Where can i find free legal advice?

I am 19 years old, engaged, and pregnant. I will be having my baby in January.


I don't have much money at all, but i need legal advice for free to see what my options are.





THE STORY:


I am in love with my fiance and things are great between us. He lives in a separate house than i do. We both live with our parents. My parents are great, its just i have a problem with his mother.


His mother has a lot of issues....and i mean mental issues. She is a control-freak and she is abusive.


She tries to control everything he does even though he is 18 and is about to be a father. She doesn't cut him slack with anything at all....she treats him like he is 14 years old. She always has.


We try our best to be happy with each other and have an adult relationship, but she is always invading our privacy and causing issues between us. She has told me to get lost and says very rude things about me behind my back all the time. She never wanted anything to do with me until she found out i am having her grandson.


That is her only reason to be nice to me and deal with me.





My fiance and i dont want her to be alone with our grandson. She is a bad mother and i know she will be horrible to my son.


She verbally, physically, and emotionally hurts her son all the time. Everyday, in fact. Saying that his family is giving up on him and that he is a waste of time. She calls him a loser and a baby.


She will randomly barge into his room (without respectfully knocking) grab him by the ears and start smacking him in the head. She has threatened him with a knife and also drove out of the drive-way down the street (about 2 blocks in town) with him on the roof of the car.


She knows i dont like her....i dont....but she has threatened to her son that she will take us to court if we dont let her see her grandson.


He will be living with me though, at my house with my parents. They dont like her either and dont want her to force herself in the house.


This woman has been very cruel to me over 2 years now and has made my life and my pregnancy miserable. I dont want to know her anymore and i want to cut her out of my life.


But...i know there are grandparents rights....but where can i find them exactly?


Is she able to do anything if neither me or my fiance dont want her to be around him?








Where can i find free legal advice?
This woman may be all the things that you said but she is right about a few things....





her son is a loser.





How can he have a child and a fiance and still live with her.


A REAL MAN would marry then have a place for his family to live BEFORE he got her pregnant.





It is obvious that there are two sides to every story.


FOr example if what you said about your BOYFRIEND being on the hood of the car is true, HOW DID HE GET THERE! Most normal people do not place themselves in this situation.





If this woman is such a horrible person, why does he still choose to live there.





If your parents love this guy so much, why arent you already married to him all of you living there with him while he is working to save money to get you three a place of your own.





If it is her house I don t see why she has to knock.


Sure it would be nice if she did but she does not OWE him that. Hell if she had done more barging in she might not have to deal with you being pregnantl.





In one breath you say that she is so mean to you but in the other you said she is being nice to you just because you are pregnant....which is it.





And why do you keep going over there anyway. She does not like you then stay out of her house and if her baby of a son wants to get treated more like a man, he should act like one.Where can i find free legal advice?
I honesty don't think you have anything to worry about (unless you count dealing with a mental case on a regular basis something to worry about).





I know in many states the rights of the grandparents are very limited unless the parents of the child are deceased or the child is put into child services/foster care.





She is probably just threatening you b/c she knows your situation.





The best thing I can tell you to do is get the phone book, and call attorney's in your area and see if anyone gives ';free consultations.'; Find an attorney or two that do, sometimes a the consult fee can be $20-$100 (if you can't find a free one), and make an appointment and go speak with an attorney.





I just know from personal and work experience that grandparent's rights are limited.
';Most'; States do not have any legally binding ';grandparents rights';.





Even if you live in a State that does grant grandparents visitation rights, only a court can order them. she also does not, under any circumstances, have any right to enter your parents home without their permission.





Richard



Whenever asking for legal information people need to put what state they are in (the law varies)! But the other poster is basically right, you shouldn't have a big problem: grandparents rights are usually only available when one or both parents is dead or the parents get separated and the child/children already have a relationship with the grandparents.





And they should be really hard to get if you do not want her to visit your child.





Yahoo Answers = best free legal *information* around; legal advice must be from a lawyer; otherwise the other poster's info was correct, just call around and ask who's willing to give ';pro bono'; (charity) legal advice.








Here is some more precise legal information from the type of source an attorney would look up to find this info:


';Under common-law principles, grandparents did not have any legal right to visit and to communicate with their grandchildren if such visitation or communication was forbidden by the parents. Courts, however, have increasingly recognized that grandparents may have a legal right of visitation if such visitation is found to be in the best interests of the particular child involved. The issue arises in many cases as to whether grandparents may be awarded rights of visitation with their grandchildren in cases where the parents of the child are living.





In Williams v. Williams, 501 S.E.2d 417, 71 ALR5th 723 (Va. 1998), for example, the court held that paternal grandparents would not be allowed visitation rights with their granddaughter where the child's parents were both living and still residing together as a family unit.';





More detailed info depends on your state. As the other poster suggested, call up a local attorney and see if one will give you some legal advice ';pro bone'; [free].
At this point in time ,your boy friend needs to get a full time job and finish school at night. After the baby is born you need to put the baby in child car and get a job yourself. You are parents now and you need to start acting like it.


Apply now for the low income housing in your area ,so you and you future husband will have a place to live with your child.


You both need to make plans to be on your own and the only way to that is to work.
In your phone book there are Government listing- divided into state, county and city sections, sometimes they are blue but they are always located in the front of the phone book before any of the business or residential numbers. Somewhere in those pages- most likely in the County or City sections- will be a number for Legal Aid or free Legal Aid. If that doesn't work call 0 for the operator or 411 for information.





Regardless of who this woman is or what her relationship is to you or your child, if you feel that she is a threat to your safety or that of your child you should be able to file a restraining order. I don't know what the specifics are on being able to file one but I do know that if you have one and she contacts you- physically or by phone- it is illegal and you could have her arrested for it. As for your fiance, he will have to file one himself. Your parents should also find out about protecting themselves as well. If she does try to barge in- the legal terms for that is trespassing and breaking and entering- both are illegal. Good luck and congratulations- you will have a baby and be getting married soon! Don't let this bully ruin this for you without even trying to fight back. Call Legal Aid, its what they are there for.
Contact legal aid,most lawyers will answer questions you may have for a free consultation.


Your fiance needs to do something about his mom and then he should consider getting some professional help for himself for the abuse she put him through so he won't put your baby through the same thing.


There are legal actions you can exercise whether your fiance agrees with you or not.


If you can get some of the things she says or does on tape,it can be used in court to support why she should not be allowed near the baby.


Your parents can take legal action to keep her away from their house also.


If she barges into the house uninvited,they only need to tell her to leave and call the police to have her arrested for trespassing if she refuses to leave.


Grandparents rights are few and limited if any at all.


Like all laws, they vary from state to state.