Single mom w/ unexpected custody battle legal fees
Donation protected
Six years after separating, Jackie and ex-husband finally got to a place of successfully co-parenting their two children between where she lived in Ossining, NY and where he lived in San Diego, CA.
They agreed their 11 year old son Matty (Matthew, Jr.) would live with his father and girlfriend during the school year while their 6 year old daughter Avery would live with Jackie. They’d switch and visit the opposite parents during the summer and school breaks.
After an amicable summer of keeping touch with the kids on opposing coasts and planning when Matty would return to his father and Avery would return to Jackie, Matthew senior pulled the rug from under Jackie. A week after Matty returned to San Diego, his father informed Jackie that he was simply not returning their daughter as they'd been planning.
He kept Avery in California. With no clue what was happening and without Avery expressing any desire to stay, her father went against him and her mother’s agreement and kept her in San Diego. He didn’t attempt to discuss this with Jackie or ask about trying a new living situation. He simply decided, informed Jackie and refused to send Avery home to Ossining.
I’ve known Jackie since we were 21, but we got significantly closer 4 years later when all of us were living in Miami. After Matthew left Jackie, his son and her son from a previous relationship living in Charlotte, he moved down to Miami and burned through a large settlement he was awarded after being in a car accident.
Having nothing left of the settlement—not even any saving for the kids’ future—outside of an addiction problem, they had to sell their car to make ends meet after he spent months telling Jackie they had money and were financially secure.
While Matthew has been sober for 3 years, he's consistently made decisions based on himself without consideration of Jackie or the kids.
Jackie never so much as asked for a ride as she traveled 2 hours to jobs on the Miami city bus, and she’d continue to parent 3 amazing children as she moved up to New York and later Washington D.C. for a job as the Assistant coach at Georgetown, and now, back to New York as the head coach of Pace’s women’s volleyball team without any financial support from Matthew.
Matthew informed Jackie he would be violating their verbal agreement and wouldn’t be returning their daughter a week before her first season at Pace University started. And while Jackie is finally in the position of her dreams and has started to make better money, the legal fees to get her daughter returned to her and ensure the safety of her son from their father are piling up.
Though she continues to be the strongest and most amazing woman I’ve ever met, it’s time for her to accept some help. She doesn’t have support from her mom, also a recovering alcoholic, who wrote a character letter to the court for Matthew sympathizing with his journey to sobriety and neglecting the fact that he kept Avery in California without the child or Jackie’s consent.
I’m looking to raise $15,000 to cover legal fees that have mounted simply to get her daughter back home. She’s been granted temporary custody and Avery returned home to Ossining on December 28 with her oldest brother and Jackie to begin school. Jackie will continue to hash out custody of Avery in court and attempt to get custody of 11 year old Matty, who wants to live with his mother and siblings in New York.
Jackie has always put her family, and most importantly, her kids first, ensuring they are well taken care of and have a relationship with their father despite his shortcomings providing as their father and a partner in parenting. To unexpectedly have your children’s father decide to simply not send their child home is a true nightmare.
She’s single handedly raised 3 children while pursuing and securing her career without closing the door to relationships with their father or pursuing child support from him. All she asked was he get better and be present for their children, and that landed her court at the hands of his unilateral decision making.
Any financial help you can send will go to the mounting legal fees for the cross country custody battle for Avery and Matty that she’s been blindsided with as she started her brand new job and continued to raise her 14 year old son.
They agreed their 11 year old son Matty (Matthew, Jr.) would live with his father and girlfriend during the school year while their 6 year old daughter Avery would live with Jackie. They’d switch and visit the opposite parents during the summer and school breaks.
After an amicable summer of keeping touch with the kids on opposing coasts and planning when Matty would return to his father and Avery would return to Jackie, Matthew senior pulled the rug from under Jackie. A week after Matty returned to San Diego, his father informed Jackie that he was simply not returning their daughter as they'd been planning.
He kept Avery in California. With no clue what was happening and without Avery expressing any desire to stay, her father went against him and her mother’s agreement and kept her in San Diego. He didn’t attempt to discuss this with Jackie or ask about trying a new living situation. He simply decided, informed Jackie and refused to send Avery home to Ossining.
I’ve known Jackie since we were 21, but we got significantly closer 4 years later when all of us were living in Miami. After Matthew left Jackie, his son and her son from a previous relationship living in Charlotte, he moved down to Miami and burned through a large settlement he was awarded after being in a car accident.
Having nothing left of the settlement—not even any saving for the kids’ future—outside of an addiction problem, they had to sell their car to make ends meet after he spent months telling Jackie they had money and were financially secure.
While Matthew has been sober for 3 years, he's consistently made decisions based on himself without consideration of Jackie or the kids.
Jackie never so much as asked for a ride as she traveled 2 hours to jobs on the Miami city bus, and she’d continue to parent 3 amazing children as she moved up to New York and later Washington D.C. for a job as the Assistant coach at Georgetown, and now, back to New York as the head coach of Pace’s women’s volleyball team without any financial support from Matthew.
Matthew informed Jackie he would be violating their verbal agreement and wouldn’t be returning their daughter a week before her first season at Pace University started. And while Jackie is finally in the position of her dreams and has started to make better money, the legal fees to get her daughter returned to her and ensure the safety of her son from their father are piling up.
Though she continues to be the strongest and most amazing woman I’ve ever met, it’s time for her to accept some help. She doesn’t have support from her mom, also a recovering alcoholic, who wrote a character letter to the court for Matthew sympathizing with his journey to sobriety and neglecting the fact that he kept Avery in California without the child or Jackie’s consent.
I’m looking to raise $15,000 to cover legal fees that have mounted simply to get her daughter back home. She’s been granted temporary custody and Avery returned home to Ossining on December 28 with her oldest brother and Jackie to begin school. Jackie will continue to hash out custody of Avery in court and attempt to get custody of 11 year old Matty, who wants to live with his mother and siblings in New York.
Jackie has always put her family, and most importantly, her kids first, ensuring they are well taken care of and have a relationship with their father despite his shortcomings providing as their father and a partner in parenting. To unexpectedly have your children’s father decide to simply not send their child home is a true nightmare.
She’s single handedly raised 3 children while pursuing and securing her career without closing the door to relationships with their father or pursuing child support from him. All she asked was he get better and be present for their children, and that landed her court at the hands of his unilateral decision making.
Any financial help you can send will go to the mounting legal fees for the cross country custody battle for Avery and Matty that she’s been blindsided with as she started her brand new job and continued to raise her 14 year old son.
Organizer and beneficiary
Rachael Witte
Organizer
Brooklyn, NY
Jacqueline Granger
Beneficiary