I thought to post this here because there are so many bright and knowledgeable people here that even though this is well off topic I'm wondering if someone might be able to shed some light on this.
I have a friend (fwb) that is in the middle of a custody battle over her 3 year old son. I can get into more details if asked but here's a quick summary.
My friend Penni has lost custody of her 3 year old son. She had some trouble with a anxiety/pain pill addiction but has been clean for several months now and has drug testing going back to September showing that she is clean. While she was using the pain pills she agreed for the father to take the son for a time and the father will not give her back custody, will not allow her to see him or talk to him on the phone. The father has a lot of money (or HIS father does) and has a team of lawyers working on this for him. Penni does not have any money really, shes gone to a lot of legal aid consultations and has filed a lot of motions herself based on her own research and the free legal advice but while she can get some of this free legal advice she cannot get a lawyer to take on the case and appear with her at court. All lawyers, she's telling me, are requiring a $2,500 retainer and while she's saving she does not have this money yet and has several court dates coming up to determine the custody situation. She feels really helpless and I think its crazy for her to be doing all this without a lawyer.
I don't want to give her the money hire a lawyer for a number of reasons, partly because we are not really that close and I don't really consider her a friend. Also I am trying to really extricate myself from the 'friendship' and I don't want her to get the wrong idea in terms of my interest but I do feel bad for her. Any legal advice on how she should proceed?
She is in Massachusetts. The father also has UK/Australian citizenship and has filed for the child to get a passport, she's afraid the father will relocate. It seems there should be some sort of legal aid that might assist a woman in this position.
There are also some other details, some possible sexual abuse/misconduct from the father to Penni and some other details I would be happy to fill in if any questions are relevant.
I have a friend (fwb) that is in the middle of a custody battle over her 3 year old son. I can get into more details if asked but here's a quick summary.
My friend Penni has lost custody of her 3 year old son. She had some trouble with a anxiety/pain pill addiction but has been clean for several months now and has drug testing going back to September showing that she is clean. While she was using the pain pills she agreed for the father to take the son for a time and the father will not give her back custody, will not allow her to see him or talk to him on the phone. The father has a lot of money (or HIS father does) and has a team of lawyers working on this for him. Penni does not have any money really, shes gone to a lot of legal aid consultations and has filed a lot of motions herself based on her own research and the free legal advice but while she can get some of this free legal advice she cannot get a lawyer to take on the case and appear with her at court. All lawyers, she's telling me, are requiring a $2,500 retainer and while she's saving she does not have this money yet and has several court dates coming up to determine the custody situation. She feels really helpless and I think its crazy for her to be doing all this without a lawyer.
I don't want to give her the money hire a lawyer for a number of reasons, partly because we are not really that close and I don't really consider her a friend. Also I am trying to really extricate myself from the 'friendship' and I don't want her to get the wrong idea in terms of my interest but I do feel bad for her. Any legal advice on how she should proceed?
She is in Massachusetts. The father also has UK/Australian citizenship and has filed for the child to get a passport, she's afraid the father will relocate. It seems there should be some sort of legal aid that might assist a woman in this position.
There are also some other details, some possible sexual abuse/misconduct from the father to Penni and some other details I would be happy to fill in if any questions are relevant.