T
Thorsson
Guest
Heya, this is my first post.
I am father to a beautiful little girl that I am afraid I will never see again. Two years ago, her mother left us sitting in our apartment on her quest for "time to think and get her feelings straight." For two months I was the only figure in my daughter's life, mother and father all in one while holding down a full-time job that had graveyard and daylight hours. Thankfully, a fellow divorced father needed a place to live and helped out in exchange for the spare room.
One night while I was at work, the mother had apparently "figured out" her feelings and came back to get our daughter, leaving me in the process. I got home to find my friend apologizing, saying that she came by and picked up our daughter while I was at work and there was nothing he could do. I should have called the police, but I wanted to settle things amicably, I still cared deeply for her.
Months went by, she steadily grew more and more volatile towards me, and refused to allow me to see our daughter. I eventually had enough, and filed for custody in our home state of Pa. Despite the strenght of my case, she was eligable for free legal representation and I was unable to afford my own. The courts gave us joint custody, but named her primary care-giver. I was to have legal visitation every weekend except one in a month, and I would receive her one day the week prior and the week following. The arrangements would be possessor of the child would convey the child to the other parent in each case. In addition, each parent would have equal access to all pertinent information on the child's development and progress, and no plans involving extended stays would be planned without the input of both parents.
A year went by, with my ex consistently ignoring the court's arrangements. From giving her to her parents without notifying me, all the way down to informing me that if I wanted to see her I had to pick her up and drop her off. I was regularly told that she wouldn't allow me to have her on weekends I had asked for her, and was never given weekdays at all. She did all this under the premise that she was entitled to tour my home for safety before allowing me to have regular visitation. She has repeatedly refused to come over, claiming one excuse after another. I have in the past year moved 100 miles away, and despite the fact I travel 100 miles to visit my daughter when she is at my parent's house (I still cannot get my daughter for visits on a regular basis) my ex refuses to come to see my home on the premise that it is too far. I am now with a wonderful woman who has offered on many occasions to ferry my ex down to our home, but she still refuses. So volatile are my ex's feelings, that we cannot even have simple conversations without her verbally attacking me in front of our daughter. My partner (and savior) handles most of the arrangements (most often unsuccessfully) for visitation with my ex and her new beau, but rarely (two occasions) have we in the last year been able to get my daughter for a visit.
I do not have the money for lawyer's fees, and the few I've talked to have been upwards of $10,000 for the case. What can I do?
I am father to a beautiful little girl that I am afraid I will never see again. Two years ago, her mother left us sitting in our apartment on her quest for "time to think and get her feelings straight." For two months I was the only figure in my daughter's life, mother and father all in one while holding down a full-time job that had graveyard and daylight hours. Thankfully, a fellow divorced father needed a place to live and helped out in exchange for the spare room.
One night while I was at work, the mother had apparently "figured out" her feelings and came back to get our daughter, leaving me in the process. I got home to find my friend apologizing, saying that she came by and picked up our daughter while I was at work and there was nothing he could do. I should have called the police, but I wanted to settle things amicably, I still cared deeply for her.
Months went by, she steadily grew more and more volatile towards me, and refused to allow me to see our daughter. I eventually had enough, and filed for custody in our home state of Pa. Despite the strenght of my case, she was eligable for free legal representation and I was unable to afford my own. The courts gave us joint custody, but named her primary care-giver. I was to have legal visitation every weekend except one in a month, and I would receive her one day the week prior and the week following. The arrangements would be possessor of the child would convey the child to the other parent in each case. In addition, each parent would have equal access to all pertinent information on the child's development and progress, and no plans involving extended stays would be planned without the input of both parents.
A year went by, with my ex consistently ignoring the court's arrangements. From giving her to her parents without notifying me, all the way down to informing me that if I wanted to see her I had to pick her up and drop her off. I was regularly told that she wouldn't allow me to have her on weekends I had asked for her, and was never given weekdays at all. She did all this under the premise that she was entitled to tour my home for safety before allowing me to have regular visitation. She has repeatedly refused to come over, claiming one excuse after another. I have in the past year moved 100 miles away, and despite the fact I travel 100 miles to visit my daughter when she is at my parent's house (I still cannot get my daughter for visits on a regular basis) my ex refuses to come to see my home on the premise that it is too far. I am now with a wonderful woman who has offered on many occasions to ferry my ex down to our home, but she still refuses. So volatile are my ex's feelings, that we cannot even have simple conversations without her verbally attacking me in front of our daughter. My partner (and savior) handles most of the arrangements (most often unsuccessfully) for visitation with my ex and her new beau, but rarely (two occasions) have we in the last year been able to get my daughter for a visit.
I do not have the money for lawyer's fees, and the few I've talked to have been upwards of $10,000 for the case. What can I do?
