Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
Divorce-should mom (in jail) get an attorney?
parents are divorcing. child is 5 yrs old. mom is in prison for a non violent crime and has 1 to 1 &1/2 yrs to go. dad is filing and does not want mom to see the son. will mom automatically get visitation and will dad have to ensure that son goes to see her while she's still in prison? or should mom get an attorney to make sure she gets some custody and her visits? how will they spilt the household belongings with her being gone? is it possible for her to get legal aid since dad was her only source of income? thank you for your assistance.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Divorce-should mom (in jail) get an attorney?
Mom should by all means get legal representation, and request it from the Legal Services folks if she cannot retain private counsel.
Obviously arrangements to store her share of the possessions/assets will have to be made until her release. The division can be done on paper for divorce purposes.
Mom should not rely on anyone to do the right thing - she must protect her visitation and other legal interests in the dissolution of her marriage.
Re: Divorce-should mom (in jail) get an attorney?
Mom should get an attorney to assure her visitation rights. It's possible that the final order could exclude her visitation and she would have to try to go to court for a modification later. Whatever was acquired during the marriage is community property and an attorney would be very helpful in preserving her property rights. Call me if you want me to help you on this. My fees are sometimes quite reasonable.