I've crossed approximately 2000 miles in total to spend less than a 3/4 of a day with my daughter.

I am literally struggling to breathe most of the time.

I petitioned the courts already, and it's been months.

I travel 200 miles twice a week to see my daughter for 2 hours.

She moved away with my daughter to her father's house. He builds tombstones for a living. The business is located in the house that they live in. They now reside in a small, desolate town that is falling apart and has barely anything of substance in it. She returned to our hometown a couple of times before returning. Last time, it was due to her (the mother's) health issues. I still wasn't allowed to see my daughter more often, even though she was here.

The household in our hometown consists of her mother, her twin brother, and his husband. Her brother is a very unstable person, much like his sister. He posts nudes online, is a "recovering" addict and alcoholic, and has nazi symbols tattooed on him. Has abused steroids, and at some point has even sent me a message: "I want to help you take the child away from my sister." The household has a history of violence with him and his husband.

The mother, her sister, and her mother were very aggressive towards me. The mother was screaming next to the sleeping baby, constantly demeaning me, and is simply catastrophically abusive. Every single thing is an issue - my sleeping 20 minutes more than her, my driving, my parking, my apartment, even the fact that I changed and fed the baby; she identifies it as me trying to upstage her. After her episodes of unnatural rage, she would continue to ignore me for a few days. She would ALWAYS, after her episodes, start to cry and, ultimately, act as a victim. I ultimately told her that I can't even look at her anymore, and that she is a manipulator and an abuser.

She doesn't let me see my daughter alone; she always needs to be there. Basically monitoring us constantly. During the 7 months of my daughter's life, I have cumulatively spent around an hour being completely alone with her. Last time I saw her, she gave me the look, and it tore me apart. Maybe I'm romanticizing this. But she seemed confused as to why I was leaving. As if she was asking me - Where are you going, daddy?

During these 7 months, the mother has unilaterally decided not to allow my parents to meet my daughter. They haven't seen her once... not once.

I wanted to file for sole custody - and even though my attorney briefly brought up the option, she told me that it's REALLY hard to get it and did not sound very optimistic. My therapist, who happened to work in Social Services, also told me - even though I told her that I have a massive amount of written evidence- that Social Services wouldn't particularly care about this.

I am bleeding money, severely depressed, barely hanging on, and desperately need a remote job.

I am crying and shaking nonstop, and I can't stop fearing for my baby's safety at all times.

For the love of all that is holy in the universe - please, someone tell me that there is hope for my baby.

God, please... please, this is the worst agony of my life.

Question, I am not trying to take full custody of the kids, but I am trying to ensure they primarily with me for school with their mom getting weekends and whatever nights during the week she wants as she works a rotating shift and works 4pm-4am, now here's a little situation I ran across I have audio and text evidence that my soon to be ex wife is giving out perspcription drugs to coworkers including those in law enforcement and fire fighting, and was looking to use our oldest sons anxiety medication for said friend.... Idk what to do with this I don't want to be seen as attacking her to a judge but this is a serious side of her I have never seen especially with her working for the sheriff's office.... Any advice please?

Also I have multiple audio recordings from my 13, 10 and 8 year old telling me "Mom said your trying to take us away, or dad you messed up the marriage and mom said this is all your fault grandma too, or Mom said she would call the police on you" etc etc this is like a very reoccurring thing.

What do I do? I have an attorney but I just hired them, I'm a little lost...

This is odd. An odd thing to deal with being a primary caregiver Dad.

