Okay, my brother has a 6 yr old child with this woman. They were already seperated when he found out she was pregnant & she didnt allow him to see the child until he was 2. He was seeing him but with no legal orders or anything. She moved away suddenly & basically disappeared for 2 years. Year before last,she contacted him & wanted him to consent for her new husband to adopt their child. He refused & wanted to see his son. He got a lawyer(a bad one) & contested the adoption. He was able to stop the adoption but his lawyer never took the proper actions to get him visitation. The mother took the child & moved away again. She continued to insist that he consent to the adoption. After a year of nothing ever happening legally,he became discouraged and agreed. He signed a copy but apparently she gave him the wrong papers or something. So she wants him to sign them again but he has decided that he wants to change lawyers & pursue getting his rights to this child.

Okay,my question is - does he have any chance of doing this after agreeing to sign the papers? The copy he signed is not legal.

Please,no responses about how stupid he is & how he shouldnt have signed them. We all know he's an idiot.

Any help would be great. He wants some advice before he spends the money on another lawyer.

stevetcg

If he didnt sign the right papers, it basically means nothing. The adoption isnt legal until the correct papers are signed, notorized and filed with the court.

Yes, he can get a lawyer and get his visitation. that will be a tough battle though since from all I can tell, the child is 6 and hasnt had much of a relationship with your brother.

ConfusedMother9

Thanks. He definitely understands that. As I said,his last lawyer just basically strung him along for as much money as she could. He does have documents where he has asked for visitation if it will help him any. He's just scared that signing that one copy will make it even harder.

JudyKayTee

No, signing the document doesn't matter. People can and do change their minds. What will matter is how hard he's tried for custody and visitation over the years, if he's paid support, whether he can prove he's attempted to be the child's father.

Even if the document were legal and not yet filed he could stop the process.

ConfusedMother9

I've asked questions on here for my brother before so this is the same case. He has a son & wants visitation rights to him. The mother tried ot have her husband adopt my brothers son. This is in Alabama. The mother now lives in Georgia but still has an Alabama attorney. My brother had an attorney in Alabama but she had to have been the worst ever. He is living in Florida and wants to pursue getting his rights. Does he need an attorney in Alabama or can he get one in Florida?

Thanks.

Fr_Chuck

where is the court action taking place, if the child custody agreement is in Alabama and that is where they are fighting, that is where the attorneys will be.

If he makes a motion for it to be moved to Georgia and the mother agrees, it could be moved there.

ConfusedMother9

Yes,it is in Alabama. Thanks.

ScottGem

I merged your threads, please don't start a new thread for the same issue.

As noted, if there is an existing court action, it has to be continued there. However, if the child now lives in GA, a change of venue can be requested.

You never answered if there was a custody/visitation order in place.

ConfusedMother9

No orders placed. His lawyer stopped the adoption but stalled and stalled about filing for visitation. He ended up paying over $3000 and she never filed any motions for visitation or anything else.

ScottGem

Well, either he need a new lawyer or he needs to get her off the stick. Filing for custody/visitation should have been part of the whole process.