Recommendations for a lawyer specializing in family law?

[The Reverend SnoopHogg]

I have a family member in need of someone who does family law, specifically custody stuff....anyone with a recommendation, I'd appreciate it.
(Little Rock area)

[Texzilla]

Ahh jeez hate to hear it.  Having been involved in one in the 80's it's just terrible even when it goes well.  Best wishes for your family and the little ones involved. 

[The Reverend SnoopHogg]

Ahh jeez hate to hear it.  Having been involved in one in the 80's it's just terrible even when it goes well.  Best wishes for your family and the little ones involved. 

Thanks man.  It's tough finding one to take a case...

[TC]

Hoping for the best for your family, and that child, Rev.

A couple of years ago my cousin, a single mother, passed away from cancer way too young, and left a son. His donor-father was just over in White county, yet only tried to make contact with her and the child once during his life. He was 10 at the time she finally passed, and he watched her take her final breath flat on her face when she collapsed in the kitchen.

We all went to court in Benton and I lost. I still have $4k for him from social security that they paid me while he was under our care. I'm gonna surprise him with it when he's older.

Good luck brother.

[The Reverend SnoopHogg]

Hoping for the best for your family, and that child, Rev.

A couple of years ago my cousin, a single mother, passed away from cancer way too young, and left a son. His donor-father was just over in White county, yet only tried to make contact with her and the child once during his life. He was 10 at the time she finally passed, and he watched her take her final breath flat on her face when she collapsed in the kitchen.

We all went to court in Benton and I lost. I still have $4k for him from social security that they paid me while he was under our care. I'm gonna surprise him with it when he's older.

Good luck brother.

This is my nephew's kid.  She's 13 and in a really unstable and dangerous home situation with her mother.  The mom has a couple other kids and she uses the oldest as a daycare, even keeping her out of school, causing her to miss enough days to cause her to be held back a year.

We are going to try to rectify this.

[Texzilla]

Rev that's awful for your nephew's kid.  Documentation is critical of CPS and the schools so hopefully they have been involved. 

Keeping kids out of school like that might be the legal wedge you need. What she is doing is criminal so those are the things that help a case. You need hard evidence so you might need a private detective. 

In the case I was involved in the situation was in a small town in Tennessee.  The father was a dope dealer but played high school football with half the sheriffs and headed the local coon hunting club with the local judges. 

We had to hire a PI to get the real dirt which was hard and expensive in a little town but they got it.  Just before the court date, her attorney subpoenaed damn near half the county. In 24 hours he dropped his lawsuit and agreed to the mother's countersuit of total full custody and limited supervised visitation.

Every court is different.  Hope y'all find the kind of aggressive attorney you need to get this fixed. 

[The Reverend SnoopHogg]

Rev that's awful for your nephew's kid.  Documentation is critical of CPS and the schools so hopefully they have been involved. 

Keeping kids out of school like that might be the legal wedge you need. What she is doing is criminal so those are the things that help a case. You need hard evidence so you might need a private detective. 

In the case I was involved in the situation was in a small town in Tennessee.  The father was a dope dealer but played high school football with half the sheriffs and headed the local coon hunting club with the local judges. 

We had to hire a PI to get the real dirt which was hard and expensive in a little town but they got it.  Just before the court date, her attorney subpoenaed damn near half the county. In 24 hours he dropped his lawsuit and agreed to the mother's countersuit of total full custody and limited supervised visitation.

Every court is different.  Hope y'all find the kind of aggressive attorney you need to get this fixed. 

We are collecting evidence at a good clip.  The daughter has sent a video of the mom and stepdad "snorting some sort of powder up their noses."  That should help.
The mom was in hot springs gambling and drinking on Monday and left the daughter at home to babysit her siblings, and as a result The daughter tried to hurt herself by ingesting an entire bottle of Benadryl and is currently in a facility.
She is made to order door dash every day for her and her siblings, the house is a garbage pile of filth.   Screen shots of text exchanges between the girl and the mom are unbelievable.  I wouldn't even talk to HTL like that.   The step dad is a fairly prominent doctor, who I suspect will not want this all to come out in court.

