.
I have nothing else for you.

You have some hard choices ahead, good luck.

 

[slayerforever]

I'm sorry, I think maybe you don't understand. It hasn't gone like any of those things; This is the link to my original forum posting. http://www.thelaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55444
I decided to make a new thread for this one to make sure that someone here saw it, because I was the last one to post in the previous thread and I am in a bit of a time crunch here
We are finally and totally back on our feet! It took us four years and a lot of getting knocked down, but I now have a license, a car, and a job. I'm in my second year in school, studying for a degree in psychology. Our rent is paid up through August. There is no reason we cannot now provide a stable place for our children. I am terrified that they have purposely not left me enough time to find legal aid and I really just need to know what would look worse in front of the judge, particularly if we are forced to go in there without a lawyer. Thank you

 

[army judge]

I'm sorry, I think maybe you don't understand. It hasn't gone like any of those things; This is the link to my original forum posting. http://www.thelaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55444
I decided to make a new thread for this one to make sure that someone here saw it, because I was the last one to post in the previous thread and I am in a bit of a time crunch here
We are finally and totally back on our feet! It took us four years and a lot of getting knocked down, but I now have a license, a car, and a job. I'm in my second year in school, studying for a degree in psychology. Our rent is paid up through August. There is no reason we cannot now provide a stable place for our children. I am terrified that they have purposely not left me enough time to find legal aid and I really just need to know what would look worse in front of the judge, particularly if we are forced to go in there without a lawyer. Thank you

Legal aid is generally not available for domestic relations cases.

I suggest you hire a lawyer, if they have one.

What the judge will want to see is PROOF.

You can't just say it, without furnishing PROOF.

Plus, the judge wants to hear what's BEST for the kids, not what you want, or what's best for you.

Lastly, having a job, paying your rent, going to school aren't achievements.

Those things are minimum things citizens are expected to do.

If drugs were involved, you must provide PROOF of what you're doing on your respective programs.

Frankly, the judge may want to make no changes until after school is out at the earliest.

Most people don't just pull kids out of school, two or three times a year.

You've come a long way, but you aren't there yet, in my view.

Good luck.

 

[Proserpina]

I'm sorry, I think maybe you don't understand. It hasn't gone like any of those things; This is the link to my original forum posting. http://www.thelaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55444
I decided to make a new thread for this one to make sure that someone here saw it, because I was the last one to post in the previous thread and I am in a bit of a time crunch here
We are finally and totally back on our feet! It took us four years and a lot of getting knocked down, but I now have a license, a car, and a job. I'm in my second year in school, studying for a degree in psychology. Our rent is paid up through August. There is no reason we cannot now provide a stable place for our children. I am terrified that they have purposely not left me enough time to find legal aid and I really just need to know what would look worse in front of the judge, particularly if we are forced to go in there without a lawyer. Thank you

This truly is one that's outside the realm of legal information and slap bang in the middle of "It's your decision" territory.

I didn't check your post hx yet...so this is what I have right now.

They've lived elsewhere for 4 YEARS? A court may find it unreasonable to remove them without good cause.

 

[slayerforever]

I would love to hire a lawyer. However, as well as we're doing now financially that is not going to be possible. Which is why we qualify for legal aid. Georgia legal aid referred us to one in Florida on Friday, which I have to call on Monday. There are no drugs involved on our part. They have not been there for four years, but only off and on for the last four, so all together it's more like a year and a half. My sister is arguing that they need a stable place to live and that we are unable to provide that to them, which is why I listed all of our achievements. And I don't know where anyone got the idea that we have been jerking them in and out of school. They have always gone to the same school, and will continue to do so.