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how do i find out if this is mandatory or discretionary in my jurisdiction?

at first i was told that it was mandatory. however, another attorney has told me that in our jurisdiction it may be discretionary.

i didn't even know that a new law had come about regarding this since our final judgment, until i filed for contempt against the other parent. i didn't even ask for CS.

i am wondering because it would explain a lot of things...

i'm not sure if FERPA covers the elks association. I do not know if they are federally funded.

i know they are a state organization that offer children's therapy services and have a drug awareness program.

maybe there is another law that will help me get the information i need.

i am trying to get a copy of my children's camp registration forms and other documents, including but not limited to emergency contact info, etc..

i have sent the director a copy of my divorce decree (that states we have joint physical and joint legal)

the document specifically states:
"Each party shall be entitled to complete and detailed information from all teachers, schools, day care facilities, summer camps or other  institutions that the children may attend  or become associated  with in any way."

however, the director has responded by stating 'a subpoena would be required to release that information' to me.

i don't understand. are they just concerned i will take them to court?

the other parent sent them to camp without my consent. the form actually requires both parent's signatures.

I am wondering if in the First District (Fourth Circuit) in a 50/50 rotating custody agreement if child support is due to the 'secondary' party....
is child support mandatory or discretionary by the court(judge)?

modification trial was set for the end of this month. due to my high-risk pregnancy (with twins) and early contractions, my doctor suggested that i seek to continue the trial until after the births.

my doc suggested that the early contractions could be caused by the stress of the ongoing litigation.

we filed for a continuance of trial and mediation.

opposing counsel filed a motion to have our children temporarily placed in the other parent's care for the rest of my pregnancy.

taking care of our children is not at issue. i have already gone thru one pregnancy and successfully done so. it is the work and stress involved in preparing for and attending a 2-day trial.

1. how worried should i be about this motion?

2. how should i prepare to argue against this motion?

3. any ideas?

when is it appropriate to sign a new retainer? a trial retainer.  would this be signed and in place prior to mediation or following mediation, when trial is then certainly expected?

we aren't certain we will be going to trial. we are hoping to settle the case in mediation. and now my attorney is asking for a trial retainer.  he has changed to a new firm.... and i am wondering if he is attempting to change his rate of pay prior to mediation.

we are approaching trial within the next 4 months.

the basis of our case is medical issues. our daughter developed asthma after the divorce. one year into her treatment, the other parent stopped giving her the medication... preventative and otherwise. this made her more sick. the other parent also smokes around her (several accounts according to the child).

though the child has been allergy tested and scored VERY high to cat and dog allergy. the other parent continues to take in new indoor animals... up to 10 indoor cats and 2 large indoor dogs in a 1000 sqft home within a year. (litters of kittens and such)

no precedence has been set in florida regarding smoking parents, so unfortunately we are on the front end of the battle.

my question is regarding proof that the child is exposed to second-hand smoke.

other than what the child says, i have medical notes on an appointment that the other parent took the child to without me present (meaning the other parent provided the history to the ENT) the notes for that appointment state, "Relevant risk factors: exposure to passive tobacco smoke and pet(s) - cats and dogs."

the custody eval.'s findings were that there was no substantial change. that i did not prove that the other parent smoked in the child's presence.

i know that pharmacies sell TobaccAlert, which tests urine for smoke exposure, but i am not sure that is a good idea to do that myself.

1. will i need to prove it in court?

2. if so, how do i prove that the child is exposed to smoke?

3. any other thoughts?

I am experiencing difficulty locating a medical expert witness certified in pediatric pulmonology for my modification case. our case deals with asthma, medical neglect, smoking around child, heavy environemental exposure to allergens (home environment), etc....

the child's current physicians are sitting the fence... which does more harm than good.

do you have any suggestions on locating an expert?

Can my former counsel  (during the time of the final judgment/mediation) testify or via written statement, as to the intention of certain phrases or words in the stipulated final judgment for clarification hearing?

or can the mediator testify to the meaning/intention of those words or phrases?

basically the item up for clarification was discussed in depth at mediation and i was assured of it's meaning/intention. I was weary of the terminology and was assured by my attorney that it meant nothing.... obiviously she does not have to live with it.

>
>All I can suggest is that you tell the attorney if he isn't
>willing to give you the representation that you deserve, that
>you will put his entire bill in dispute and file a complaint
>with the state bar. That will mean that your attorney will
>push back and probably try to walk away from the case, and the
>judge will almost certainly let him walk. Then you'll have to
>hire someone else, only there is no one else. Which sets you
>up to lose.

sorry about the new handle.....

i spoke with you previously regarding substantial prejudice shown from the bench. My attorney was more than reluctant to help and did not wish to file a recusal against the judge.

i consulted many local attorneys after speaking with you regarding the matter. They all basically said the same thing... that my attorney needed to "grow a set" or there was a greater political issue interfering with his ability to properly represent me.

My attorney is a former magistrate and as it turns out, he has had his eye on the bench for some time now... possibly before he even took my case.

this explains his hesitation to recuse the judge. I called him on it, saying that i didn't feel I should be paying for a 'human relations' issue.

he attempted to outsource the dirty work to avoid the impact on his career... but no one would touch it, since there was no record of what the judge said and they did not hear it on their own.

due to my persistence and great protest (in writing), he filed the recusal for me but it was strangely worded.

