Q: I paid an attorney for my husband to adopt my grandson, who I have custody of in 2019 and still do not have the papers.
I have custody of my grandson and in 2019 I paid a lawyer over $500 for my husband to adopt him. The lawyer guaranteed me that we would be in front of the judge before adoption month, November 2019. We have not been in front of a judge, have not received any papers , we haven't even talked to the attorney. If I call her and leave a message I get charged $50 and she doesn't even call me back. What should I do?
A:
Most adoption cases are wrapped up within a number of months. Even cases that go to trial and go up on appeal are generally resolved in a matter of years. Thus, something isn't adding up if you hired an attorney in 2019 and the adoption case isn't finalized by now.
If you are not happy with your current attorney, then it sounds like it is time to hire a new attorney. Your new attorney can help you request a copy of your file from your former attorney. You can then review with your new attorney what has and hasn't been done yet on your case. You can also request an invoice for all services that were rendered on your case and the former attorney will return to you any portion of your retainer that hasn't been spent (if any).
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