English
EspañolA got custody - what can V do? (Third person - written to sister)
THIS WAS WRITTEN ABOUT A SISTER - BE SURE TO CHANGE ANYTHING IN BRACKETS AND 1 TO MEET THE ACTUAL RELATIONSHIP
Although I cannot speak to her specific situation, in general, if a person loses custody, s/he may have a couple of different possible options of how to address it. One possibility may be to appeal the custody decision. When a person is appealing a custody decision, s/he is asking a higher court to say that the judge didn’t apply the law correctly when s/he made the custody order. Generally, a person only has a short time to file an appeal once a custody order is made. I’m not sure what the time limit is in your state. Because appeals usually involve really technical arguments about the law, it’s usually best to have a lawyer help with an appeal if possible. Here is some basic information about appeals: https://www.womenslaw.org/file-appeal
Although it seems that this may not apply to 1[your sister]1 at this point in time if she just lost custody recently, it may be useful to know for the future that a person may be able to ask the court to modify, or change, a custody order if circumstances change since the order was issued. To modify a custody order, a parent generally needs to go to the court that issued the order to file. Generally, to get a custody order changed, the parent may need to show that circumstances have changed since the order was issued and that these new circumstances support changing the order in the way that the parent is requesting. It can be very helpful to have a lawyer, especially if the other party has one.
Here is a link with legal organizations if she wants to try to get legal representation: LINK If they can’t help her, they might be able to refer her to someone who can take her case on a sliding scale fee or for free. Some legal aid organizations that can give referrals don’t advertise that they do - s/he may need to specifically ask for a referral. She may also want to try any law schools in her area because sometimes they have legal clinics and can take cases for free.
In terms of filing an appeal, there are a few organizations that specifically work on appeals for domestic violence victims although some are specific to certain states: https://www.womenslaw.org/find-help/federal/appeals
