Support Haley: Legal Fees for Custody Case

It is with a heavy heart filled with sadness, stress, guilt, and embarrassment (and frankly desperation) that I create this GoFundMe in hopes to help raise money towards my legal fees surrounding our current custody case.

Our case has many sensitive and complex issues that we continue to need to address legally in family court to assure and protect Ellie’s emotional well-being and physical safety.

As many of our close family and friends know, Ellie’s dad has struggled with substance abuse disorder for the entirety of her childhood. Addiction is a disease that is truly heartbreaking. It has always been my priority to shield Ellie from the inevitable emotional darkness and trauma that surrounds addiction. With that being said, I have always been open to and supportive of Ellie having a relationship and Parenting Time with her dad, presuming he is maintaining his sobriety and abstaining from all mind-altering substances. Parenting Time looks different for us when the same sensitive and complicated concerns arise repeatedly over the years. To respect Ellie’s dad, I will not go into further personal details regarding his substance abuse disorder history.

What I will do is speak on where we are at now and address how any financial contributions to my GoFundMe would help me immensely.

As a single mom, I am doing my best to provide for us on one income while giving Ellie the childhood and life she deserves. I am working full-time at a wonderful job that allows me to work from home and provides the flexibility I need as a solo parent. I have also been doing DoorDash casually for extra income as financial needs arise. The harsh reality is that on one income with little child support, things are already tight. I am out of my financial resources for such large amounts of money to be due at one time to continue having legal representation and move forward in protecting Ellie.

After already going to court twice (2019 and 2023), I believed we had the legal parameters in place to ensure Ellie’s emotional and physical safety going forward; however, there seems to be a ‘loophole’ in the current court orders.

It is important to note that in 2019, when Ellie was 5 years old, her dad filed with the court to establish paternity, child support, and exercise his Parenting Time rights. I was granted sole legal and physical custody. Ellie has never had a Parenting Time schedule commence with her dad that includes unsupervised overnights. All Parenting Time with Ellie’s dad has been contingent on his sobriety and passing drug tests for illegal and non-prescribed substances. Loophole: Non-prescribed substances.

We are now having to return to court for the third time in five years to attempt to come together and determine how to best proceed, keeping Ellie’s best interests as the top priority. This adds yet another financial burden of a retainer for my attorney, mediation costs, and all legal fees associated with a third attempt in court. My current retainer has been paid to my attorney, but the reality is that it is already halfway gone and we have not even attempted mediation yet. After mediation, all the funds in my retainer will be depleted. The motion hearing request to discuss Parenting Time again came at the request of Ellie’s dad, after a year of no contact and many unanswered, reasonable questions regarding the sensitive and complex issues associated with addiction and his sobriety.

As Ellie’s mom, I wholeheartedly believe it is not in Ellie’s best interest to have her schedule and routines uprooted at age 10, at the beginning of 5th grade. My hope is for her dad to adapt to where Ellie is at in life and slowly rebuild their relationship with the assistance of mental health professionals, not for her dad to expect Ellie to adapt to where he may be at in life now.

I wish I could give much more detail and explain the severity of my concerns with examples from over the last 10 years, but I cannot compromise our case and I want to protect Ellie’s story as it is just as much her own story and journey with her dad as it has been mine over the last decade.

Any financial donations made to my GoFundMe will be 100% used to pay for our upcoming mediation (potentially more mediation sessions in the future), ongoing legal fees owed to my attorney, and any additional legal resources we may need to utilize or enforce going forward. All donations go towards helping me protect Ellie’s emotional well-being and physical safety with the utmost integrity. No amount is too small; it all adds up quickly, and I would be forever grateful. Donating will not only provide immediate financial relief but allow this to hopefully just be a challenging period of time that we can overcome without extensive financial strains on our future.

If you are unable to donate financially, I graciously ask for your prayers for Ellie (and myself) as we enter her tween years where her surroundings, friends, and most importantly family, are incredibly influential—all while navigating potential new routines and enforcing relationships that may not be comfortable for Ellie. I genuinely believe in the power of prayers.

Thank you for taking the time to read. Thank you for any prayers, donations, shares, and all the love we already receive from our loved ones and acquaintances alike.

All my best & with love,

Haley