
Help Me Secure Custody By Attaining A Home
I am a professional writer and a dedicated teacher. I am currently seeking custody of my four year old son. Since I am a dual citizen, with no other biological family within the UK, I am required to be ‘established' in order to qualify for custody. To that end, my lawyer strongly recommend obtaining property, as this proves both that I am invested in remaining within the UK and also that I have the resources to adequately care for my child. Since it is not legally possible to obtain a mortgage while working in another (non-EU) country, and since time was very much a factor, I purchased a property that was offered for sale via auction. Unfortunately, the property was sold using fraudulent pictures. Instead of a basic, habitable home, when I sent a locksmith around to change the locks, he found that the premises were filled to the brim with garbage and the back door had been kicked down in order to admit marijuana farmers, who stripped the wiring, the plumbing, and tore apart the floor before they left. While in the UK to make arrangements with the court, I paid for an emergency cleaning service to get rid of the biohazards, the human and animal feces, and I paid to replace the front and back doors, but I must now (somehow) bring the building up to code in order to be awarded custody of my son. I'm not looking to renovate, merely create a habitable dwelling so that I can properly take care of my child. I successfully pushed the date of the hearing back to June, but this will only hold if the building is in compliance by February. I am currently pursuing damages from the auction house via the ombudsman, but I have been informed that although I definitely have a case, obtaining restitution will take between 12 and 18 months. The basic requirements for custody are a functional kitchen, a functional bathroom, safe wiring, heating, and a stable structure. As it stands, the structure itself is solid. There is no kitchen, the bathroom contains only a toilet, the lead flashing from the roof has been stripped, five floor joists are rotten, and the entire heating system has been gutted. I will replace the heating system with (considerably more cost effective) electric oil heaters. A friend has donated some furniture, but I will need to locate a refrigerator, a washer/dryer, and kitchen/cleaning supplies in order to remain in compliance with the law. I have also rescued two street dogs and I am unwilling to leave them behind upon my return to the UK, as they will probably be killed if I do, so I am also seeking funds to arrange for their travel. I am, again, not seeking anything fancy or luxurious: just a safe place to raise my child after having gone through all of my resources just procuring the property in the first place.
This is what I was promised in the advertisement:
This is what the locksmith found:
This is what I was left with after hiring the hazardous waste disposal cleaners:
Any help would be sincerely appreciated.
Organizer

Bethany W Pope
Organizer
England