My name is Javier and I have had sole physical custody of my daughter since she was one year old. She is about to be seven in July.

The mother lost custody due to child abuse and drug addiction. The court system gave her supervised visitation at a minimum of once a month. She has always come and gone as she pleased, showing up every other month or every 4+ months.

I recently came across some hard times and had to get food stamps and cash aid to stay afloat. When I got cash aid, they opened up a child support case against her, and that’s when she decided to do some strange things i

within the court system.

On Feb 8th, after a visitation, her sister claimed she served me even though I did not receive any type of paperwork. I was unaware of these claims, so when I did not show up to a court date I had no idea was happening. Due to never being served, the court system awarded her with sole legal and joint custody. And now she actually served me on May 24 asking for sole legal and physical custody.

I don’t know how to handle the court system and I am in desperate need of a lawyer. Please help me keep my daughter safe in my custody.