The entire court system, throughout the state of Alabama, has now been shut down until at least until May 1, 2020. However, emergency child custody issues are still being addressed. Some judges are conducting a few hearings and entertaining attorney arguments remotely via conference call. Our office is open and we are answering our phone. We are providing legal services during normal business hours. We will continue doing initial consultations as well as providing legal help and advice to our clients.
We have instituted safe practices in the way we operate in an effort to both protect our clients and their families as well as keeping ourselves healthy so that we can remain available to assist our clients into the future.
Until further notice, we have stopped accepting walk-ins at the office. All meetings will be performed via telephone and remotely using the internet. We can still file motions and complaints and get the process started. We can also provide legal advice and counseling to both our clients and in initial consultations. We are fortunate that almost all of our services can be performed remotely.
We understand that family dynamics and family problems become more complicated and are often more intense during times of stress, like the one we are all living through right now. We want to remain available and able to assist families with legal problems involving child custody and divorce.
If you have a family law issue, do not hesitate to call Joseph Allan Shaw, P.C. at (251) 964-7774 or visit our website at: JASFamilyLaw.com.
We are in historic times and we have a unique opportunity to play our part in stopping a serious virus before it burns though our populations, killing many of our dearest family members and friends. What our society does now and how we each individually adjust our lives in fighting COVID-19 will be studied for generations. Let's all be safe and live in a way that we can protect the health and safety of everyone.
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As a family law attorney, I regularly get calls about paternity issues and the rights of someone who believes that he is the biological father of a child but is not married to the mother. Sometimes it is the mother wondering what her rights are in these situations. There are very specific rules that address this issue. It takes a thorough analysis of the facts in each case to determine whether an alleged father has standing or capacity to bring a paternity action. Our Courts have strictly applied these rules.
Hypothetical case: A man and a woman live together for a number of years, but are not married. The woman becomes pregnant. During the first 7 months of the pregnancy, they continue to live together, the man supports the woman, paying medical bills, and paying for other living expenses during the pregnancy, all the while looking forward to having a child. Two months prior to the child's birth, the relationship sours and the woman leaves the man. She immediately develops a new relationship, and within three weeks of the start of that relationship, she marries her new lover. One day after the marriage, but prior to the birth of the child, the boyfriend files a paternity action in Juvenile Court. He alleges that the marriage occurred only after the woman learned that he was going to file the petition seeking rights as a father. The new husband's name is placed on the birth certificate of the child. The new husband continues to maintain that he is the father, but never has to provide evidence that he is the biological father or even that there had been a sexual relationship that could have ever conceived this child. The Juvenile court dismisses the old boyfriends paternity petition because the new husband is the presumed father and has continued to maintain that he is the father. The Court rules that the ex-boyfriend does not have standing or legal capacity to bring the paternity action.
On June 5, 2020, the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals issued an opinion ( Z.W.E. v. L.B., No. 2180796, 2020 WL 3023251 (Ala. Civ. App. June 5, 2020) upholding the Juvenile Court's dismissal in a case with very similar facts as hypothetical case above. In the opinion, the appellate court concluded that the Juvenile Court properly dismissed the case.
There are indications in the opinion, and in the dissent, that there might have been grounds, involving the legal definition of a child, which the ex-boyfriend failed to present to the Juvenile Court, that possibly could have changed the analysis and outcome of the case. We cannot know what would have happened if all arguments had been presented. However, it is clear that unless this opinion is overruled by the Alabama Supreme Court, the ex-boyfriend will not ever have the right to have a relationship with his probable biological child, who will now likely be raised by another man.
When you are facing a paternity or family law case, it is important to have a lawyer who understands the complex laws related to these types of cases. It is important to get all of your issues presented to the trial court so that it can later be used in an appellate court, if necessary.
Joseph Allan Shaw, P.C. focuses on family law cases that include divorce, child custody, or paternity issues. We would welcome the opportunity to work with you if you facing a family law matter. Please contact us at (251) 964-7774; email: office@jasfamilylaw.com; website: www.jasfamilylaw.com
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