A Father's Journey: 17 Months and Counting

Seeking support to help fund legal representation to ensure I can effectively advocate for my continued relationship with my daughter.

I have been in a contested divorce/custody case for what will be 17 months by 5/2/2025. My funds were depleted around the summer of 2024. I took out loans with Affirm to continue paying my lawyer. But, because of how much debt I had/have, I had to make a choice between letting credit card payments go late or paying them and not being able to pay my lawyer, for food, gas, therapy costs, etc. Towards the end of 2024, I entered into a nonprofit debt restructuring program to begin paying off my credit cards. I cannot open a credit card or take out a personal loan until the credit cards are paid. Otherwise, I would use a credit card or personal loan for the $2500.

I committed to supervised visitations with my daughter from April 2024 to the beginning of November 2024, paying $65 an hour per visit. I drove nearly 3 hours to the visitation site and nearly 3 hours home, every Friday for 1-hour visits with my daughter. Until I asked for 2-hour visitations every other week to spread out costs around August 2024. I began a graduation plan from supervised visits in November 2024 that has 4 steps. In the 3rd step, I was able to begin bringing my daughter home for overnights for 24 hours every weekend. I am on the final step where I have been getting my daughter every other weekend at my home since the beginning of February 2025. I have remained compliant with everything asked of me. I went to therapy and I see a psychiatrist, which were requirements for steps 3 and 4 of the graduation plan.

I remained steadfast, for 17 months, for my rights to be a father and a good dad. I now need help getting over the finish line to finally put everything behind me and move forward while being the best dad that I can be.

Your contribution will directly fund the legal representation needed to navigate this final stage and focus on being the best dad I can be. Thank you for considering.