Legal Question in Family Law in North Carolina
This is my story; I have been pressed against a wall and I need your help. January 6th, 2013 was the last time I saw my son. My ex came into our home and took him away, after he, himself, had been absent in the home (we had built together) for six months. We have no legal papers stating who has custody, so it�s not considered kidnapping. I have been to several lawyers through phone calls and legal consultations, and I have also talked to sheriffs, Child services, and many other people I thought whom would be able to aid me in the situation. He has done everything to alienate my child from me. He returned to the home Feb, 3, and took all of my things from the house (my primary things, he won�t return any of my things that vie brought into our five year relationship) He put all of this into a storage unit in Mooresville. Turned off my phone of five years, so I have been using other people�s telephones just to have communication with him, lawyers, government officials and everyone else. I have now been forced to move in with a roommate in Bessemer City NC. I found that to my father�s house (to which I haven�t stayed in five years I was actually still in the home that he and I built and nowhere else, in Jan, he sent a summons for a custody hearing. I didn�t get this paper until Feb, 12 and by then I had learned that it was too late to write any type of response. And then, thereafter on the 20th I received a second paper stating that I had a court hearing for him to be granted temporary child custody and child support. He got me straight out of high school and we were engaged to be married up until the end of 2011. (I have paid for everything I owned in cash and never had the need for a credit card or any such thing to try and build up credit.) I remained in the house so we could try and take care of our son together, in this time I was actively searching for a new home and finally catching up on my doctor�s visits. It was said between us that we would share custody, I would take care of him during the day and he would take care of him at night, I�ve never said anything different and it was to his knowledge that when I moved out, my son would attend school with me and do daytime with me and night time with him. It was taking me so long to move from the home because I was actively seeking out SSI benefits. Due to the fact that to the public it seemed as if he was taking care of me, they continued to use his assets against me, even with him not being the home, and not paying for my food, and daily tasks, he only gave me a place to stay and constantly waving that over my head, causing me to stoop into a massive depression. So, to sum it all up, I�m having to have my life put on the chopping block after being kicked out of our house for a month, he won�t let me see my son, he took him out of school and he has done everything he can to keep us apart. I need your help to get joint custody, because no matter how bad he has made my situation, No child should only have one parent. I know that if he�s awarded custody ill next to never be able to see or talk to my son, and next to that I�ll never have my things returned to me that I put into the house. Currently I do have a job, I am also receiving SSI benefits and can take care of my son as I have mentioned to him. But I was not able to find a home and pay for lawyer costs, so it comes down to making a payment on a house OR paying for a lawyer, I had to make this decision in only a month�s time. My life has been pretty difficult and I can�t imagine living it without my son. Please help me in any way you possibly can.
Thank you for reading.
1 Answer from Attorneys
You should contact Legal Aid of NC to see if they can help you without charge. Also you mentioned in your statement that you are working and are recieving SSI. You should understand that you cannot recieve SSI while you are working. When you are on SSI, you are stating that you are unable to work, which is a requirement of this program. If you are working, you are ineligible for SSI. Take great care with this as you may be hit with a large overpayment to the Social Secuirity Administration.,