Legal Question in Family Law in New York

I cannot afford to pay for a response, I'm sorry. If anyone is willing to give me an opinion as a free question, I would be so grateful you have no idea.

I will try to make this short. I am legally still married to my husband. I have two children, 10 and 4. Both children were born before my marriage. My husband is not the biological father of either child. Both fathers are named on the birth certificates. Neither child took my husband's name. He did not legally adopt either of them. He does not, nor ever has paid child support for either one. The father of my youngest is very involved. The father of my oldest child is not involved at all personally (by choice) but pays regular child support.

My husband has just informed me that he is filing for visitation of my children, particularly my oldest, who he claims 'needs a man in their life'. I do not want my husband to be this man. Less than a year into our marriage, he beat me. I filed a police report. There were a couple of other reports before I finally left, and one of them does state that the children were present in the house when he threatened me. About 8 months into my marriage, my husband went to jail for about 7 months. During this time, I moved away, successfully starting a new life.

Around the time he went to jail, I was granted a stay away order. The order named both of the children's educational facilities, myself and my residence. The order has now expired and I am trying to get a new one.

Does my husband have a case in a NY family court?

We were married less than a year before he was jailed but he did live with my children and I for some months before we got married. He has not seen or spoken to either child in 15 months. He has not begged me to see them before this point, but rather, he has said in emails that he understands why I might not want him to. Not until I sent an email telling him there was no chance of a reconciliation at all did he come up with this.

I can't really afford a lawyer but do I need to find a way to get one? Will he be laughed out of court or will his point that there is now no male role model in my oldest child's life be taken seriously?

This man (my husband) is a convicted felon, has been in and out of jail, has a documented mental illness, has abused drugs (in the past), and has more than one police report complaining against him for domestic abuse.

Is this enough that I shouldn't worry, or will his case stand or fall on whether the judge feels my child needs a male role model?

Please, any and all help needed, desperately.

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