help again

[klvbev]

i went to court today and the judge told me that i have until feb 3rd 2009 to get a lawyer and by that time if im not current with my payments that i will go to jail.i have no more money nor can i borrow any from freinds or family.how can i stop this and what can i do.i know i can get most of it down to about 200.00 by then but if there is "no more blood from this rock"how can i avoid going to jail?please help me.im from new york state and don't know the laws very well.

[tbyte]

Generally, if you are making any payments at all towards your arrears, they will not send you to jail. Wouldn't make much sense since you can't be paying anything while you are locked up.

[lori509]

usually you have to apply for a court appointed attn. Since your busted go to your local court house and ask about gaining one. My guess is the judge would not have put those perimeters on you unless you were capable of obtaining a court appointed one. So see (for now) if you can get one for free. If your looking at state charges (like for not paying Child Support) then you should be eligible for one. You will not get the best attn in the world but you will get one that will take you thru the next court date and by the sounds of it keep you out of jail.

[lori509]

sorry about last reply sounds like they won't..

if the court said you can afford one my guess is you can.

Now I kind of understand why there isn't a lot of responses here. Hey, so contact family law lawyers and see if anyone will take you on a payment basis.

[tbyte]

Originally Posted by lori509 usually you have to apply for a court appointed attn. Since your busted go to your local court house and ask about gaining one.

Good point. You are not entitled to an attorney for general family court matters, but if they are charging you with contempt, a charge for which you can do jail time, then you are entitled to an attorney. Request one.