Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
My daughter and her ex fiance split up. They have a 16 month old son and went to court for visitation, child support, and where my daughter can and can't live. At the the temporary hearing, my daughter was ordered to live in the county where the father lived and child support was set for him to pay which he hadn't done. At the final hearing yesterday, his lawyer told her lawyer if she wanted my daughter to get child support then she'd have to be the one to do the garnishment. The real kicker is, his lawyer said he was wanting the child. Nothing had even been said about this at the temporary hearing. His lawyer said the papers were at her office and should have been picked up by her lawyer. Her lawyer had been trying and trying to contact his lawyer over and over about different things and his would never even respong. If these papers had been drawn up, how was her lawyer to know and why didn't they get faxed? My daughter's ex grew up in this town and is the editor of the newspaper so everyone there knows him. My daughter is "an outsider". Talk about a conflict of interest. His lawyer and the judge wanted the full custody hearing to be heard yesterday while we were there. It was plain to see that the judge already had her mind made up as to what the outcome was to be. The judge appeared angry that my daughter's lawyer refused and she said, very angrily, " We'll have to reset for a later date." We know the outcome for whenever that date is, That judge is going to give the father the child no matter what. How can this happen? Shouldn't this case have been heard someplace else? With the father being who he is, there's no way he won't get the child. Is there anything we can do? Thank you for you for your time.
1 Answer from Attorneys
First of all, if your daughter wants child support, then it is up to her and her attorney to make that happen, including any garnishment. That's just how it works.
If his lawyer is talking about child support, then he has already given up on having custody of the child. His asking for custody at this point may just be a ploy to try to freak your daughter out. Don't freak out.
Just tell her to listen to her attorney and make her case. Explain who has been the primary caregiver of the child these 16 months. Who has the child been living with? Who feeds the child? Who takes the child to the doctor, etc., etc., etc.
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