Hi, I’m Stacy and I’m a mamma of 3. First, thank you for taking the time to read about my situation.

My ex and I have been going through custody/support negotiations for the better part of the year! Last month, I was served court documents. I had 30 days to respond, and the ex asked me to meet him. I did because all I wanted was a peaceful co-parenting atmosphere.

He told me he didn’t want to go to court and that if we could agree, he would go talk to his lawyer. At the end of the meeting, we agreed that everything we spoke on was good and I would sign. This left him with not paying child support, the final decision in a couple of areas that I would relinquish, the continuation of 50/50, and splitting the kids every other year on taxes as well. He said I would hear from his lawyer soon.

I heard from his lawyer in less than a week and I responded. In my mind, we had a peaceful conversation. Court was being called off and we were going to get paperwork signed.

I have now received paperwork for a default and failure to respond. He’s coming after full custody and a lot of child support. Because of my default, the judge doesn’t even have to consider me.

I am reaching out to a lawyer. Alabama does recognize verbal agreements and I have texts to prove we agreed to cancel court. However, I was dumb and now I’m in a situation.

I do not have the cash flow for this. There are days now that I don’t eat due to the crushing debt. I make too much for assistance through programs and the state, and my credit score won’t allow me a loan. I found a top 10 lawyer in Alabama to help me continue to fight for my kids. But with that comes a minimum retainer of $5,000.00 and court retainers of at least $10,000.

If anyone can help in any way, I would be grateful. The kids do not want this. I do not want to lose them. I could have gone after full custody years ago due to him being in contempt of court, but his mistakes did not justify the kids not seeing their dad whenever they could. I just want what is best for my kids.

Any donations received will go straight to legal obligations.

Thank you again, and blessings.