I warned my nephew about sticking his dick in crazy, but he was 19 and she was a smoke show.  He has since learned his lesson.

[cchog]

Sorry to hear about the kids' situation, Rev.

Hope you can get everything worked out.

[Texzilla]

We are collecting evidence at a good clip.  The daughter has sent a video of the mom and stepdad "snorting some sort of powder up their noses."  That should help.
The mom was in hot springs gambling and drinking on Monday and left the daughter at home to babysit her siblings, and as a result The daughter tried to hurt herself by ingesting an entire bottle of Benadryl and is currently in a facility.
She is made to order door dash every day for her and her siblings, the house is a garbage pile of filth.   Screen shots of text exchanges between the girl and the mom are unbelievable.  I wouldn't even talk to HTL like that.   The step dad is a fairly prominent doctor, who I suspect will not want this all to come out in court.

I warned my nephew about sticking his dick in crazy, but he was 19 and she was a smoke show.  He has since learned his lesson.

That's terrible she is coping thru self harm and hopefully they can get an emergency ruling to keep her from having to go back home. 

Is CPS involved yet?  Hopefully the other two kids are removed from the home as well.  I'm praying the kids are made safe, the mom put in jail, the stepdad loses his license. 

[The Reverend SnoopHogg]

That's terrible she is coping thru self harm and hopefully they can get an emergency ruling to keep her from having to go back home. 

Is CPS involved yet?  Hopefully the other two kids are removed from the home as well.  I'm praying the kids are made safe, the mom put in jail, the stepdad loses his license. 

Working on all of the above.

It's a mess.

[The Reverend SnoopHogg]

Sorry to hear about the kids' situation, Rev.

Hope you can get everything worked out.

I'll spend everything I have to help him get custody.

[AporkalypseNow]

I'm in Texas and can't give specific recommendations but I went through hell and ended up with full custody of both my boys from ages 7 and 12 to now 16 and 21.

Long story short is the route in our case was my VERY good family law attorney (who also represents Charlotte Jones) made sure right off the bat we got an amicus attorney appointed, who in turn appointed a counselor.

These people were advocates solely for the kids, not for either parent (officially an arm of the court).  They genuinely cared about my sons and their well being. Any ill will I had towards attorneys was gone because of the quality person that this woman was. Saint.

The system is designed to give a parent, even if mentally ill or abusing substances, every chance. 

In my case the final decree gave her every chance to get shared custody with standard visitation but the counselor could pull the plug in the case she didn't comply with the requirements of our decree including continuing counseling, visits with a psychologist, and being appropriate in her interactions with the kids.  That, in the end, was way too much so it ended. 

It's nobody's business but the reason this is here instead of the DMs is that in almost every case I know of with a bad outcome they didn't request an amicus. Some attorneys will refuse it or fight it with the judge as they realize it will impact their case. But it's critical in a situation like that you get court appointed amicus and counselors up front.

Everyone should know this, in case one way they need that info.

Feel free to DM me.

[Son of Spam]

Great advice. And I will also say that the courts give the parent, no matter how screwed up they are, every chance to get or keep custody. My ex wife was a raging alcoholic and I think hooked on prescription drugs. I knew I wouldn't be able to get custody because she could straighten up enough to make anyone believe she was Mother Mary. I lucked out and she finally just abandoned my daughters and they moved on with us. She finally (literally) drank herself to death. My daughters turned out great and both have families now and tell us how we showed them how life and family could be. Good luck, Rev. I hope you get it solved.

[The Reverend SnoopHogg]

I'm in Texas and can't give specific recommendations but I went through hell and ended up with full custody of both my boys from ages 7 and 12 to now 16 and 21.

Long story short is the route in our case was my VERY good family law attorney (who also represents Charlotte Jones) made sure right off the bat we got an amicus attorney appointed, who in turn appointed a counselor.

These people were advocates solely for the kids, not for either parent (officially an arm of the court).  They genuinely cared about my sons and their well being. Any ill will I had towards attorneys was gone because of the quality person that this woman was. Saint.

