Legal Question in Family Law in California

we need to move

my wife and i recently hired an attorney because she has a 7 year old from her 1st marriage, and we wanted to move 4 hours north. her ex would not agree even though the visitation would stay the same and we would pay travel expenses. when the court date came our lawyer did not want to continue because he felt almost 100% certain we would lose the case. the only thing that happened was my wife got more summer time visitation and the rest of the visitation remained the same. my wife gets the 7 year old during the school week and her dad gets weekends. summer schedule alternates a 1 week with my wife, 1 week with dad throughout the summer. we feel like our lawyer didn't really fight for us and since we just picked him from a phone book, we don't even know if he was any good. how do you research a lawyer to tell if they are good. we have to move or we will eventually lose the house. we feel like we flushed $3000 down the drain from our first lawyer experience and don't want to make the same mistake. thank you


Asked on 8/24/06, 4:27 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
H.M. Torrey The Law Offices of H.M. Torrey

Re: we need to move

You can check any California licensed attorneys credentials, etc...on the California State Bar Association website. In the meantime, you should definitely look into filing for an OSC hearing, either on your own or with a new attorney, to have your change in circumstances court ordered in respect to visitations, etc...The family court is typically very shrewd and reasonable regarding matters such as yours. If you would like further affordable legal assistance and/or a free phone consultation, contact us directly today. God Bless.

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Answered on 8/24/06, 2:40 pm
Lyle Johnson Bedi and Johnson Attorneys at Law

Re: we need to move

Perhaps I misunderstood your statement of facts, but my understanding is that mother's time with the child increased during the summer,as the only change. The court cannot order mother not to move, the court can only order a change of custody if mother does elect to move. To move the court to change the court order would require a significant change in circumstances, or a motion for rehearing, which has a short strictly imposed time limit. You should gather all of your paperwork and consult with another attorney asap.

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Answered on 9/06/06, 2:41 pm


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