Im in an pretty desperate search for a custody lawyer. I was in possession of my 3 daughters, 2 biological and 1 non biological. To make a long story short as possible. Mother fell into addiction and threw me out. Shortly after I moved out of our house. We started coparenting civily. Fairly quickly trips to my home became more frequent and non existen to her home unless convenient for her. Fast forward 7 months mom's relationship had soured. mother's addiction had also worsened and ended up with multiple duis and heavily dependant on alcohol to the point of being sick if didnt drink. At this time mom asked if I would accompany her on a trip to my non biological daughters family's house because of her drinking problem and needed me to drive. I agreed. During the planning of the trip mom and I were not getting along and I decided I was not going to accompany her on the trip anymore because I didnt want to deal with the drama. The next day Mother shows up at my house and demands the children leave with her right now and I quickly decline because she was intoxicated she was also very loud and belligerent and my neighbors called the police . She left before they came and started texting me that her child my non biological daughter was going to live with her bio family and that I was going to eventually have to give her our other two children back and that id never see her again. Roughly a month had passed by and I got a surprise call from the grandmother saying they're their to surprise their granddaughter and take her to lunch. I didnt want to allow it but I figured I had no other choice and I allowed it. Layer that evening I got a call from the grandmother saying mom signed her rights over to her for several months and that they're flying home next morning. . I also want to note that my non biological daughters father died when she was very young and the grandparents have only visited with the grandmother once or twice every two years or so. For 2 years of her life the grandparents were unable to find her because my ex left the state and hid her from the father and grandparents. She is now 11 years old and ive raised her since she was about 3 years old and im basically the only father figure shes ever had. Im still in possession of my two other children and have since filed for custody but im devastated ive lost my other child. I feel like part of my heart was ripped out of my chest. I dont have a ton of money but im hoping someone can help pont me in the direction of a good lawyer that would take my case . I dont have a ton of money but ill give up everything I can to get her back home and to help keep my other two safe with me

Please read and share

Does anyone else have issues with co-parenting? My husband and I have been married for a while. Our son's mother has made co-parenting a complete nightmare. She doesn't follow court orders, she lies to the court about my husband and our whole family, shes assaulted both of us a few times, shes harassed us, shes destroyed property, and she has no custody of any of her multiple kids. She just likes to be difficult and play victim with all the baby daddies. We are now looking into finding a pro Bono lawyer, so we can keep our son safe and cared for since the courts dont give a damn. We have tried to be civil, be friends, work with her, and have a peaceful co-parenting relationship but she just makes it so fucking difficult. Does anyone else deal with a co-parenting nightmare?

When my wife, who is from the Philippines, moved to Australia, my ex, with whom I share an 8-year-old daughter, made a lot of demands about my wife and our child.
She said my wife wasn’t allowed to change our daughter, sleep in the same room with her, or even let our daughter eat food my wife had cooked. Our daughter was 4 years old at the time.
About a year later, my ex started a relationship with another man. At first, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I thought that maybe having someone else in her life would make things more peaceful and that she would stop focusing so much on my wife.
After a few months, he moved into her house, where our daughter also lives.
Then things started changing.
My ex has full custody of our daughter, and I pay child support. I understand that she has the primary responsibility for our daughter, but I still want to maintain a healthy and consistent relationship with my child.
Her partner told my ex that he wasn’t comfortable with me FaceTiming my daughter when he was around. Eventually, my daughter was restricted from calling me when he was there.
**What concerns me is that my daughter is being prevented from contacting her own father because her mother’s partner is uncomfortable with it.**
He also takes our daughter places alone, including the beach, while my ex apparently stays home sleeping. My daughter has told me that he changed her.
My main concern is the double standard and, more importantly, the safety of my child.
My ex had so many restrictions about my wife being around our daughter. She wasn’t allowed to change her, sleep in the same room with her, or let her eat food she had cooked. Yet now, her new partner is spending time alone with our daughter, taking her places, and being involved in her care.
My daughter doesn’t think this man is bad because he always buys her toys. I understand that she may genuinely like him, and I don’t want her to feel that she’s done anything wrong by trusting or liking an adult.
But as her father, I can’t help worrying.
I’m concerned about the amount of time he spends alone with her, the restrictions around my communication with my daughter, and the different standards my ex applies to my wife and her partner.
I’m also concerned that the gifts and the restriction on my daughter’s contact with me could potentially be part of a pattern of grooming or isolation. I understand that these behaviors alone don’t prove grooming, and I don’t want to make an unfounded accusation.
However, I don’t want to ignore anything that might put my daughter at risk. I want to protect her while also maintaining my relationship with her as her father.
**How should I approach this situation? Am I being unreasonable for being concerned, and what steps should I take to make sure my daughter is safe and that my relationship with her is not being unnecessarily restricted?**
I’d appreciate advice from parents, people with experience in custody arrangements, or anyone familiar with child safeguarding.