I am not sure how any other attorney would have written the complaint, but it seemed quite sweet, though i understand his reason for wishing to approach the recusal complaint in a respectful manner.

only a few short weeks following the letter from the judge granting the request, my attorney announced his candidacy.... also that he would be unavailabe for most of the month of july, august.... possibly some in september.

he is difficult to reach and is focused on his campaign. in fact, i strongly feel that his focus was always on the bench and not on representing me to the best of his ability.

I retained this attorney following the unexpected demise of my previous attorney, that occurred in January.

since march he has billed me for over $10k.... of course most of which was getting aquainted with my case.

it appears that not only am i without an attorney, again, but that i will be spending more money getting another attorney aquainted with my case.

he says that if he wins the election that he would not begin until january. in the mean time i do not feel that he can effectively represent me, while having this campaign on his mind and then possibly the judicial position.

so to the question....
1. though he did some great work on my case, does it seem necessary for me to seek new counsel (not good to change horses again).

2. if so, would it be appropriate for me to dispute a portion of his bill?... it is fully refundable if not used.

3. he does have a sr. partner. would it be better for me to try to get on her calendar? my attorney stated that it would work if he were elected, because it would cut down on my costs of taking on a new attorney.

 i really feel as if he is keeping my case to line his wallet. in fact he made a statement that if he does not win in september that he will need to bill a lot of hours to pay for what he lost in the election.

4. is it appropriate for me to ask to be transferred to his partner now rather than pending election?

5. how would you suggest i handle this?


thank you for your help.

soc..... hope all is well with you.

got some disturbing news today...

all in FL... admidst dual-modification of custody in joint equal custody situation.

hearing today for summary judgment of oc/ex's case (no legal foundation) and the hearing was also for amendment to my modification, because my original attorney died and new attorney wanted to streamline the pleadings.

basically.... amendment was granted. oc objected to summary judgment being entered at this time and requested that it occur after mediation and following the receipt of court ordered custody evaluation report (performed by an attorney). judge agreed.

the disturbing part....
the judge told my attorney that we were not going to win our case. we have compelling medical neglect issues regarding asthma, ex's smoking around child, dcfs investigation, etc....

and the judge, without seeing/hearing our evidence or expert testimony, which is great, that we are not going to win our case.

my attorney says that he is no longer able to help me. that i need to seek an attorney outside of our district to request the judge be removed from our case.

and we only have 10 days to do something about it...

we have only had this attorney 2 months.... and he has been 10x better than our previous attorney.

1. why can't he file the change of judge? is it a risk to his career?

2. could we be defeated already?

3. how do i find a cut-throat attorney, specializing in family law only that won't put us on the back-burner, like our first attorney, and allow key information/items fall thru the cracks?....( i don't know if there is a nickname for those types of attorneys that only look at your case the night before a hearing and do nothing in between...)

4. do you have any pointers?.... i'm really stunned here.

thanks for your help and your time, you are a godsend

i have been amidst a custody modification battle with my ex going on three years now... really slow moving.
during this time i got pregnant with my third child by my new husband.

now i am pregnant again... and this time with twins. we were concerned that we must wait a little while to let my ex in on the news, because of the possible reprecussions.  about two weeks ago my oldest children (from the previous marriage) found out about the pregnancy by mistake.

they are really excited, but i talked with them about the fact that i had planned to set a meeting with their father to tell him the news as well as other things that needed to be discussed. i wanted to be the one to tell him and have been attempting to arrange a third party meeting to do so... which has been difficult.

my ex is a hot head and very verbally abusive. i cannot have phone conversations with him or speak to him without a third party present. we mostly communicate via email.

i explained to our children that it wasn't a big deal. if it slipped out in conversation with dad or stepmom that it was ok and if asked, they certainly should not lie to them about it.  i just asked that they give me a little time to tell him myself.

tonight when my daughter called, she told me that the secret slipped out today. she said that her dad told her it wasn't good to keep a secret and that he would talk with me. i told her well, you knew you weren't going to get in trouble if it accidently came out. and she said 'i know.'

my explaining all of this to the ex will not make a difference. it will all be blown out of proportion. however, i do understand that to an extent it wasn't exactly the best thing to do. i just did not see any other choice in the matter. i know that our best communication is with our family pastor and that was the intention.

what do you think?

we are in florida

i have to say, i was really naive in believing that a mere statement in our custody agreement saying  that neither party would consume alcoholic beverages during their time with the child.
the other parent has eow beginning with thursday and drinks heavily during every visitation. many times drinking and driving with her in the vehicle, out of state, drinking until unconscious.

this weekend, he left her with a friend told her he went out for eye drops, but went to a bar. she texted me saying that he came home so drunk that he couldn't walk or barely speak. that he had gone to a bar instead and gotten kicked out.

i fear for our child's safety. every time the police have been involved, they have been absolutely NO help.
they actually INFORM him of his rights to keep the door closed and refuse to let her go, when i have shown them all of the text messages.
all of the witnesses are his friends (drinking buddies) or from the bar and do not want to get involved.

the police don't want to do anything about it.

i have no money for a PI. i have no money for an attorney.
i am in fear every time our daughter is with him.

i don't know how to document this.
what do i do?