Hello, I'm Debra Rousseau & I'm 53 yrs old. I am in desperate need for money to get legal representation for a custody case. My ex is trying to get full custody of our (almost) 14 yr old son Lucas. I'm in a very tough financial situation , living off of Social Security ( $1,100 a month) and am on disability. I currently share 50/50 joint legal custody with my ex. Earlier this year in February, my ex blind-sided me with court papers saying he was suing me for full custody of our son Lucas. At that time I did everything I could to scrape together enough money to hire an attourney. I won that case but ended up laid off from my part-time job that I was doing in order to retain the attorney. Now, my ex has filed for full custody yet again!! He knows I don’t have the financial resources to hire another attorney again and is using that to his advantage, hoping I won't be able to represent myself in court and he will get full custody.

On 8/14/25 I received the court papers in the mail which shocked me. I have plenty of strong evidence to defend myself and counter his claims but Legal Aid in Barry County will not help me. I've done EVERYTHING I can to get a free or pro bono attorney for this matter. All resources I have been referred to, have told me "we can't help you". This GoFundMe is my last hail mary. I'm begging for your help. I can not stand the thought of losing my son just becauseI'mpoor and can'tget an attorney. If he wins, he will not allow me to see Lucas at all. My ex has said that to my face. I am a wonderful mother that has never hurt my son & Lucas loves me with all his heart. It will destroy us both if we're forcefully separated. A child needs their mother.

Please help us. Our hearing is on October 15th 2025 in Barry co & I am running out of time to find an attorney. Anything will help and I thank you in advance.