Holly R. Monk

Holly Monk is a beloved name in our house. In 2013 my husband and I were desperate to have legal intervention to preserve the emotional wellbeing and safety of our grandson. Before his mother's sudden death in 2012, he and his mom, our daughter, had spent 19 of the 25 months of his life mostly l...iving with us. After her death, our grandson naturally became his biological father's responsibility. However, due to his irresponsibility, our grandson was having to be jostled about between his father 1 or 2 days, his mom's best friend 1 to 2 days and us the other 2 to 3 days each week. This went on for a year and 4 months. Over the period of time before we hired Holly, it became known to us that our grandson was not in a safe environment. The last straw was when he decided he was going to cut us out of our grandson's life because he didn't like our concern over what was happening in their household. This is where the vast knowledge and intelligence of Holly Monk came into play. As we began calling several Attorney's offices to acquire their services, we kept getting told there was nothing they could do for us. They said that in the state of Texas there are no grandparent's rights. We tried to tell them that it wasn't just about our rights, that it was about our grandson's right to be protected as he was an innocent child! Thank God, we didn't give up after being repeatedly turned away. We found Holly. She asked a few questions and told us she felt that she might be able to help. We were beyond grateful. She knew the law in ways that, apparently, the other attorneys didn't. Holly never gave us false hope. She was very attentive and incredibily savvy. She had an uncanny insight into the type of person we were dealing with. She gave us guidance as to how to handle ourselves in order to achieve our best outcome. From the day we had our first consult she had us in court 3 and 1/2 weeks later. With the case that Holly put before the temporary judge, we were granted immediate access to our grandson for 3 out of 4 days a week pending a social study. As time passed, things that the judge had ordered to take place from both parties were not being followed through on the part of the father. Holly requested another hearing to enforce the temporary judges orders. Her strategy was extremely effective resulting in the judge placing the child with us full time. The judge ordered the father's visits to be supervised. This is virtually unheard of progress from a temporary court. In less than a year, the case was finalized in mediation. Along with our retaining full time custody, Holly required that the father meet specified conditions for one year If he wanted to have standard visitation. She also insisted on his paying at least the minimal child support. This was not required, but Holly demanded, as it was her job to get the best for us as her clients. Honestly, it is because of her unceasing dedication to knowing the law and how to present a case that we have been awarded the greatest gift. We now have our grandson full time.