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NOTICE: Once you have completed this expression of interest (mini-application), you will be contacted by telephone. By submitting your expression of interest you are consenting to receive telephone calls from our Parental Advocate Group even if you are currently on a Do Not Call list.

How We Help

A father’s right to spend time with his children…such a basic desire. We help fathers with child custody, child visitation, and/or child support issues. We understand that mothers also experience similar types of child custody, child visitation, and child support family law issues - we specialize in helping parents get family law issues resolved.

About the Children (ATC) does not take sides. We help both mothers and fathers. ATC cares about what is in the best interest of the children - just like your Family Court Judge. Hence, we are not a father’s advocate group, or a mother’s advocate group - we are a Parental Advocate Group, that truly is about the children. If what you’re trying to accomplish in family law court, is in the best interest of the child - we can, and are dedicated in helping you!

The only way to start, change, or enforce any child custody, visitation, or child support
issue, is to get a court order signed by a judge.

As a Parental Advocate Group, ATC's goal is to help parents resolve their legal issues, without having to come up with a retainer fee, or have to worry about paying an attorney by the hour.

ATC is not a law firm and cannot provide legal advice. ATC helps you prepare court documents based on information you select, and provide us.

About the Children wants to help you get your story in the hands of a judge - as stated above, that's the only way to start, change, or enforce anything in regard to your family's current situation. We have over a decade of collective parental advocate experience. The information on this website should not be regarded as or serve as a substitute for legal advice.

Some of the issues we help with:

Child Custody ~ Child Visitation ~ Child Support ~ Out of State Issues ~ Stop Move
Temporary Orders ~ Restraining Orders ~ divorce ~ Drivers License Suspension
Father’s Rights ~ Mother’s Rights ~ Grandparent’s Rights ~ Paternity Issues
Self Help Solutions ~ Contempt of Court ~ Emergency Protective Custody Orders

Cost

Call us today - there is no charge for a consultation. As a Parental Advocate Group, our goal is to help you resolve your family court issue, without you having to pay an attorney by the hour. ATC helps prepare court documents based on information you select, and provide us. The first step is for you to fill out the form above, or call us directly to confirm that you qualify for our program.

Once again, ATC is not a law firm and cannot provide legal advice. ATC helps you prepare court documents based on information you select, and provide us. Our representatives are not attorneys, any information provided by our representatives or on this site should not be construed as legal advice. If you feel you require legal advice or legal counsel you have a right to contact a local licensed attorney.

Let's discuss the options you have to help resolve your current family court issue, and begin working towards a better tomorrow for you and your children!

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Child Support

Collecting Child Support ~ Starting Child Support ~ Stopping Child Support

If you need to have child support started, child support adjusted, or child support stopped - you need a well-defined court order signed by a judge. Although oftentimes child support appears to be tied to child custody or visitation - they are actually two separate issues.

Is your child support order too high? Are you unemployed? Are you disabled? Have you been served or harassed by Child Support Enforcement? Are your wages being garnished? Has your license been suspended? In order to start, change, or enforce any child support (and related) issues - you need to get a well-defined court order signed by a judge.

What is Child Support?

Child Support is the obligation paid to the custodial parent of child by the non custodial parent for rearing the child. It is in the best interest of a child for both parents to be obligated to pay for the support of their child. An order for child support transfers the income/wealth from one parent to the other so that the combined incomes/wealth of both parents is available to use for the support of the child.

A Child Support order includes when and how much a parent has to pay for child support. A Child Support Order is generally part of a divorce decree or paternity judgment. Most states now follow a guideline or formula devised for estimating child support amount. This ensures uniformity in child support payment from court to court.

If you do not have a child visitation or child custody order in place, and are paying high child support, obtaining such an order may lower the amount of child support you pay.

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Child Custody

Child Custody is an issue that affects everybody involved - mom, dad, children, as well as other family members. Nothing is as precious to a parent as their own child. Regardless of any bad situations, or choices you may have made in the past, you still have rights. The only way to protect your rights, so that visitation, custody, or support of a child will be official and enforceable through the court, is to get a court order (signed by a judge) in place.

Types of Custody

Joint custody: parents share physical and legal custody.
Sole physical custody: the child lives with and is under the supervision of one parent. The other parent may often have visitation.
Joint physical custody: each parent has significant periods of physical custody.
Sole legal custody: one parent has the right and the responsibility to make the decisions relating to the health, education and welfare of a child.
Joint legal custody: both parents share the rights and responsibilities to make decisions concerning the health, education and welfare of the child

More on Child Custody
Child Custody and Guardianship are the legal terms used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent and child, including e.g. the right of the parent to make decisions for the child and the duty to care for the child. As previously stated - child custody is determined by assuring that what is being proposed/decided is the best interest of the child.

Legal Custody
"Legal Custody" gives a parent the right to make long-term decisions about the raising of a child, and key aspects of the child's welfare -- including the child's education, medical care, dental care, and religious instruction. In many child custody cases, legal custody is awarded to both parents (called "joint legal custody"), unless it is shown that one parent is somehow unfit, or is incapable of making decisions about the child's upbringing. Legal custody is different from "physical custody," which involves issues such as where the child will live.

Joint Custody
In Child Custody situations, "joint custody" usually refers to one of two possible scenarios: joint legal and physical custody, or joint legal custody.

In true "Joint Custody" arrangements, parents share equal "legal custody" and "physical custody" rights. This means that parents participate equally in making decisions about the child's upbringing and welfare, and split time evenly in having day-to-day care and responsibility for the child -- including the parent's right to have the child live with them. true joint custody arrangements are rare, because of their potential to cause both personal difficulties (stress, disruption of child's routine) and practical problems (scheduling, costs of maintaining two permanent living spaces for the child).

Much more common than true joint custody arrangements (where both physical and legal custody are shared) is "joint legal custody" in which both parents share the right to make long-term decisions about the raising of a child and key aspects of the child's welfare, with physical custody awarded to one parent.

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Child Visitation

Regardless of any bad situations, or choices you may have made in the past, every parent has rights to visit their children. Child Visitation is the most important legal step to staying in touch with your child’s life. You can remain a non custodial parent, but visit your child on a regular visitation schedule. To make visits with your child enforceable, you need to get a well-defined court order in place.

Visitation schedules are determined, like all other domestic issues involving children, in accordance with the best interests of the child. In most situations, it is important that visits with a child be frequent and continuing. Contact us today and tell us whether you want child custody, or visitation. Getting a well-defined court order will protect you, so that the other party is not in control of the situation. Contact us today to review what others have done in similar situations as you are having. Be sure to review Child Custody section on this site, and then call us to discuss resolution.

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Divorce

Nobody gets married to get divorced - divorces aren’t planned, and are at best, a mentally difficult process. If you have been served divorce papers, you need to respond within the indicated timeframe, or you will lose by default.

Since our goal is in uniting families, if there’s a chance of reconciliation, we would like to work towards that resolution. However, if there is no chance of reconciliation, we still want to assist you.

About the Children’s goal is to help parents address their legal issues, without having to come up with a retainer fee, or have to worry about paying an attorney by the hour. Contact us today so that we can determine if you qualify for our ATC Family Advocate Program - there is no charge for the consultation.

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Other Family Law Issues

Addressing any legal issue can get confusing, and outright unaffordable. If you have a family law issue that’s not mentioned on this site, contact us - chances are we can help you.

Call Us Now (800) 787-4981

"We’re AboutTheChildren - It’s About Time"

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