Help Bring Abby & Sam Home!

Dear Friends, Family, and anyone who believes in family, and those moved by love and justice.

We are humbly reaching out during one of the most difficult seasons of our lives. Our family—made up of 9 children, 7 of whom live with us full-time—is asking for help with an urgent, time-sensitive matter that weighs heavily on our hearts and has impacted every part of our lives. We have to come up with the full retainer amount by Friday, May 9th, 2025, but the sooner the better.

For the past four years, we’ve been in an intense and heartbreaking custody battle for Samuel’s two children, Abby and Sam, who are currently living in Greenville, South Carolina. This fight to remain in their lives has cost our family more than $80,000 in legal fees—draining us financially, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Every person in our household has made sacrifices—especially the children—and still, we are holding on to hope.

Our story is long, but it comes from a place of love. Samuel was separated from Abby and Sam in December 2019. He didn’t know where they were, and until we were able to locate them in the spring of 2021, he couldn’t even begin to take legal action. Once we found them in Davenport, Florida, he filed in court immediately.

In November 2022, after a long-awaited trial, a Florida judge granted Samuel immediate parenting time and ordered the children to return to Florida within 90 days. We were overjoyed when Samuel was reunited with Abby and Sam on Christmas Eve 2022. But that joy was short-lived. Rather than comply with the order, their mother filed for a retrial, and the children never returned to Florida.

Despite multiple appellate attorneys stating that a retrial was not justified, the court granted one. In the meantime, the mother agreed to a long-distance parenting plan in May 2023, which gave Samuel meaningful parenting time while allowing the children to remain in South Carolina. But once the judge signed off on the agreement in August 2023, everything changed again. The mother reverted to behaviors that have kept Samuel and the children apart—denying calls, visits, and even court-ordered time-sharing.

In September 2023, just one month after the court finalized the agreement, we were forced to reopen the case again. By that point, after four years of paying attorneys, we simply could not afford legal representation. Samuel tried to represent himself, but the obstacles have been overwhelming and unfairly stacked against him.

Recently, we scraped together funds to hire an attorney for a contempt hearing regarding denied parenting time. The court ruled in Samuel’s favor, holding the mother in contempt and ordering her to pay attorney fees. That one hearing made a significant difference—and showed us just how critical proper representation is.

Now, we’re preparing for trial again. We’re just $5,500 short of the retainer needed to keep the attorney who finally helped our voice be heard. We’ve done everything we can to raise the funds on our own, but we’ve reached the point where we must ask for help.

This isn’t just a custody case—this is a fight for a father to be in his children’s lives. Abby and Sam have no family in South Carolina. Their father, siblings, godparents, and uncle, as well as cousins, church community, and support system are all here in Florida. Samuel is not asking for sole custody. He’s asking for 50/50—an equal chance to be there for academic support, doctor visits, birthdays, and sports events. He wants to be present and involved in all his children's lives. The years he has been alienated from the children is something he can't get back, so right now we are focusing on the children and their best interests, which is bringing them back to Florida.

We are asking from the deepest place in our hearts: if you are able to help us retain our attorney and move this case forward, please consider donating. Every dollar brings us closer to healing and reuniting our family. And even if you can’t give, please share our story. Please keep us in your prayers. Your support—no matter the form—means everything to us.

With love and gratitude,

The Ruiz Family