Wednesday, September 28, 2005

H is for Help?

You might think, that once you can't afford any legal help, there might be some form of legal aid available to you. But NJ Legal aid doesn't take on divorce matters... especially post-divorce matters... unless there is violence involved.

Hm. How many women who can't afford a lawyer might consider claiming violence occurred just to get free representation? Mostly they probably don't need to -because women's lawyers know that they can get their fees out of the men, but I am sure that there are some. Just another bit of incentive to claim violence, when there wasn't any.

On the off chance you are a man, and have suffered violence at the hands of your spouse, here's how to reach them. Maybe they will talk to you: New Jersey Legal Services System.

There is cheap legal advice available for 35$/hour though. You will have to check your local phone book, or call NJ Legal Services (above) for their number.

Best of luck in your struggles.

-M

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just recently, I was speaking to someone higher up on the company's foodchain than me and he said that there was worry that I was getting the support that I need, and he explicitly referred only to legal support. I am getting what legal support I can find, but inside I was screaming that I need personal support. (I have friends, still, but they get tired and please don't ask me about shrinks.) There just isn't any support group local to where I am. I have looked online and can find nowhere really suitable. I need an anonymous and confidential environment where I can talk about my personal feelings and get some positive support. Are there any such things?

MisAnDrope said...

This is a great idea, and I think that there might be a couple places on the web that might help to serve a function like that. I am going to do a search over the next day and see what I can come up with. I used to run a separated and divorced group through my church, and there are often groups like that, but I myself found that most of them were, I don't know, a bit too much like a professional victims gathering. Additionally, they were generally not gender-specific, and I think men need special attention which they can't get in an inclusive forum.

If I don't find something online, I will create something on the web.

Yours
-M