Dana Family Legal Expenses

No one likes asking for help, but life is full of the unexpected.  This is why we are here, where we never thought we'd be—creating a gofundme campaign.  

As many of you know, we are a blended family of five.  Dad and Mama and three great children.  Our oldest lives in Portland, Oregon, and the two littles are here in Las Vegas.  We have wanted to leave Las Vegas for quite some time, and recently, we received a wonderful opportunity to relocate to beautiful Atlanta, Georgia.

As amazing as that opportunity is, it turns out that it may come at the most extreme price.  Before arrangements have even been finalized, we're suddenly being dragged into an ugly court battle where we could potentially lose out on taking our middle child, our "Buggles", with us.  We wouldn't be leaving for a few months, but we're facing losing custody all together, as there have already been documents filed from the other party to gain full custody.  As it stands now, we have her during the week because she attends school in our district, and she goes to her mother's house on the weekends.  She's attended the school in our district since Kindergarten.  Our goal has always been to provide her with the best opportunities that we were able to, which is why we moved to the area that we've been living in all this time.  

We are not claiming that the other party is unfit, but we feel that we have provided a more nurturing and stable environment, and we are trying to further that by getting out of this city and living in a suburb outside of Atlanta.  There are award-winning schools, countless parks and recreational areas, and to put it simply, front and backyards with grass that the kids and dogs can roll around in!  We never thought something like a patch of grass and a tree could be so important, but she has begged for a treehouse since she knew what one was!  

We have sacrificed a lot to be a family with a stay-at-home parent, and will continue this in Atlanta so that there is always someone available for the children's immediate needs.  This leads us to having a very tight, or even negative budget at times!  Even during those "in the red" times, we know we are lucky to have a stay-at-home parent, so we are not asking for sympathy in that regard, please understand that!

Many of you know that the Nevada education system ranks lower than all 49 other states.  If our Bug stays here, the school she'll be re-zoned to is one of the worst schools in the city, from her current school which is one of the better.  The schools zoned for our potential neighborhoods in Atlanta are top-notch from Elementary through High School.

We've talked to her about the possibility of moving, but in a very casual and non-assuming way so as to not place any undue stress on her.  During these occasions, she's stated her desire to go with us, often saying she can already picture herself there.  She's said things like, "I cannot wait to be in Georgia.  I'm going to play in the yard ALL THE TIME."

While she's only eight years old, our Buggles is wise and mature beyond her years.  What she brings to this family is beyond compare and measure.  She's taught us, the adults, many lessons on what's important in life; her little brother is quickly growing into his own amazing personality and "Dananess" largely due to what his big sister has impressed upon him—his world lights up when she's in the room.

With its own quirks and uniqueness, our family isn't perfect.  We've overcome many struggles to get to where we are...TOGETHER.  Our spunky middle-child, Bug, has been a major part of that.

She's growing up to be such an amazing girl, we'd like to think due to the environment we've worked so hard to provide. If we cannot bring her with us, or if she's outright taken from us because we cannot respond to the motion filed against us, the thought of how that will all change is unfathomable.

Whether you know us or not, and would like more information, or for us to "state our case" more than can be done in a few paragraphs, we completely encourage any calls or emails or any other forms of communication.

To sum it all up, this is where you come in.  We need your help.  The papers have been filed against us. We've already exhausted our free consultation with a great lawyer, who specializes in family law, and have been advised that what we've provided so far and offer for the future affords us a very positive chance at beating this.  However, unless we can raise the money to pay for a retainer and legal fees, we cannot file a response and motion to request permission from the court to allow us to continue to provide the environment we have all these years.  The other party would automatically win full custody, which is the worst-case-possible scenario.

Thank you for reading.  Any and all help would be more than appreciated, whether it be monetary or sharing.