A Dad Fighting for Joint Custody
Donation protected
The two precious girls in that photo are Macy and AJ. That man you see is my finace, Luke. On October 17, 2014, the day before Luke's 36th birthday, their mom picked them up with the promise that Luke would get them back later that night for the weekend - and Luke wasn't allowed to see them for seven days. You've never seen a man tear up the way Luke did on his birthday, wondering why he was suddenly not allowed to see his two little girls, then 4 and 3. We had been planning to take them with our other children in our blended family to the Haunted Castle for Halloween.
Instead we were thrown into a legal and personal nightmare that has lasted 16 months and still continues. Until that day in 2014, Luke had seen the girls or had them in his care almost daily. It was a shared agreement that was pretty loose since the girls' mom and Luke were never married, and the youngest daughter is in fact not technically his. But when he found out there was a baby on the way, regardless of the circumstances surrounding how she was created, Luke said he would always be her Daddy since her true father gave up his rights to her.
Since before the birth of both girls, Luke did everything he could do for them, including buying medicine the girls' Mom needed to keep both pregnancies. He has fallen asleep countless nights with both girls as babies right on his chest, changed diapers and given baths, only to do the same thing five minutes later when everything would go up the top and out the side of the just changed diaper. He had to figure out which arm goes where in a onesie, drove both girls in his lumbering diesel truck so they would fall asleep for naptime, taken them swimming, camping, to the playground. He stayed up nights when they were sick, and stopped for 20 minutes to examine a bug crawling on the ground or sat wearing a princess crown, just because he was asked to. It's just what Dads do.
I created this campiagn because it kills me to watch him suffer because he only is allowed precious little time with his girls for the past 16 months, and that can't change until the court awards him something consistent and permanent. In Arkansas, a father has no rights until they are legally established, even less so for a child that is not biologically his. Also in Arkansas, the state has passed into law that courts favor joint custody, and that is what he is asking for. He in no way wants to try to take the girls from their mother, he only wants to be awarded equal time. He's already lost more than a year out of their lives with sporadic and inconsistent visitation, despite asking daily, weekly, monthly to please be allowed more time with his girls, only to be refused at almost every turn.
He had his first day in court on January 26, 2016, but the sheer volume of documentation and information we have turned in regarding this case is so large that it was impossible to get through in only a few hours, and neither side could settle. The only offer was for Luke to get every other weekend, and possibly Wednesday with overnights. Luke said no way, that was not equal time! He is scheduled to return to court in March to continue fighting for Macy and AJ.
Of course, two more days in court requires more court fees and more lawyer fees. We have set aside every bit of extra we could come up with after paying bills and it all goes to our lawyer and anything necessary for helping us with this case. The money from this campaign will go right where it is needed most: fighting for equal time for this Dad and his two little girls. We will pay our lawyer and take care of any related costs (copying documentation, etc.)
We've depleted savings, sold off items, drew from retirement . . . anything we had that would help. Now I am turning to you. If you can help, in any small way, it is not myself or Luke who thanks you. The thank you will come from a five-year-old and a four-year-old girl who miss their Daddy and beg to be able to stay with him longer. This is how I am helping him fulfill his promise to them when he says, "Daddy is working on it, sweetheart, I promise Daddy is working on it."
Thank you.
Instead we were thrown into a legal and personal nightmare that has lasted 16 months and still continues. Until that day in 2014, Luke had seen the girls or had them in his care almost daily. It was a shared agreement that was pretty loose since the girls' mom and Luke were never married, and the youngest daughter is in fact not technically his. But when he found out there was a baby on the way, regardless of the circumstances surrounding how she was created, Luke said he would always be her Daddy since her true father gave up his rights to her.
Since before the birth of both girls, Luke did everything he could do for them, including buying medicine the girls' Mom needed to keep both pregnancies. He has fallen asleep countless nights with both girls as babies right on his chest, changed diapers and given baths, only to do the same thing five minutes later when everything would go up the top and out the side of the just changed diaper. He had to figure out which arm goes where in a onesie, drove both girls in his lumbering diesel truck so they would fall asleep for naptime, taken them swimming, camping, to the playground. He stayed up nights when they were sick, and stopped for 20 minutes to examine a bug crawling on the ground or sat wearing a princess crown, just because he was asked to. It's just what Dads do.
I created this campiagn because it kills me to watch him suffer because he only is allowed precious little time with his girls for the past 16 months, and that can't change until the court awards him something consistent and permanent. In Arkansas, a father has no rights until they are legally established, even less so for a child that is not biologically his. Also in Arkansas, the state has passed into law that courts favor joint custody, and that is what he is asking for. He in no way wants to try to take the girls from their mother, he only wants to be awarded equal time. He's already lost more than a year out of their lives with sporadic and inconsistent visitation, despite asking daily, weekly, monthly to please be allowed more time with his girls, only to be refused at almost every turn.
He had his first day in court on January 26, 2016, but the sheer volume of documentation and information we have turned in regarding this case is so large that it was impossible to get through in only a few hours, and neither side could settle. The only offer was for Luke to get every other weekend, and possibly Wednesday with overnights. Luke said no way, that was not equal time! He is scheduled to return to court in March to continue fighting for Macy and AJ.
Of course, two more days in court requires more court fees and more lawyer fees. We have set aside every bit of extra we could come up with after paying bills and it all goes to our lawyer and anything necessary for helping us with this case. The money from this campaign will go right where it is needed most: fighting for equal time for this Dad and his two little girls. We will pay our lawyer and take care of any related costs (copying documentation, etc.)
We've depleted savings, sold off items, drew from retirement . . . anything we had that would help. Now I am turning to you. If you can help, in any small way, it is not myself or Luke who thanks you. The thank you will come from a five-year-old and a four-year-old girl who miss their Daddy and beg to be able to stay with him longer. This is how I am helping him fulfill his promise to them when he says, "Daddy is working on it, sweetheart, I promise Daddy is working on it."
Thank you.
Organizer
Jaime Leigh Hebert
Organizer
Alma, AR
