Custody Battle::
I have been battling with my husband for custody of our 3 year old son since he was 4 'months old. My husband is 14 years older than I am, this will be his second divorce, he is an attorney (litigator) with his own NYC firm and is being represented by a top celebrity attorney (who is by the way his 3rd attorney), an attorney who has represented George Soros' ex, Ron Pearlman's ex, Nicole Kidman, Demi Moore.. you get the point. My ex also has had his own law firm represent him on top of these lawyers!
I signed an airtight prenup 36 hours before our wedding so I am entitled to nothing other than state minimum child support. Our son has been diagnosed on the autism spectrum so he is only in school for 2 hours a day, and most of the remainder of the day we spend getting in home therapy. I am therefore unable to work & getting through each & every month is an unimaginable struggle. I spend every last dime on developmental toys so he can hopefully one day break free from this diagnosis with zero help or involvement from his father.
My ex is an extreme narcissist and was horribly abusive throughout my pregnancy & even worse when the baby came. His treatment of our son was the reason I finally decided to leave. He swore that he was going to make my life a living nightmare legally and every other way, and he has kept his promise. He took no interest in our son until I retained an attorney and after that, he began insisting I was unfit & fighting me for custody, accusing me for my son's problems.
This past week, I had to go to court & represent myself against his attorney & my son's attorney when I went in to request attorney's fees so I can retain counsel to level the playing field. I did not waive this right in our prenup. Since I was on my own & the two other lawyers were there to oppose my request, the judge denied me & said he would appoint public counsel if I wanted.
This is outrageous given that my ex & my son are both represented by private counsel (she is appointed by the court) and my ex's income was at least $600k last year. The decision the judge made not to award me fees to retain private counsel was extremely unjust as I will clearly not be on equal footing. I need to pay an attorney who has agreed to write a motion to contest the judge's decision denying me fees for private counsel. Since I rely solely on child support, I desperately need help to pay her the $4,000 it will take to write this very complicated motion because she is unfamiliar with our case. She will need to review his tax returns, financials, prenup, etc.
I cannot loose my son. I have been my son's SOLE caretaker from the moment he was born and up until this very day. Trial may be weeks away so I have no other options and no where else to turn. Any help is help. I appreciate you taking the time to read this and I hope you hold your children a little closer tonight. Thanks very much.

I have been battling with my husband for custody of our 3 year old son since he was 4 'months old. My husband is 14 years older than I am, this will be his second divorce, he is an attorney (litigator) with his own NYC firm and is being represented by a top celebrity attorney (who is by the way his 3rd attorney), an attorney who has represented George Soros' ex, Ron Pearlman's ex, Nicole Kidman, Demi Moore.. you get the point. My ex also has had his own law firm represent him on top of these lawyers!
I signed an airtight prenup 36 hours before our wedding so I am entitled to nothing other than state minimum child support. Our son has been diagnosed on the autism spectrum so he is only in school for 2 hours a day, and most of the remainder of the day we spend getting in home therapy. I am therefore unable to work & getting through each & every month is an unimaginable struggle. I spend every last dime on developmental toys so he can hopefully one day break free from this diagnosis with zero help or involvement from his father.
My ex is an extreme narcissist and was horribly abusive throughout my pregnancy & even worse when the baby came. His treatment of our son was the reason I finally decided to leave. He swore that he was going to make my life a living nightmare legally and every other way, and he has kept his promise. He took no interest in our son until I retained an attorney and after that, he began insisting I was unfit & fighting me for custody, accusing me for my son's problems.
This past week, I had to go to court & represent myself against his attorney & my son's attorney when I went in to request attorney's fees so I can retain counsel to level the playing field. I did not waive this right in our prenup. Since I was on my own & the two other lawyers were there to oppose my request, the judge denied me & said he would appoint public counsel if I wanted.
This is outrageous given that my ex & my son are both represented by private counsel (she is appointed by the court) and my ex's income was at least $600k last year. The decision the judge made not to award me fees to retain private counsel was extremely unjust as I will clearly not be on equal footing. I need to pay an attorney who has agreed to write a motion to contest the judge's decision denying me fees for private counsel. Since I rely solely on child support, I desperately need help to pay her the $4,000 it will take to write this very complicated motion because she is unfamiliar with our case. She will need to review his tax returns, financials, prenup, etc.
I cannot loose my son. I have been my son's SOLE caretaker from the moment he was born and up until this very day. Trial may be weeks away so I have no other options and no where else to turn. Any help is help. I appreciate you taking the time to read this and I hope you hold your children a little closer tonight. Thanks very much.