State is NJ
My wife and I have a 6 years old child, we are the bio and legal parents in the states eyes. The child was born while my wife was married to another man. He knew it wasn't his.
The Ex was origionaly on the birth cert but he gave up all rights to the child in court with an amended Divorce decree. Except visitation
As I stated I the bio legal father and married to the bio and legal mother but on the divrce decree between the Ex and my wife there is still visitation. My child, my wife, and myself don't want visitations to happen anylonger.
Can I as the bio legal father motion the court to stop any and all involvment with this other man and my child.
Thank you,
Concerned Father
>Can I as the bio legal father motion the court to stop any and
>all involvment with this other man and my child.
You've already cut off his legal rights and duties, so if you can show that the best interests of the child are served by your terminating visitation, then you can obtain that as well. However, a six year old child doesn't know what he/she wants, so let's not use that as a rationale. You just need to focus on what is objectively in the child's best interests, and if that's no contact with the bio father, then that's your whole case.
The father will need to show that he has maintained a parent-child relationship. if he has, and it has a benefit to the child, then the court will rule in his favor. If not, then the court will rule in yours.
Thank you for your reply, but in your one statement
" and if that's no contact with the bio father, then that's your whole case.""
The thing is the mother and my self who are married and live together with the child are both the biological parents of the child both in real life and in the courts eyes. The other man has no blood ties with the child what so ever.
Again thank you for your quick responce.
>Thank you for your reply, but in your one statement
>
> " and if that's no contact with the bio father, then that's
>your whole case.""
>
>The thing is the mother and my self who are married and live
>together with the child are both the biological parents of
>the child both in real life and in the courts eyes. The other
>man has no blood ties with the child what so ever.
>
>Again thank you for your quick responce.
Oh, ok, I get it. The issue is still the same. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that a third party may maintain visitation if he/she can demonstrate that it is not in the child's interest to cut off the relationship. Once the court has ordered the relationship, then it falls to you to demonstrate that it's in the best interests of the child to terminate it.
If the other party is maintaining a consistent positive relationship for the child, then unless you can show that the child is being harmed by that relationship, then the court will not terminate.
I have one more thing to ask if you do not mind. I was reading other information here and someone asked about helping out at lawyers office.
The following is your responce: ""An attorney must not engage or assist another in the unauthorized practice of law. However, an attorney may supervise another person as long as that person does not provide legal advice, and the attorney stays in close contact with the client and remains personally responsible for the final work product.
"""
I do have a problem, and agree with you completly on the above mentiond statement.
My wife when doing her origional divorce decree was talking with a person who she thought was a layer, this person guided and gave all legal advice through out the divorce writing procedure.
On the day of the court hearing, another person, and actual lawyer from the office came to represent my wife in her divorce. This was the first time she meet this person and said the other person couldn't make it to my wife. The person who gave my now wife all the legal information was not a lawyer at all. Is there anything that I can do to maybe change things from the beginning.
What about changing origional terms of the divorce decree based on this in respect to Lepis v. Lepis in NJ.
Is there anything that I can do to maybe change things
>from the beginning.
>
>What about changing origional terms of the divorce decree
>based on this in respect to Lepis v. Lepis in NJ.
You caught me at a weak moment and I looked up the Lepis case. Lepis permits the court to set aside an alimony agreement between parties, based upon a clear and convincing change in circumstances that would make the continuation of the existing support agreement unfair.
I have no means of applying this law to your case, because I have no idea what the facts are.
However, if you were advised only by a non-lawyer during the entire case, and then a new person who is an attorney appeared at your hearing, that would violate the Rules of Professional Conduct, which I outlined in the post to which you previously referred. Such a breach of duty can subject an attorney to suspension or disbarrment, but it will NOT change your divorce decree. You can complain to the NJ state disciplinary agency for attorneys.
However, if the disciplinary agency finds your attorney to have violated the ethics rules, that evidence would be useful in a malpractice case against your attorney, because it will demonstrate that the attorney's actions fell below the standard of due care owed to you as a client.
If successful, then you could force your attorney to pay the difference between what you would have reasonably received in the divorce vs. what you actually received. Or, if you're paying then it would be the difference between what you are paying and what you would have reasonably likely paid but for your attorney's malpractice.
As for the actual divorce decree, you'll need to show substantial changed circumstances. Whether NJ law would include an attorney's malpractice to his/her client as changed circumstances worthy of modifying alimony would require considerable research and I don't have the time. So, you should contact an NJ attorney, who may know the answer.
There are other possible grounds to set aside a final judgment, e.g.., fraud, duress, illegality, mistake, unconscionablness, but, again, I don't know your facts, so I can't comment intelligently as to your chances of success.
To add, the non bio person never supported the child not before the divorce or after, there were never provisions for CS, my wife and I thought is was wrong being that that person was not the father and knew it.
My wife, Child and I are healty, have a great relationship so I have to look at the thing that matter in life and be thankfull.
Thank you very much for your input. I just want to say that the service you provide here is a great resource and greatly appreciated by folks such as my self. I consider the work you do above and beyond, I just can't say enough, but will say again, THANK YOU again.