Legal Question in Family Law in California

The court will not appoint an attorney to represent you. You may be able to get a court order that he pay some or all of your attorney fees. contact a family law attorney for a free consultation. Be prepared to provide information as to the father's income, and your income.

I urge you to seek legal representation to properly protect you and your parenting rights. Orders issued by the court on custody and visitation can have long lasting and wide reaching implications.

Family courts hear a number of different kinds of cases including juvenile dependency and termination of parental rights proceedings. In those cases, because they implicate civil rights and sometimes criminal penalties, there is a constitutional right to counsel. There is no such right in private custody disputes. As the other attorneys have mentioned, however, the court has the power to allocate attorneys fees when there is unequal economic power between the parties to a custody dispute, or as a sanction against one of the parties for misconduct. So you might be able to get your attorney paid for that way.

You can also look into this organization: http://www.legalaidsociety.org/goal.html