Chris Johnson was raising two children with his wife, Leah, when he found out she was having an affair with someone else. Though Chris was only the biological father of one of the children, he wanted to shield both of his kids from their mother’s intentional neglect. When Leah decided to move to Indiana with her new partner, she willingly left her children behind in Chris’ care, going as far as to sign and notarize a document allowing him to handle their educational and medical affairs in exchange for visitation.
Though both boys are living with Chris, he only has legal custody of his biological son, and struggled with obtaining parental rights for his other son, Jamie.
8-year-old Jamie had a hard time adjusting to the absence of his mother and began to experience abandonment anxiety; Chris put him into counseling and began the lengthy process of divorcing his wife. The reason he consulted Lone Star Legal Aid, however, was to seek assistance on how to obtain guardianship of Jamie. With reports from friends and Leah’s own family on how she didn’t even bother changing her younger child’s diaper, Chris was haunted by the fear that a woman who clearly didn’t want her children could still retain the legal right to uproot their lives and take away their stability and consistent paternal figure. He also did not want to leave Jamie at the mercy of his biological father, who had not shown any interest in being part of his son’s life or his legal needs.
Lone Star Legal Aid paralegal Nicola Ostlund advised Chris through the process of filing a Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship. An SAPCR is a legal petition filed in family court requesting that the judge modify court orders related to child custody visitation, support, and other similar matters. This type of suit is often filed in circumstances when the parents aren’t married or want to make changes to existing orders. The court is responsible for determining the best interest of the child in question by evaluating the parents’ abilities, the stability of the home environment(s) and other like factors that would affect the child’s well-being and upbringing.
Chris successfully filed the SAPCR and even got Jamie’s biological father to sign waiver to conservatorship. In court, the judge agreed to grant Chris custody, allowing him to worry about one less legal complication as he finalizes his divorce. With this burden lifted, Jamie can now enjoy a stable home environment with his little brother in the care of a parent who wants to provide him with the best life.
*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the client.
Lone Star Legal Aid (LSLA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit law firm focused on advocacy for low-income populations by providing free legal education, advice, and representation. LSLA serves millions of people at 125% of federal poverty guidelines, who live in 72 counties in the eastern and Gulf Coast regions of Texas, and 4 counties in Southwest Arkansas. To learn more about Lone Star Legal Aid, visit our website at www.LoneStarLegal.org.
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