You should dress in a way that is conservative and shows respect for the court. You also need to be appropriate by not chewing gum. You are not generally allowed to eat or drink in the courthouse; never mind the court room. A crucial step is to be on time. If you miss the hearing, […]
03
Oct
Going to your local court is recommended where you can get a Petition for Adoption and Affidavit for the Petitioner for the Adoption. You will need a certified long form copy of child’s birth certificate and you can obtain this from the Registry of Vital Records from the city or town the child was born. […]
30
Sep
Even famous people like Prince did not have a Will. The idea behind a Will is that the role in getting your assets or your estate to the people at the right time and also at times deals with the tax rate. If you die without a Will, it means that you die intestate and […]
23
Sep
Sometimes DCF will get parents to agree to a safety plan with a variety of tasks and a plan that the parents are asked to do. The parents can be forced to agree to placing their children outside of the home and many other provisions without necessarily fully understanding them. It can end up later […]
16
Sep
Sometimes I get questions about what a DCF Assessment is. Usually what that means is a 45-day family assessment. That is the point where the Department of Children and Families (“DCF”) is involved for one or a couple of reasons. First, is that you might have signed up for voluntary services with DCF. Second, if […]
09
Sep
The Lamb Warning is different than the Miranda Warning. It is in the case Commonwealth vs. Lamb that occurred in the 1970’s. It lets the person being interviewed know that the information that he or she is providing to the person asking the questions is not confidential and it would be shared with the court. […]
22
Aug
In many times if parties have been before the Court, they might have heard “ICWA”, which stands for the “Indian Child Welfare Act”. It has been in effect since 1978 and active at congress protecting Native American children. It is regarding federally recognized Native American tribes. There are additional protections for placement of Native Americans […]
19
Aug
In care & protection cases, the court appoints something called a “Court Investigator”, which is very similar to a “Guardian ad Litem” in Probate Court. The Judge tries to get as much relative information from an impartial source that might not otherwise be presented by any of the parties in the case. The Court Investigator […]
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