Today was the final custody hearing to complete the adoption of my wife's 5-year old niece as our own. It's taken 6 months to complete and cost several thousand dollars, but the child is better off now, so it's all moot.
On to the rant:
First off, we paid $150 today for a public defender that sat in the judge's office for the reading for all of 15 minutes. He says that he attempted to contact the biological father (referred to in the legal docs as "Unknown"). How the fvck do you attempt to contact somone who is unknown after 5 years of this child's life? Better yet, how do you substantiate that you did anything and still get paid $150 for 15 mins. of work? That's $600/hour!!! WTF???!!!
Now, on to the judge. During the final reading, he made very clear to me that in the event that my wife and I divorce, I should understand that as the adoptive father, I would have to pay child support. First off, it was directly targeted at me, not a general, "If you two should divorce, custody will be in dispute and someone may have to pay child support...." No, it was look directly in my eyes and tell me more or less that if my wife and I split, I WILL pay child support for the adoptive child. So much for the blindfold and the scales and equality in the courts for men and women huh? It actually pissed my wife off the way he approached it.
On to the rant:
First off, we paid $150 today for a public defender that sat in the judge's office for the reading for all of 15 minutes. He says that he attempted to contact the biological father (referred to in the legal docs as "Unknown"). How the fvck do you attempt to contact somone who is unknown after 5 years of this child's life? Better yet, how do you substantiate that you did anything and still get paid $150 for 15 mins. of work? That's $600/hour!!! WTF???!!!
Now, on to the judge. During the final reading, he made very clear to me that in the event that my wife and I divorce, I should understand that as the adoptive father, I would have to pay child support. First off, it was directly targeted at me, not a general, "If you two should divorce, custody will be in dispute and someone may have to pay child support...." No, it was look directly in my eyes and tell me more or less that if my wife and I split, I WILL pay child support for the adoptive child. So much for the blindfold and the scales and equality in the courts for men and women huh? It actually pissed my wife off the way he approached it.
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