If you need personal legal advice, you need a lawyer - Period.
Website information is a nice place to start, and it can give you ideas of how much (or how little) you need to hire an attorney. But legal rights, responsibilities, forms, and ideas can change not only from State to State, but from County to County, Court to Court, and week to week. We have tried to make the forms useful to the ordinary English speaker, but if you can find legal assistance, please do it.
There are great concerns about the status of immigrants today.
A group of attorneys have put together some forms which we believe can help immigrant families from being torn apart and having their children placed into the foster system. Initially we advise that any non-citizen, regardless of immigration status, look over these documents with a fluent English speaker and determine whether these forms will be helpful to them.
If a parent is taken into custody...
and there is no one there to provide care for the child, it is possible that the child will be placed into foster care by the state not because it is needed, but because of legal technicalities concerning custody or guardianship and the ability of extended family or close friends to provide care for the child.
There is a packet of Powers of Attorney for child care, transferring a car, conducting the family's financial business, and for the management and sale of real estate. We urge ALL parent to execute these documents and keep them in a safe place with the Agent, or person who will use the powers of Attorney to protect the family's interests.
We have also prepared forms which will allow the parent to agree that a court can transfer custody of their child, or that a Guardianship of the child can be created.
Some of these decisions are simple to make: Fill out the Powers of Attorney.
Some of the directions are more difficult: Which court do I file in?
Some of the planning is complicated: How will they know if I got arrested?
I address these issues on the following pages. Please fee free to refer people to these forms, to print them and distribute them, or to contact the Bar Association for referrals to attorneys who can help you.
Ultimately I offer this: Pretend that whatever you do is wrong. Which mistake would you rather make? Would you prefer to have documents prepared for an emergency which never arrives or need the documents in the time of emergency and have NO ABILITY to get them filled out?
This information and these forms have been prepared by volunteer attorneys licensed in the State of Ohio. This is general legal information. No attorney – client relationship is formed between you and the attorneys who made these forms. This is not specific legal advice for your individual situation. If it is possible, consult with an attorney. You may be able to find volunteer legal assistance through your local Bar Association, your community centers, immigration support service agencies, or through your religious institutions. Please use only a Licensed Attorney or a reputed member of your community to help you with the forms. DO NOT use a "Notario" who does not know the law.
Website information is a nice place to start, and it can give you ideas of how much (or how little) you need to hire an attorney. But legal rights, responsibilities, forms, and ideas can change not only from State to State, but from County to County, Court to Court, and week to week. We have tried to make the forms useful to the ordinary English speaker, but if you can find legal assistance, please do it.
There are great concerns about the status of immigrants today.
A group of attorneys have put together some forms which we believe can help immigrant families from being torn apart and having their children placed into the foster system. Initially we advise that any non-citizen, regardless of immigration status, look over these documents with a fluent English speaker and determine whether these forms will be helpful to them.
If a parent is taken into custody...
and there is no one there to provide care for the child, it is possible that the child will be placed into foster care by the state not because it is needed, but because of legal technicalities concerning custody or guardianship and the ability of extended family or close friends to provide care for the child.
There is a packet of Powers of Attorney for child care, transferring a car, conducting the family's financial business, and for the management and sale of real estate. We urge ALL parent to execute these documents and keep them in a safe place with the Agent, or person who will use the powers of Attorney to protect the family's interests.
We have also prepared forms which will allow the parent to agree that a court can transfer custody of their child, or that a Guardianship of the child can be created.
Some of these decisions are simple to make: Fill out the Powers of Attorney.
Some of the directions are more difficult: Which court do I file in?
Some of the planning is complicated: How will they know if I got arrested?
I address these issues on the following pages. Please fee free to refer people to these forms, to print them and distribute them, or to contact the Bar Association for referrals to attorneys who can help you.
Ultimately I offer this: Pretend that whatever you do is wrong. Which mistake would you rather make? Would you prefer to have documents prepared for an emergency which never arrives or need the documents in the time of emergency and have NO ABILITY to get them filled out?
This information and these forms have been prepared by volunteer attorneys licensed in the State of Ohio. This is general legal information. No attorney – client relationship is formed between you and the attorneys who made these forms. This is not specific legal advice for your individual situation. If it is possible, consult with an attorney. You may be able to find volunteer legal assistance through your local Bar Association, your community centers, immigration support service agencies, or through your religious institutions. Please use only a Licensed Attorney or a reputed member of your community to help you with the forms. DO NOT use a "Notario" who does not know the law.
