Legal Questions and Answers

Read legal questions and answers from experienced Spanish speaking lawyers and legal professionals.

Can my husband be charged criminally for child abuse?

I recently found out that my husband, who is my 17 year old daughter’s step-father, is having a sexual relationship with her. I caught them together so there is no way he can deny it. He says the relationship is consensual and because she’s almost 18, there is nothing anyone can do about it. I live in San Hose and have reported it to California child protective services and they are investigating. This situation makes me sick and nothing is moving fast enough. What can I do to bring criminal charges against him for sexual child abuse, or possibly rape, of my daughter? Does it matter if she consented to the relationship? She says she loves him but she is still a child and should not be able to consent. Also, does my husband’s sick behavior matter in a divorce, because obviously I’ve left him and intend to do whatever I can to take everything from him.

San Jose, CA

Mar 15, 2021

Does my Ex’s New Husband’s income factor into child support?

I’ve been paying my ex child support for our two kids since we divorce. In the last year, she’s remarried to a very wealthy guy and now my kids live in a huge house with him and get just about everything they want. My ex even quit her job because she no longer needs to work. I’m struggling to meet my own family’s needs while still paying her child support for the kids. It makes no sense that she’s still taking my money when our kids clearly no longer need it. Does her husband’s income count at all in the calculation of my child support? Is there anything I can do based on these circumstances to reduce or stop my child support?

San Jose, CA

Mar 15, 2021

Do you need biological father’s consent to adopt his child?

A friend of my husband and I from our church has a teenage daughter who is pregnant. She does not want to keep the child and we are very interested in adopting the baby. The mom-to-be does not have any contact with the biological father and does not even know where he lives at this point. There has never been a paternity test but she says she’s sure he is the father. If he’s never formally been identified as the father and she can’t locate him, do we need his consent to proceed with an adoption once the child is born? If we do, how do we go about finding him and what exactly does the consent need to say? We live just outside of San Antonio and she thinks he is possibly living out of state. Can a lawyer help us get the consent?

Phoenix, AZ

Mar 15, 2021

Can my husband and I file jointly for an uncontested divorce?

Both my husband and I want a divorce and we’ve discussed and resolved most of our issues. We went to the San Antonio courthouse and were told that we needed something called a Petition for Dissolution and a consent decree if we wanted to divorce without attorneys or a judge becoming involved. The clerk would not explain to us exactly what those are – said she could not give us legal advice. Is there someplace we can get this information or an attorney we can talk to about it? Are we able to file jointly for an uncontested divorce and if we do, do we still need to appear in court?

Phoenix, AZ

Mar 15, 2021

Can I get custody of my disabled adult daughter?

My 24 year old daughter was disabled as a result of a car crash when she was 11. Her mother and I were married at the time and cared for her jointly until we divorced when she was 18. Since that time, she’s been living primarily with her mother and I have had weekend visits with her in my home. She will never be able to care for herself. Her mother and I never pursued any type of formal guardianship because there didn’t seem to be a need to do so. Her mother recently remarried and the new husband is not kind at all to my daughter. She tells me how unhappy she is at her mom’s home and that she is scared of him. She wants to come live with me but her mother will not consent. What do I need to do to get custody, or should I be pursuing some sort of adult guardianship?

San Antonio, TX

Mar 15, 2021

Can I stop my wife from filing for divorce?

I’ve been married 8 years and my wife is now saying she wants a divorce. She says she filed for one but I have not received any paperwork, and we are still living together. We live in San Antonio and I went to the courthouse in Bexar County and they said they have no record of her filing. I don’t want a divorce, I want to go to marriage counseling. Is there anything I can do to require my wife to attend counseling with me, or some type of mediation? How do I find out if she did file for a divorce?

San Antonio, TX

Mar 15, 2021

Can I require my fiancé to show me his finances for a prenup?

I’m engaged and my fiancé wants me to sign a prenuptial agreement. He says he’ll have his lawyer prepare it and all I need to do is sign. My concern is that I don’t know what I’m possibly giving up. He’s very private about his finances, we don’t have joint accounts, and he doesn’t want to have them even after we marry. He says that as long as he’s taking care of all the bills, it shouldn’t matter what money or property he has coming into the marriage. Can I make him disclose his financial situation before I sign a prenup? I am not only concerned about what I might be losing if we ever did divorce, I’m also concerned about being responsible for any debt that he might have now that I don’t know about.

Seattle, WA

Mar 15, 2021

What if I suspect child abuse of an infant?

