Recently moved out of state. Now son wants to move too.

[grand_kai]

In Oct '05 my wife and I decided to move out of state to MO from FL. I spoke to my son and he said he had no problem with it. In Dec'05 I went and retained for visitation modification an attorney FL Bar rated A+. All arrangements were completed and we left the state of FL at the end of Jan'06 but on the way out stopped by the attorney's office since I had not heard any status. He said they were working on it. Upon arrival in MO a week later and until April'06 I have been attempting to contact the attorney by leaving many messages with his office staff and emailing him directly. He has not contacted me to discuss the status even though I my ex has not been served. In the mean time my son had come up to visit for spring break he is 12. He said that he wanted to move up to be with me because of the way his mother treats him. In all honesty I did not suggest this to him or even hint to him this at all for the main reason that I know what a battle he would have with his mother and I love him to much to want that for him. She is emotionally and verbally abusive and has been seen strickiing him at times. I would love to have my son but know that the judge I have is to bias towards women. When my son was 2.5 I proved that he was being neglected and abused. The judge gave him to me for 2 months and then said well she learned her lesson and gave him back to her. 10K later I could not afford to fight any more. Now he is older and at a very critical stage in his life I want to be there for him now more so than ever.

To my question, what can I do about the attorney not being agressive and actually doing what he can to hurt my case by doing nothing. Do I really have a chance to get custody of my son? Is there something my son can do such as hiring his own lawyer to present his side and represent his best interest and what is best for him. This is all I really want for my son is what is best for him.

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide it is appreciated.

[MixedBag]

figure out what's going on with your attorney and what that person has really been doing.

Maybe start over and hire a new one.

Son is 12, huh?

To me that's a "teeter totter age" as to whether or not a child's wishes will weigh heavily in court or not so that you are successful with a motion to change custody based on the child's wishes.

If others have witnessed her behavior, they will need to testify in court.

How are his grades in school doing?

[MixedBag]

figure out what's going on with your attorney and what that person has really been doing.

Maybe start over and hire a new one.

Son is 12, huh?

To me that's a "teeter totter age" as to whether or not a child's wishes will weigh heavily in court or not so that you are successful with a motion to change custody based on the child's wishes.

If others have witnessed her behavior, they will need to testify in court.

How are his grades in school doing?

[grand_kai]

I will be sending a certified letter to the attorney today. I had sent emails with return receipt but that did not work even though I did get a read receipt for that. If the letter does not work then I will have to contact the Florida Bar and file a complaint. Due to being legally blind I am on disability and the limited income prevents me from hiring another lawyer. I saved for a long time to give thise lawyer just under 10K.

Others have witnessed her behavior but mostly family members. There are several factors that I was hoping I could use during a custody / psch evaluation. For a couple of years now he had been overly girl crazy more so than any boy nearing pub. His mother goes through boyfriends like changing socks. She also has sex parties where she lets say entertains multiple partners at the same time. He has been gaining weight and is almost 200lbs @ 12 years old. His eyes have the same problem as myself but she does not take care of them and they have gotten worse through the years.

His grades are mostly C's and a few B's. His mother is a teacher but does not help him with his homework. She has complained to his teachers that he gets to much homework and when she does work with him on his homework she does it herself. He had come over for visitation on a Thursday one evening and brough his homework. I looked at the handwriting and it was hers and asked him if he gave her the answers to write he said no. Which in a way was good since they were 90% wrong. Some background on how I would know, I have been an adult educator for many years.

Thank you for your suggestions and thoughts.