Legal Question in Family Law in Texas

Re: child custody

To be blunt about it, if your son's situation is important enough to you, you need to find the money to hire an attorney to help you with this new issue, as well as back child support.

Re: child custody

Generally, a court will allow a father to have contact with a child, even when they have not see each other for a length of time. The court might order that the first contct be supervised or for short durations until the two get to know each other better.

Typically, the child's desires will not influence the judge at this age. In fact if the child insists that he does not want to see the father then the judge is likely to assume that he has been subjected to undue parental influence from you and that will not help your case. Judges like to see parents that want the other parent in the child's life, assuming there are no abuse issues.

You CAN collect child support if he has assets or a job. If there has never been a previous child support order, then you might be able to collect retroactive child support.

If you can't afford an attorney, then call your local (usually county) bar association and ask for the number of the closest legal aid office. Also, they may be able to refer you to an organization or person that takes cases for reduced fees or for free (pro bono).