CALLER: “I’m a grandparent, and the child is in foster care, the parents are trying to get the child back. The father has a lot of warrants, but he still continues to see the child under supervised visits. Is that legal?”

CALLER: “I was recently divorced and currently have full custody of my son. He’s three-years-old and I’d like to legally change his last name from my ex-husband’s to my name. Am I able to do this? And if so is it fairly easy? And most importantly, does his father have a say because I know he would totally hate the idea?”

CALLER: “I have a daughter who’s five now and her mother and I were never married. I keep hearing people talk about parenting plans, so how do I get one? So far she and I have just kind of winged it. It’s been fine, but recently she’s becoming more and more flaky.”

The length of a marriage has a lot to do with how a divorce plays out. Part of this is practical. In shorter marriages, there’s usually not as much shared property. On the other hand, the longer the marriage, the more intertwined two lives become. Thus it becomes more difficult …

CALLER: “I’ve been married 19 years. Been with my wife for 21 years. I’ve been the stay at home dad and she makes all the money. What am I going to get out of this and how will it work?”

CALLER: “I’m the grandparent of a 14-year-old, and mom and dad are not really capable right now to take care of her, how do I file for third party custody?”

CALLER: “My son has temporary custody of my two-year-old granddaughter. We’ve been trying to get permanent custody, and it’s been going through the courts little by little. It’s taken us two years, but now finally in December, we have a trial date. We’re doing this without an attorney and have been blinded at times at what to do. We’re not quite sure what to expect at the trial and I was hoping that Rick could give me some guidance?”

TEXT-IN QUESTION “Does being convicted of a felony automatically prevent you from getting custody or visitation of your child?”

Ending a marriage is tricky business. But how can you divorce if there was never any marriage certificate filed in the first place?

Child custody disputes are common during divorce. But what about when there was no marriage?Who gets the kids? Do you even have any parental rights?

After parents split, a parenting plan lays out the custody arrangement. But what if the couple never actually married? Do you still need one?

Child custody cases are often heated and complex, but can your spouse give away guardianship of your child without your consent?