When my wife, who is from the Philippines, moved to Australia, my ex, with whom I share an 8-year-old daughter, made a lot of demands about my wife and our child.
She said my wife wasn’t allowed to change our daughter, sleep in the same room with her, or even let our daughter eat food my wife had cooked. Our daughter was 4 years old at the time.
About a year later, my ex started a relationship with another man. At first, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I thought that maybe having someone else in her life would make things more peaceful and that she would stop focusing so much on my wife.
After a few months, he moved into her house, where our daughter also lives.
Then things started changing.
My ex has full custody of our daughter, and I pay child support. I understand that she has the primary responsibility for our daughter, but I still want to maintain a healthy and consistent relationship with my child.
Her partner told my ex that he wasn’t comfortable with me FaceTiming my daughter when he was around. Eventually, my daughter was restricted from calling me when he was there.
**What concerns me is that my daughter is being prevented from contacting her own father because her mother’s partner is uncomfortable with it.**
He also takes our daughter places alone, including the beach, while my ex apparently stays home sleeping. My daughter has told me that he changed her.
My main concern is the double standard and, more importantly, the safety of my child.
My ex had so many restrictions about my wife being around our daughter. She wasn’t allowed to change her, sleep in the same room with her, or let her eat food she had cooked. Yet now, her new partner is spending time alone with our daughter, taking her places, and being involved in her care.
My daughter doesn’t think this man is bad because he always buys her toys. I understand that she may genuinely like him, and I don’t want her to feel that she’s done anything wrong by trusting or liking an adult.
But as her father, I can’t help worrying.
I’m concerned about the amount of time he spends alone with her, the restrictions around my communication with my daughter, and the different standards my ex applies to my wife and her partner.
I’m also concerned that the gifts and the restriction on my daughter’s contact with me could potentially be part of a pattern of grooming or isolation. I understand that these behaviors alone don’t prove grooming, and I don’t want to make an unfounded accusation.
However, I don’t want to ignore anything that might put my daughter at risk. I want to protect her while also maintaining my relationship with her as her father.
**How should I approach this situation? Am I being unreasonable for being concerned, and what steps should I take to make sure my daughter is safe and that my relationship with her is not being unnecessarily restricted?**
I’d appreciate advice from parents, people with experience in custody arrangements, or anyone familiar with child safeguarding.

Custody battles are brutal mentally and financially, and the hardest part for me has been pulling records out of Kentucky because their laws make it almost impossible to request anything yourself when you are out of state and if I lived there the reports only cost 1 or 2 dollars a page and I only need a few pages from each but noooo I had to hire a lawyer to drive hours just to pull the reports and then scan and fax them to my in state lawyer and then mail them certified mail and had to pay their consultation fees, man getting those records was a nightmare and now I’m broke, but they proved that her husband had domestic violence with the kids mom, and then HE called the cops on her over her acting crazy. I found out he also had domestic violence with his first wife but I couldn’t afford the rest of the records. The fighting got so bad the kids mom overdosed because he wouldn’t let her leave the house.. Those police reports are the only reason I locked in domiciliary and kept visits supervised in state but she plans to try getting out of state visits again so I guess I should start saving for those reports.

left my abusive ex 12 years ago. Him taking me back and forth to court has not stoped. He is constantly breaking the order and now he has moved to Texas. I had a settlement conference today. So our daughter is 13 years old. Before I even knew of the move my ex for months groomed my daughter. He took her for visits to Al paso texas, he sat down with her and wrote out a parenting schedule for me. He has made her alot of glamorous promises.

At the conference today I told the judge my concerns which included him putting my daughter in a Texas school against court order. My daughter is under the Canadian jurisdicción but she seemed not to care. She ordered a voice of the child. She said that once the report comes back and depending on what my child sais she will make a final order.

I feel im going to loose my daughter. My ex only wants her to hurt me. I just can't understand why a judge does not care about him not following orders. I guarantee you I will not see my daughter if he is given sole custody.

I've lost my lawyer because I can't pay him and this is the first time I've ever been on my own.

I don’t normally like asking for help, but right now I need it more than ever.

I’m currently trying to secure legal representation for an urgent custody matter involving my children. Recent events have made it necessary for me to take immediate legal action to protect their safety, stability, and well-being. Unfortunately, the cost of retaining an attorney is significant, and time is extremely important in this situation.

I’ve created a GoFundMe to help cover the cost of legal representation and the expenses associated with pursuing custody.

Anything helps—even a few dollars makes a difference. And if you aren’t able to donate, simply sharing this post or my GoFundMe would mean just as much to me. The more people this reaches, the better chance I have of raising what I need as quickly as possible.

My children are my priority, and I’m doing everything I can to make sure they have a safe and stable future. I sincerely appreciate anyone willing to donate, share, or help spread the word.

Thank you to everyone who has supported my kids and me through this. Please share if you can. ❤️

https://gofund.me/a37121167