You have the right to an attorney...

a reply to: Aldakoopa

*DELETED by member*

Thanks for all the responses and advice everyone.

This was family court, not criminal. I was served a subpoena for court while I was at work one day, and I showed up in court on the date specified, where an attorney was waiting to introduce himself. I didn't hire him, the state did to defend me (from them?) and I'm sure I signed some paperwork he handed me in the private room. As some other poster mentioned, I was in a state of shock at the time, not to mention very angry at the circumstances. I was probably thinking "I just have to sign this so he can help me keep my son". He helped me do absolutely nothing, what a crap lawyer he was. My ex wife's was much better... Too bad she was the reason we were there. The SS even admitted I wasn't the problem after the case was over and we (the ex and I) lost.

I want to get him back in my custody, he's currently in my mom's. I don't know if that can be done outside of court or not.

One more thing worth mentioning is my federal returns were untouched, only my state returns were taken. Honestly I'll probably just leave the state altogether and hope their arm isn't long enough to reach in my pocket in another state.