Family Lawyer recommendations? - Potential custody battle

[MadDocker]

Hi there,

Anyone been through this before and can recommend a good lawyer? Rough idea of costs and process involved? Reading on the internet it seems like mediation then court when an agreement can't be met?

It's all a bit daunting so any help/advice would be appreciated.

Cheers.

[RELEASE]

Unless extreme circumstances then the proper process is mediation then court. A court date will not be allocated unless you produce a mediation "certificate". Costs vary.

What level or custody did you want to apply for?
Having most or all custody is near on impossible. Family court still sides that the children are better off with the mother as major custody. Whole systems fucked including child support. Unfortunately be prepared to be screwed.

They're my experiences but I may be wrong although everyone I talk to be it lawyer/CSA agent/other dads my experience doesn't seem far fetched at all

[MadDocker]

Thanks for the info. My wife and I are going to try and go for sole/majority custody of her son/my step son. It's a long story but his father does things like not let the kid speak to his Mum on his birthday, keeps the kid out of school on occasion, sends him back with sores all over him, wont answer his phone on drop off day when running late etc. etc.

We are prepared for mediation but I don't think it will get far with his attitude and am guessing we end up in court.

Thanks for your help.

[ASSASIN]

Richard Crane
Lawyer
Direct Line: 9254 0029
Direct Email: rcrane@flsd.com.au
Assistant: Nadia Christian - 9254 0071

Make sure you have every single conversation and text and non compliance written down and recorded thoroughly. If you can't mediate (which takes months) you will get an approval to go to court. You will then have a trial hearing. By this stage 10k is gone and dusted. If you can't resolve at this stage then it is the family court and be prepared to spend another 10-20k depending on the case.
I would seek legal guidance straight away so you know what your options are, also there is community aid lawyers that the cost is allot less but they are also not as well resourced as the private firms.
They will charge a few hundred dollars for an initial consult and then if you choose to go ahead they will want about 3k in a trust account that they will draw from as needed. Sometimes a letter from your lawyer to the other parent will be enough to scare them but be prepared for a fight.

That is my experience anyway.

[Tre-Cool]

I'll try to get the name of the lawyer my sister used as a recommendation of who NOT to use.

fuck knows how but lawyer had a slam dunk case and still managed to fuck it up and still charged bulk $$$.

[hostage_85]

Mine never got that far, sorry to hear man.
Make sure you Journal Everything... I keep everything to text messages and emails with my Sons mother even after everything has been sorted and were amicable.