Michael Albert Dedecker

I hired Mr. Dedecker to get me through the last leg of adoption process through dependency court. He is very professional, He well knowledged in the court process having worked representing biological parents, foster kids and now private practice. He was very prompt in responding to emails, calls and... text. I'd hire him again if the need arose

I have retained Michael Dedecker two separate times now. One time about 10 years ago when I was in a horrible situation with my sons dad. He was so professional and easy to work with. He is always responsive and understand the justice system better then anyone I know. He is well respected my the judg...es and has been available for me whenever I needed to discuss the case. He was able to obtain full custody for me for my son who was in a horrible situation with his dad. The more recent care was yesterday with my boyfriends daughter who lives with us part time. Once again even after all these years, he did his research, made the process as easy as possible and the outcome was exactly what my boyfriend and I wanted again in this case. We wanted to have 50/50 back in place after an ex parte was filed. He worked with us on what needed to happen and what was best for the consistency of the child. I know child custody agreements are beyond stressful and he helps put you at ease understanding all the proper forms and procedures. I would recommend Michael to anyone out there. Although for my own situations I hope I don't have to retain him again in the future I would do it in a heartbeat.

We came to Michael to help us with legal documentation in regards to our baby on the way via surrogacy. Michael made the entire process simple, easy to understand, and stayed on top of everything for us. Michael was also really competitively priced compared to the many other lawyers that we consult...ed with. Michael did so well with our surrogacy documentation that we also used him to help us with a separate legal matter. We highly recommend Michael for your legal needs.

We hired this guy to represent me and my partner as de facto parents. In the year and a half that this guy “represented” us, he continuously told us we had no legal standing in our daughter’s case. We repeatedly asked him to obtain court reports and minutes and every time he would tell us we weren’t ...entitled to them. He operates from a basis of limitations and misinformed us about dependency law. He told us there is no maximum amount of time that court ordered reunification can go, when California law clearly states a maximum time of 24 months. Even when the judge gave him the opportunity to ask questions or make statements on our behalf, he would refuse to do so stating “I have no legal standing.” This resulted in us losing our daughter who we raised since birth until she was nearly 3 years old and who had never spent a single day apart from us in that entire time. After we fired this guy, we found out from the county clerk that he never even filed the de facto parent order that had been granted to us by the judge. If he had done this, we would have automatically received copies of the documents which Mr. Decker told us we were not entitled to. It was as simple as us filling out a request form to receive all of these documents once we fired Mr. Dedecker. Our new attorney informed us that we do in fact have legal standing as an injured party in our daughters case, and unlike Mr. Dedecker our new attorney actually meets with us to collaborate and fights for our family the way I would expect a family law attorney to do. I strongly advise against trusting this guy with something as important as your family. I sure regret doing so.

I write reviews next to never but felt compelled to write one today to let anyone who may be in a stressful custody/adoption situation to please give Michael Dedecker a call immediately! Michael was referred to me by another attorney and I’m most grateful he was! What started out as a very simpl...e adoption case, turned into a long drawn out stressful ordeal. Michael was supportive and very attentive through it all. There were times when I felt hopelessness creeping up on me but Michaels care and confidence always helped me to recenter myself. We were in the process for over a year and a half and he was on top of everything the entire time. He knows the delicate nature of these cases well and handles them with great care, professional, wisdom, and attention. I will always have deep respect and immense gratitude for Michael. When our Son is old enough, I will tell him about the incredible angel disguised as an attorney that helped to secure his place in our family forever.