The system is designed to give a parent, even if mentally ill or abusing substances, every chance. 

In my case the final decree gave her every chance to get shared custody with standard visitation but the counselor could pull the plug in the case she didn't comply with the requirements of our decree including continuing counseling, visits with a psychologist, and being appropriate in her interactions with the kids.  That, in the end, was way too much so it ended. 

It's nobody's business but the reason this is here instead of the DMs is that in almost every case I know of with a bad outcome they didn't request an amicus. Some attorneys will refuse it or fight it with the judge as they realize it will impact their case. But it's critical in a situation like that you get court appointed amicus and counselors up front.

Everyone should know this, in case one way they need that info.

Feel free to DM me.

Thank you for this.. any and all info is welcome.

I know it will be tough getting custody for the mom, but the child is 13 and I think at 14 can legally choose.  She's been mentally abused and basically has Stockholm syndrome.

On the rare occasion she gets to visit us, she only wants to eat and hug everybody, she's starved for affection and positive reinforcement.

[The Reverend SnoopHogg]

Great advice. And I will also say that the courts give the parent, no matter how screwed up they are, every chance to get or keep custody. My ex wife was a raging alcoholic and I think hooked on prescription drugs. I knew I wouldn't be able to get custody because she could straighten up enough to make anyone believe she was Mother Mary. I lucked out and she finally just abandoned my daughters and they moved on with us. She finally (literally) drank herself to death. My daughters turned out great and both have families now and tell us how we showed them how life and family could be. Good luck, Rev. I hope you get it solved.

Thanks T.  I'm gonna do whatever I can.

[buff2.0]

The step dad is a fairly prominent doctor, who I suspect will not want this all to come out in court.

It would be a shame if his name got leaked into some DMs

[Texzilla]

Thank you for this.. any and all info is welcome.

I know it will be tough getting custody for the mom, but the child is 13 and I think at 14 can legally choose.  She's been mentally abused and basically has Stockholm syndrome.

On the rare occasion she gets to visit us, she only wants to eat and hug everybody, she's starved for affection and positive reinforcement.

Agree totally with Apork.  I remember his case and it was a gut punch knowing the challenges he went thru.  The amicus role is important in Texas because parental rights here are considered sacred over all but the most dire issues for children.  I don't know what the process is in Arkansas but often if CPS gets involved they will initiate the amicus process regardless of the situation with the parents.

Unfortunately in most cases both attorneys will fight the concept because it will likely impact their billings for a long drawn out case.  I have a friend in Oklahoma who filed for divorce when his daughter was 9 and it never finalized until she turned 18, mainly due to attorney hijinks. 

Good luck Rev. 

[Show-Me Hog]

The role Apork calls an amicus is called a guardian ad litem in Missouri. Not sure what it is in Arkansas, but just be aware it might have a different name.

[Sus-Scrofa]

The role Apork calls an amicus is called a guardian ad litem in Missouri. Not sure what it is in Arkansas, but just be aware it might have a different name.

Ad litem in Arkansas 

[The Whyte Boar]

There is an Amicus and there can be an Ad Litem.  And you can use either one in Arkansas or Texas. 

The difference is that an Amicus makes a recommendation based on his conclusions regarding the child's best interests.  He is not the attorney for the child/children.  He is officially neutral.

An ad litem is literally the attorney for the child/children and is required and bound to advocate for their wishes. 

They are similar roles but with subtle differences.  Amicus is preferred more nowadays because of their greater independence and flexibility.

Both are useful and contrary to assertions here most attorneys love to get them involved.  The principle objections are that sometimes they are slow and costly.  In some of the smaller jurisdictions there may be only one or two attorneys doing that sort of stuff and they are apt to be busy.  Not a problem in a place like DFW but it can be in smaller places.  Clients also sometimes object when they have to pay the amicus $5k or more in addition to whatever they are paying their own attorney...particularly if they don't like the recommendation.  And, of course, some judges don't like them and won't appoint them.