I am in desperate need of feedback. I need to know what can be done to establish sole custody of my 12 year old son. Here is our situation: My son's father was fired from his job last February. He paid some child support and maintained health insurance coverage during that time. He was hired at a new job in July. He claimed his income was much lower than his original job so he took me to court to lower his child support payments. He didn't have any of the requested documents that the Attorney General's Office had asked for but we still lowered his payments by $250/mos. The judge said it was a temporary order and that we would meet again in March. She said that if he didn't show up with the requested documents or that if it was proven that he would be making more money that he verbally said he made, he would be responsible for the difference, with interest and court costs. Immediately after the court hearing he claimed he had liver cancer and he was fired from his new job. He had asked them for time off to treat his liver cancer but he was never able to prove he had it. As it turns out (big surprise), he doesn't have liver cancer. He quit paying child support all together and has let my son's health insurance expire. He claims he has COBRA coverage for him but has not supplied me with any proof. He has not seen my son in a year and a half, has made NO ATTEMPT to see him within that time and he hasn't called or spoken to him at all. We had a medical emergency the other day and he wouldn't answer the phone or texts to tell me about insurance info or how he would like to participate handling my son's need to see a doctor. He has not paid child support since October. As of now we have joint custody but I would like to revoke that right based on negligence. My son's father lives in NY but he has been to TX, in our city and failed to see my son. My son didn't even know his dad was here. My son's dad is also paying partial child support to his two other (younger) children but nothing to my son. I will have to represent myself in court since I no longer have the resources to pay an attorney. Do I have a chance to win? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Gainning sole custody is not going to happen. What your trying to do is terminate his rights and you canot do that without his consent and a willing step parent to adopt. You at least have had some contact with him otherwise you woul dnot have the info you posted. This is "contact" so abandonment is not likely on the table as option either. He is choosing not to exercise his rights to visits. This is not a requirement to strip him of those rights. Take him tpo court for contempt if he is violating any existing court order. Where it is advisiable to do so with the aid of Attorney you can do so without

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I do feel your pain in your situation. Child support issues are completely different from visitation. If your child is being abused or mistreated in his care, then there would be reason to suspend his visitation. You would need to contact family services and open a case to have this investigated if you felt that this was an issue. But if it is not, you are just one of many that are in a situation with an unresponsible parent. The prosicutor of your county should be representing you. If you don't feel they are doing a good job, and you can't get an attorney, you can always check into legal aid to see if you qualify. Tax time is just around the corner and with a deposit a lot of attorney's will work with you and require your ex to pay back those fees as well. You child is entitled to child support and there are lots of ways to get it. Don't give up and be patient. Patients is key even though it is hard. Contact every attorney in the phone book until you find someone to help you. There is someone who can help. You just have to work to find them. I hope this was helpful. Good luck. And just remember you are not alone.

Have you browsed through the information in LawInfo's Free Legal Resource Center to learn more about your issue yet? See: http://www.lawinfo.com/consumer.html and http://resources.lawinfo.com/en/index.html. You can certainly try to speak to a lawyer to determine what legal options may be available. In the meantime, you may be able to learn more on your own. Search the "Free Legal Resources" tab, or browse the Consumer Resources. Good luck.