Rebecca’s story
Order of protection and visitation—legal advice and brief services

“I called inMotion in a panic the day before I was to appear in court. The staff attorney eased my nerves after she answered all of my many questions and explained what I should expect in court.”

Rebecca, a young mother of a two-year old boy, feared for her welfare and the safety of her son. Rebecca’s former boy friend, and father of her child, was an ex-police officer and an alcoholic. He had become increasingly violent towards her during the course of their three-year relationship.

Several months before calling inMotion, Rebecca had forced the father out of their apartment by changing the locks. Rebecca allowed him visitation with their child two afternoons a week while she worked a part-time job. More than once, the father had returned with their son several hours later than promised, without notifying Rebecca. Most recently, when he finally showed up with the child at 10:00 pm, he was drunk and with a woman that Rebecca did not know. The father hit Rebecca in the face when she confronted him for driving drunk with their little boy.

After this incident, Rebecca filed pro se (on her own) for an order of protection and for sole child custody, requesting that her former boy friend have only supervised visitation.

Rebecca called inMotion with many questions on the day before she was scheduled to appear in Family Court for the hearing. Our staff attorney provided Rebecca with extensive legal advice, including coaching Rebecca to ask for a court-appointed lawyer to represent her in court.

The attorney also emailed a copy of The Basics Series booklet covering child custody and visitation, which includes detailed information about how to petition for safe visitation. Rebecca recently called to thank us. She wanted to let us know that the court had appointed a lawyer to represent her and that she had been awarded temporary custody of her child.

Rebecca states, “I am so very relieved. I knew exactly what to expect when I arrived at the court. I could not have done any of this without your help.” Rebecca was especially pleased to report that at a second hearing, again with representation from her court-appointed attorney, the court ordered supervised visitation for the father until he could prove that he had overcome his alcoholism.

Learn more about representing yourself with inMotion’s help.

Note: All clients' names and personal details have been changed to protect their identities.