Lawyers familiar with JW issues and custody

by wtphobic 4 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  wtphobic

  Although we are not ready yet, my fiancee and I are planning to go back to court for additional visitation and rights of his daughter. She is living with his JW ex, her new JW husband ( who is a complete idiot), and other children. In addition to the fact that their household just seems to be chaotic, she (an 8 yr old) is required to care for the younger children (one toddler and one infant) b/c mom needs to nap, has a headache etc, her older 1/2 brother who is around 12-13 does not go to school b/c mom needs help with the babies.

  Her step dad sends her to her room, and berates for even mentioning her father. She has also told me that she "doesn't know her mom", and is often sick when she has to go home, b/c she says mom will be mad b/c she had a good time at our house.

  Mind you, I know that she is bright, and can be manipulative, but I have experience in the area of questioning and counseling, and I am careful not to plant any ideas in her head, while maintaining open communicaion with her.

  Also, I am not totally familiar with the silent lambs and the sexual abuse issues with JW's, but I am researching. I have worked in law-enforcement, as well as social services, and have a feel for when things aren't quite "right". Although I am not convinced that there has been any abuse in this area, I think that the potntial is there. Even if it isn't occuring, the emotional and verbal abuse that goes on is unacceptable.

  The bottom line is, I am wondering if anyoneknows of lawyers in Denver, and /or anywhere in Colorado that are familiar with these issues. I know that once we make the decision to go ahead with this, we will be up against the whole kingdumb hall, and all of their resources, and I would; like to be as prepared as possible.
• 

  little witch

  "assorted litter of children"?

  Yeah, a real social expert and advocate you are.
• 

  sf

  I agree with LW, in that that was a poor choice of terms. Please edit it out. Those kids did not ask to be born to those parents. Nor did yours. Nor did mine.

  As far as finding an attorney in your area who deals with religious organizations and abuse issues, perhaps Ms. Norris can be of some assistance:

  http://www.lovenorrisattorneys.com/jehova.html

  sKally
• 

  Odrade

  LOL! I thought "assorted litter of children" was a great description. Don't feel too bad about it. After all, it's all in how the parent treats them, sounds like if she's pawning an infant and toddler off on an 8 year-old the mom is treating them like a litter anyways. ha!

  Sorry to hear the little one is dealing with those circumstances, but I'm glad to hear that you and your hubby to be are going to try and have her more often with you. As far as the religious issues, it's still very hard to use those as reasons to gain custody. More important, IMO would be the fact that mom is using such a young child as a babysitter, and also the crying issues. The courts try to stay out of using religion as a determining factor in placement, although if she had some kind of medical issue, the blood stance might have some effect, but it's risky. Also, if you made religion an issue, you risk drawing in all the support they could get from the nasty WT attorneys, and you really don't want that.

  There are people on this board that live near your area, they may have some ideas of a good local custody attorney. Good luck to you and your family.

  Odrade
• 

  wtphobic

  You are both right- it is not the kid's fault- I was simply trying to get across the mindset of these parents. They tend to view their kids as property, and continue to have more even though they do not have the resources or apparently the desire to care for them ( as demonstrated by her willingness to keep kids home to do her job of childcare.) ( We are talking about 7 kids total between them- all under the age of 13) (What a wonderfully raised JW wife, who has had three husbands, children with all three, committed adultery on one, and left a wake of destruction in her path)

  My apologies.

  BTW- I don't claim to be an expert, only sensitive to the fact that asking questions and trying to create a situation is just as detrimental to a child as if it were actually occuring.

  Thanks for the info