Cassie's Divorce Struggles After Job Loss

Hey everyone, my name is Cassie and I’m trying to raise some money for legal assistance in my divorce. I’ve always struggled to ask for help when I needed it, but today I keep telling myself the worst that could happen is someone says no or doesn’t donate.

A quick back story on the relationship: we first got together in the summer of 2012. We then bought a home and got married in 2016 (a very expensive year). Unfortunately, things started not working out, but I wanted to try to make it work for the sake of their biological son. As of 2019, I could no longer compromise my mental health and happiness and first mentioned divorcing. Next, I moved out of the area with my job to separate and see if maybe that would help to try and work on things to get them back to where they were. It did not happen, so I came back into the area and the full separation began.

At this time, I was tight on money because I felt obligated to assist with the care of their son (whom I felt as if they were my own as well), but the ability to be an actual parent to them was never given to me and repeatedly undermined. So at this point, I began to move out (while still making visits to the mutual home to assist with household matters, the dogs/cats, and their biological son). I still assisted with paying for the living expenses so that the son would not have to change schools in their sophomore year of high school, but then I lost my job in May 2024. As of June, I could no longer pay for their living expenses and could barely afford mine with the unemployment I was receiving. Due to me stopping paying, things got backed up on them and it was all taken out on me.

Current update is that my character and my name have been used in slander and defamation since July 2024. I just finally found a job in February 2025. My cat was given away without me being informed, and I don’t know where it is. Now I’m having spousal support filed against me and the house is about to go into foreclosure.

I’m no longer “qualified” for legal aid because of my new job and I want to try to get this divorce and support claims handled as quickly and efficiently as possible, so I need to hire a lawyer. I am looking to see if there’s anyone out there that can help; even $1 helps. I will be using the money for hiring legal counsel. The retainer for a lawyer I consulted with is $6,000, but they’re willing to do a payment plan for $2,000 now, $2,000 in 30 days, and $2,000 in the following 30 days. I may not even need all of it, but what I can promise is that if I were to have more donated to me than I need, I will pay it forward to an animal rescue or shelter (I absolutely love animals).

Thank you for reading and giving me the time to share my story and ask for help.