My wife is biploar. She is controlled by her mother and recently filed for divorce. Her mother is clinically depressed. Her sister also lives there and is bipolar. I recently found out my wife left our baby on the bed and she fell off. In addition, her sister is posting nude photos of herself online in the same restroom shared by my wife/daughter. I love both of them yet while she is pregnant with our second child, she is unable to take her meds. In addition, I am desperate to find an attorney. I have been contacting Texas Legal Aid as well as trying desperatley to find a pro bono lawyer as I am very limited on funds due to all of this. I need help to either try to get court appointed marriage counseling and/or to win custody (or at least partial) for my two girls. As of right now, she has kept my daughter away from me for 3 months. They are pushing for only 2 supervised hours per week for me. They won't even know thier father with such limited time. What can I do?!?
2007-10-31 02:23:02 · 9 answers · asked by cjsimmons269 1 in Family & Relationships ➔ Marriage & Divorce
You have to find a lawyer to get this accomplished. Be prepared to show you can give them a stable home life, have a home that is big enough for them and get yoursefl some witnesses that can attest to your wife's bipolar condition.
No matter what the lawyer costs you, and they will usually let you work out a payment plan. you must get custody of the children. It would be terrible to know what you do about your wife's familys medical problems and leave your defenceless children there.
Good Luck
2007-10-31 02:30:48 · answer #1 · answered by mn lady 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can find a family law attorney who is willing to take payments... legal aid services normaly have inexperienced attorneys and you will probably be hard-pressed to find one who will do the work it takes to help you.
I have bipolar disorder and i was also divorced. Part of my divorce issue was because of my bipolar symptoms, but another reason was because i did not receive the support and care which i deserved. Meanwhile i supported and cared for my husband while HE was ill with a heart condition and took care of his 83 year old mom with emphysema. Plus cared for my own, two children and worked.
My two boys are now grown, and very nice, caring individuals. Both of them say that they'd never trade me for another mother, and they base most of their success and happiness on the way i raised them, even with my illness... maybe it's because i accepted it, and we talked about it (we discussed everything).
What i'm trying to say is, bipolar disorder doesn't always make a bad parent. And perhaps your wife is keeping the kids from you because she's bitter over your separation. She needs to get past that because it's not right.
Meanwhile, you really NEED to petition the court for a schedule of visitation during this time of separation and pre-divorce. If there is an ORDER which states what days, times you have visitation, then your wife would be in contempt if she didn't allow you to see the kids.
Why are they pushing for SUPERVISED visitation for YOU? There must be more to this story?
I hope you can get through this in a calm, rational way, without causing a fuss... If your wife tries to give you a hard time, ignore her, dont' argue and act like a gentleman. Be on your best behavior in court and with your attorney, also.
I hope it works out. take care....
2007-10-31 09:35:24 · answer #2 · answered by letterstoheather 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Regardless of her medical condition, you should be able to get joint custody and shared visitation. That means you would be able to have your daughter at your house half of the time. You need to live within the same school district she now attends so you can pickup and drop off at school.
She has no legal right to keep your daughter from you. If you have a current visitation schedule then you could hold her in contempt of court for not letting you see the child. Why would your visits be supervised? That normally never just happens. There must be something else to the story we aren't getting.
2007-10-31 09:29:37 · answer #3 · answered by philosophy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are going to have to prove your wife is an unfit mother in order to get custody. The Texas courts are very biased towards the mother.
One of the things you could do to help you along is get your wife committed. (You can do that if she is a threat to herself or others - it's not really that difficult if they truly are an uncontrolled bi-polar)
You also need to be taking notes. Get one of those monthly calendars and write down every odd phone conversation and definately every injury or bruise your children have.
With her living conditions it should be easier. She needs to have 2 bedrooms for her and the girls, not 1 for 4 people.
Sad to say, you are going to have to come up with money for a lawyer. As far as I know in Texas unless you're a battered wife you have to pay for a lawyer. But you might be able to ask around at local churches and see if they have any lawyers that are members (if you're referred through their church they might be more likely to accomodate you)
It's sad, but you probably will not be able to get full custody or even physical custody, but you can try.
Good luck!!
2007-10-31 09:35:29 · answer #4 · answered by Jenn 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Leave it up to the courts and a attorney to handle, this is way out of control, you cant fix this alone, you need some outside help, so I recomend that you take action fast, everyday that goes by makes you less credible to the law. Its to bad that you have limited money, because most family law attorneys dont work for pro-bono, as they dont benefit from it, so forget that idea, and legal-aid, ha,ha, thats a bunch of crap! You need a attorney who will stand up and defend your parental rights, dont back down and dont give up!
2007-10-31 09:35:24 · answer #5 · answered by penelope 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I hate to tell you this but in Texas you don't have a chance.I am from Texas and been through 3 divorces here.My Son got his children but only because his wife was busted 4 times for drugs and prostitution and the judge still told her once she gets her life straightened out she could probably get the kids back but she is still doing drugs.(she is doing the judge too) I love Texas but Father's don't a chance here.Good luck.(work more so you can pay for everything)
2007-10-31 09:33:14 · answer #6 · answered by notagain49 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You will have to get a Good lawyer, because they still tend to go towards the mother wih the custody whether they are fit or not. Maybe you can find one that will take payments or you're family might help. Good Luck
2007-10-31 10:31:20 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
sorry to tell you this its not just texas the whole united states is like this but get an attorney hopefully a good one that doesnt mind playing a little dirty so that you get what you want
2007-10-31 09:38:24 · answer #8 · answered by the_orc_1 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
see if you can borrow money- being the male you will have to prove the mother is unfit to raise the child and any chance of winning will depend on your lawyer- get the best lawyer you can preferably female
2007-10-31 09:30:23 · answer #9 · answered by suan b 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