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My name is Janet and I have two children by 2 different bf. My son is 15 and he has had many problems(ADHD and was on Ritalin)so I found son's b/f on the internet and contacted his bf when he was 8 years old (before last contact was 3 months old) and I called him and got him in touch with my son hoping that contact with bf would help him.Son's b/f and I were divorced and I got full custody cause he was a no show that split town. My hubby and I married when he was 7.5 years. We then went on and on with a few contacts through mail and phone since his bf lives in Montana. Son's b/f then made my son feel quilty about child support (recvd through DA) cause he was unable to support he other two children. My son was very sad and still trying to help my son I called off the DA and asked him to pay voluntarily (of course he didn't). All this time I had been asking doctors if Ritalin was wrong for him with no avail. At age 11 he was an angry child out of control. He was officially arrested and released into my custody for assault with a deadly weapon in December. With weeks of being fearful for my other child (having her sleep in our room) and more problems at school I did the only option I thought might help my son. I made arrangements with son's b/f to take care of him and I would not seek child support. I thought maybe my son might benefit from getting to know his father (before this he had been up there visiting a few times). After 2 years my son was molested by two seperate men while staying with his father. I was told by his b/f that he couldn't get my son into couseling until his vacation with his new girlfriend because that was scheduled before the molestation came out. I was furious and got my son on a plane and he's been home 20 months and he's no longer that battered boy I picked up from the airport. His b/f did get him off the ritalin because he didnt want to have to pay for it but that turned out to be a blessing. My son has talked about being adopted by my husband a few times but lately he has been serious about it. My daughter is 8 yrs old and she was only 4.5 months old when me and my hubby got married. Her father has periodically came in and out of her life and when he was around he would let her see her little sister that is 8 months younger then her. She has not seen her b/f or her little sister now for 3 years. Last check the DA got was from Unemployment and that was 1 yr ago. I payed a paralegal to draw up the documents and next week I will pick up packet from probate. I got a quote from an atty for 6500. - that is completely out of our reach. We make enough to support the two kids without any child support but not enough to pay that so we are going to try and do it ourselves. My son's father might give consent he said yes at first but now he has to think about it and will let me know after Thanksgiving. My daughter's b/f is no where to be found. I left a message on daughter's b/f's father that I wanted to terminate his parental rights hoping for a response but nothing. Any help or support you can give me with this would be greatly appreciated. My and my hubby have been married for 7 years and have thought alot about this but wanted kids to be old enough to express how they feel ........... both kids want to be adopted.
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We have paid for the paralegal to do the paperwork but we were unable to pay for the rest of the money. We are going to have to wait until February for the rest of the money. We went through further discussion with son's b/f and he said he doesnt want to consent. Now son doesn't want hubby to adopt him because he doesn't want to hurt b/f. We are thinking of name change for son because that is the main reason he wanted to be adopted. First and foremost, I dont want to do anything that my son later regrets. He loves both dads. I am still going to do the adoption with my daughter because I want my husband to have rights with her in case something happens to me. He is her father as far as we are :confused: concerned. I'm just so confused about the whole legal thing and very worried about how much it will cost because I dont want to start something without knowing if I will have the money to see it through. The court clerk was saying to me that the paralegal has to have an attorney look over the paperwork and she has to work for an attorney otherwise the paperwork will be thrown out? I'm wondering if the papers I have will be thrown out. I wish I could afford an attorney.
Okay, for a paralegal to be a paralegal they must work under the supervision of an attorney. Definition:
A paralegal/legal assistant is a person qualified through education, training or work experience to perform substantive legal work that requires knowledge of legal concepts that is customarily, but not exclusively, performed by a lawyer, law office, governmental agency or other entity or may be authorized by administrative, statutory or court authority to perform this work.
Or more simply: A person with legal skills who works under the supervision of a lawyer.
Paralegals must have a certain amount of education and legal knowledge to do what they do but they are not attorneys. They cannot give legal advice or direction.
If the paralegal filled out the forms and wrote your name in as filing in Pro Per or Propria Persona then YOU essentially are the attorney. This means you are representing yourself and you are giving the paralegal legal direction. I recommend that anyone who is planning on taking on any kind of a legal case to educate themselves on it. There is a ton of information on legal websites and I highly recommend a trip to your local law library.
The court will not accept the paperwork if it is done incorrectly. If it is correct then they should accept it anyway.
I hope this helps!