I run a daycare in Seattle and I never had any concern that my daycare kids are being abused. Recently, I got a 9 month old enrolled by their parents who just moved to the area. The baby seems very skinny, I can see her ribs. She also cries nonstop when either of the parents comes to pick her up, but she rarely cries during the day when she’s with me. I think something might be going on but I don’t know how to figure it out for sure. I know as a daycare provider I am obligated to report suspected child abuse, but I don’t know if what I’m seeing proves abuse. I want to make sure the baby is safe, but also don’t want to get in trouble for a false report. What other signs should I be looking for in and if I call the child abuse hotline, will they tell these parents that it was me who called?

Seattle, WA

Mar 15, 2021

What is a medical child support order?

My kids’ mother has filed a child support action against me and in it she’s asking that the court issue a ‘medical support order’ and make me provide health insurance for my kids on top of child support. Insurance at my company is extremely expensive and if I carry my kids on the plan there is no way I can pay child support also. I think it makes more sense for her to cover the kids on her insurance, it’s cheaper. What exactly is a medical support order and can I fight it? If I am required to provide health insurance for the kids, could a judge waive child support? Also, how do I respond to her court papers? The paperwork says I have a certain amount of days to respond but is that from when she filed the papers or when I received them?

San Francisco, CA

Mar 15, 2021

Do I need to file a response to an uncontested divorce?

My husband apparently filed for an uncontested divorce but I never received any notice of it. I did get a ‘default judgment’ in the mail, apparently because I didn’t respond to his divorce complaint. I’m not really contesting anything except we do have one joint credit card debt that he ran up. I want my name off of that account. Will the divorce automatically make that account his responsibility, or do I need to file some type of response to his divorce complaint? How can a default be entered by the court against me if my ex never gave me any notice when he filed?

San Francisco, CA

Mar 15, 2021

Do you need an attorney to adopt a child from the state?

My husband and I are interested in adopting an older child. We live in Dalla and we’ve located several children on the Texas Adoption Resource Exchange who might be available for adoption. If we pursue one of those children, will the state represent us or do we need our own attorney? Does Texas offer any adoption subsidies or assistance if we adopt an older child with special needs? We are also told that a child of a certain age has to consent to the adoption. If they don’t want to be adopted, is it possible we could take custody without a formal adoption? And if we do need a lawyer, how do we locate one with experience in state adoptions or custody?

Dallas, TX

Mar 15, 2021

Does my spouse’s fault matter in a Texas divorce?

I’ve been told that Texas is a no-fault state and the fact that my wife is an alcoholic and emotionally abusive to me and our kids doesn’t mean anything in a divorce. We live in Dallas and have a house and a business together. Her behavior has negatively impacted our customers and our business as a whole. I don’t think it’s fair that her actions don’t count for anything. If I do pursue a divorce, will a judge consider what she’s done to me and our family when they divide up our property? Is there something I have to include in the divorce papers to let the court know about her behavior?

Dallas, TX

Mar 15, 2021

What happens to a prenup if the marriage didn’t occur?

My former fiancé and I had a prenup drafted and we signed it. However, we broke up a few weeks before the wedding. The prenup said I would add my ex’s name to my house and he would have an interest in it. He’s now saying the prenup is still a legally binding contract because we both signed it and it was notarized. He is demanding that I ‘buy him out’ of his interest in my house or he is going to sue me to enforce the contract and get his name added. Is the prenup still valid if we didn’t get married and if so, what do I need to do to keep him from getting his name on the house deed?

Raleigh, NC

Mar 15, 2021

Can you do an uncontested divorce if spouse is uncooperative?

I’ve been married for 5 years and we have no kids. My wife moved out 6 months ago and did not tell me where she moved to. I suspect she might be living in California with her family. I live here in Raleigh, NC in a house we bought together. Other than the house in joint names, there are no other issues for us to resolve. Can I pursue an uncontested divorce if I can’t locate her to notify her, and what do I do about the joint house? I want to keep it and have been paying the mortgage but I need to get her name off the deed. She’s also on the mortgage and the bank is telling me she needs to cooperate with me refinancing it in order to get her off the title.

Raleigh, NC

Mar 15, 2021

How do I get full custody and a child support wage lien?

My ex and I share custody of our two kids. He is emotionally abusive to them and they are getting old enough now that it’s affecting them – they are doing worse in school, acting out at home, and he won’t agree to let me put my younger son in counseling. Will proving emotional abuse be enough to get full custody of them and how do I do that? Can their teachers testify? Also, he’s supposed to be paying me child support because he earns more but he’s never on time. If I do get custody, can I get the child support increased and get it taken out of his paycheck?

Boston, MA

Mar 15, 2021

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