Jessica Lanoue Hanzlik’s Answers

The calls are confidential for this very reason and I imagine he was making this claim in an effort to deflect the allegations of abuse/neglect. The purpose of the hotline is to prevent retaliation.

Do you think your daughter's biological father is going to seek any kind of visitation with your daughter? Since your husband's name is on the birth certificate, he is the presumed father and unless the biological father brings a lawsuit to establish paternity, he does not have any legal rights at this time.

I would suggest you speak to an attorney about filing for bankruptcy prior to the October 23rd hearing. If you and the attorney determine that bankruptcy is a good option - you should be able to show up at the credit card suit hearing and let the Judge know you plan to file for bankruptcy. Good luck!

I strongly second the advice stated above - you need to show up tomorrow and if you can find an attorney this afternoon who can represent you in this matter and appear with you tomorrow, even better. The newly hired attorney can ask for the Judge to continue the matter to allow him/her to review the pleadings and discuss a strategy with you. There is no guarantee the Judge will continue the custody case but typically, a Judge will give you and/or your attorney one continuance for good cause....

Check with the Bankruptcy Court in Fort Worth to see if there is an assistance program for those wishing to file bankruptcy but who have difficulty with the fees. As mentioned by another attorney, legal aide is typically overwhelmed with those needing help - there may be a specific assistance program for bankruptcy.

Guardianship is a very restrictive legal course of action and unless your mother is unable to physically, financially or mentally care for herself, a judge is going to be hesitant to place her in a guardianship. What are you trying to accomplish with a guardianship?

As stated above, you must be a resident of the state of Texas for six months and be a resident of the county for 90 days. That being said, there are ways to begin the process of separating your assets and liabilities prior to filing if you just need to wait out the jurisdiction requirement. I would suggest you speak with a family law attorney now even if you haven't been a resident of Texas or Bexar county long enough to file. You can get the process going now and file as soon as the time...

You can negotiate with the creditor but as you noticed, the creditor will add on fees for their attorney, court costs, etc. typically bringing the 20% settlement closer to the original balance. If this is not your only debt, I would also suggest you talk to an attorney about bankruptcy. Best of luck!

You will need to file a petition with the court to terminate his parental rights and likely need to hire an attorney to do so. The Attorney General's office will work with you to attempt to collect child support but it is my understanding the AG's office will not seek termination of parental rights. From a financial standpoint, if his rights are terminated, the obligation to pay child support can be terminated as well.

Unfortunately if you don't have regular income (either a job, disability, social security, regular contributions from family members) then bankruptcy will not help save your car. You would need to file Chapter 13 bankruptcy to repay the behind payments over time and Chapter 13 requires steady income. If you wanted to voluntarily give up the car in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, that would prevent the lender from going after you for any deficiency on the loan after the car is returned. I know...