Legal Question in Family Law in Arizona
Hi I am the mother of a 4 year old boy. i have joint custody with his father. I left him due to drug use and physical violence. I had two orders of protection against him for domestic violence, one of them listed our son as well. I was the primary and at times sole caretaker until our son was 1.5 years. At that time his dad sued me for custody. We came to a joint custody arrangement after he failed drug tests. I pretty much gave him everything he asked for. However, our paperwork was worded in such a way that I have NO WAY of getting my son when his dad refuses. This has been going on for about 2 years now. I have called the police numerous times. I don't know what to do except go back to court and ask for full custody. or maybe just get the paperwork reworded. Here's a little more info:
-I have been plead guilty to two dv crimes against his father pretty much right after the custody agreement
- around that time I also plead guilty to two felony counts of trespassing (by my father, and actually that is why i didn't fight for full custody initially) I was sentenced to two years probation and my felonies can become misdemeanors if probation is completed successfully (which I finished one month ago)
-I do have drug use in my history
-I don't have a job
-I live with my boyfriend and go to school and live off the school money
-I have no support system
-I have gone above and beyond in cooperating with the father of our son.
-he lived with his parents after the custody agreement was settled
-he worked all the time or went out and partied so basically his parents were raising our son.
-he played all kinds of games during the past two years to prevent me from seeing our son
-he has committed additional acts of violence, harassment, and has made numerous threats (including my life and that of two of my friends)
-he has drugs and has exposed our son to them
-his parents just finally kicked him out of their house and are considering suing for custody.
-he has a job
-he has a "tendency" to not pick up our son or answer his phone
-he has the "tendency" to use our son to get to me
-plays all kinds of head games, etc as documented THOROUGHLY by emails and texts
-was ordered to provide insurance and yet our son has had no insurance for months now
-leaves our son with random people instead of bringing him to me
There's more but you get the idea. I just really need help in deciding the best course of action. I really screwed myself and our son by giving into joint custody because I kind of went off the deep end as a result of the breakup and all the abuse and I know our son suffered for not having me consistently in his life (due to his father). I can't do this anymore; our son has suffered TOO MUCH and I am way way too stressed out by his continued attempts at control and the ongoing abuse.
PLEASE HELP! Thank you
1 Answer from Attorneys
We can certainly help you consider and then pursue your options to modify your current orders. You can seek a modification based upon a "significant and continuing change in circumstances".
We have three attorneys. We charge from $220 per hour to $250 per hour. Our retainers can run as low as $500 for demand letters/phone calls, $1200 plus costs for uncontested matters, or from $2,000 to $4,000 for most contested matters.
We also can structure assistance to help you represent yourself if your prefer.
Please remember that a retainer is just a prepayment of time, and is not an estimate as to the total costs of the matter. If I finish within the retainer, than I refund any unearned amounts.
One of our attorneys can explain the issues and procedures better in person. As you can imagine, there is too much to cover via email. We offer free 1/2 hour consultations, in which we can discuss your matter in detail.
Please call us directly to discuss the specifics of your matter, or contact my assistant Gloria or my paralegal Jennifer to schedule your free 1/2 hour consultation
/s/ Rich J. Peters
RJ PETERS & ASSOC., P.C.
1422 North 2nd Street, Suite 100
Phoenix, Arizona 85004
602-254-7251
facsimile 602-254-1229
see our website at www.familylawaz.com
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
