How old do you have to be to work at Kroger in Texas?

Custody in Texas - work it out or fight for rights?

• background facts (sorry about the sentence frags): My gf and I have been living together for over 2 years and we have a 15 month old. I support both of them, we are currently going to split. We've had problems since day 30, then she got pregnant and we both tried to make it work. We did counseling and i think i'm the one that came out as a jerk. She has no driver's license or car. I paid for her drivers ed, and some additional driving lessons, but still no license. I took her / picked her up from school for a semester, but then she spent her grant money that she shouldn't have because she dropped a class..now she owes and can't go back until it's paid. For the past two months she's been working a weekend job and I take her/pick her up from work. I recently found out she is cheating on me with one of her friends....probably in my house/bed, don't know for a fact but i am at work all day and she is at home--i don't want to know that fact. I spoke to a lawyer and she said it's better for me to work something out then to fight it. Fact my gf can't pay for a lawyer. My lawyer said in bexar county that it is very difficult for the father to get primary custody--even though it shouldn't be. my gf has agreed for joint custody/joint rights. we can not work out a schedule, because she's finding it difficult for someone to take her in. a girl friend of hers has offered to take her in, but i doubt that it'll work..her friend is married and has a kid. Do I? Work it out doing the 50/50 custody? Or Get a new lawyer and go for primary custody? I can provide (have been) for my daughter and put her in day care while i'm at work. and of course I love my daughter to death, i will do anything i can to keep her safe and happy.

• Answer:

  It's probably safe to say that the lawyer knows what she's talking about . In most states, it's very hard to prove a mother unfit to obtain custody - and that means that you'd have to prove by documentation that she was an unfit parent and giving her custody would harm the child. Cheating and not having a stable place to live just isn't enough. Heck, attacking personal character isn't enough. Some states like mine don't even offer "joint" custody - one parent has to be majority. Based off of my experiences, you're better off agreeing to it - and do while you two are still civil and she's depending on you. I went through this myself recently - my son's father and I came up with a n agreement, my attorney got all the paperwork ready. Then we both signed it in my own home and my attorney went before the judge and it was approved since we agreed. It was very easy. Depending on your state, you'll still have joint legal custody (decision making is done by both parents), but she'll have physical and you'll have visitation. This can be 50/50 visitation if you both agree.