Hank James Clarke II's Answers

Me and my husband just recently got married. He wants to adopt my son. I need to know how to go about doing this.

If your ex-boyfriend is willing to consent to the adoption, you shouldn't have much problem at all. You will need to file a Petition for Adoption and include the biological father's Consent to Adoption with the Clerk of the Orphan's Court of the county in which you reside. A hearing will be scheduled to which biological father must receive legal notice to attend. If biological father shows up, he must testify that he consents to the adoption. If he fails to appear, then you will need to...

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Can my fiance pull his plea by filing ineffective counsel on the grounds that the public defender did not do his entire job

Every plea agreement made by a defendant must be completely voluntary. No one, not even his attorney, can make him plead guilty. If he has not yet entered his plea in front of the judge, he can withdraw it at any time, including the day of court when he is standing in front of the judge.

Can a dad when there is shared custody 50/50 of the WEEK show up BEFORE his alotted time and TAKE the kids & he's not punished?

My colleague stated that mom can file a contempt petition against dad for picking the kids up early. While that is technically true, in Schuylkill County or any other county I have practiced in, that won't go anywhere. I am assuming that since you said that dad "picked up" the kids and mom was at work at the time, that the kids are enrolled in daycare. Right? If that is the case, and father merely picked the children up from daycare early, then the contempt petition will fail and the mom...

X-husband claiming paternity for a baby thats not his.

Many people are confused with what exactly the "presumption of paternity" is in Pennsylvania as it relates to married folks. At times, the law can get murky and convoluted, but for you and your girlfriend, that is not the case. When your son was born, you and your girlfriend should have signed an "Acknowledgement of Paternity" provided by the hospital. This form was then forwarded to the Office of Vital Records from which a birth certificate is issued. If you both signed this form and sent...