Following up from my last post. It’s been 21 days without any contact with my kids.
We just started the divorce process, and there are no court orders yet. We haven’t even had a custody hearing. At first, things were mostly civil, but when I brought up 50-50 custody, everything changed. I came home one day, and she was gone with the kids.
Since there’s no legal order in place, the police can only do wellness checks. She won’t respond to my messages, won’t let me video call, and won’t allow any time with them.
To make things worse, she filed a false domestic violence restraining order against me. It’s full of lies and exaggerations. The judge granted a temporary stay-away order but didn’t fully approve it. Basically, custody will be dealt with during separation proceedings unless she provides more evidence.
I now have two lawyers—one for the restraining order hearing and another for the divorce. Meanwhile, she’s handling everything herself and using the system against me.
I’ve also submitted a counterclaim with proof of her threats against our kids, herself, and me. I have evidence of her blacking out drunk in front of the kids, breaking things, hitting me, and using marijuana openly while pregnant and breastfeeding.
This whole thing has spiraled out of control. I’ve spoken to over a dozen attorneys, and about half of them gave me consultations. They all say the court will see through what she’s doing, but that feels so far away. I just want to be with my kids.
People keep telling me they hope she gets a lawyer who talks sense into her, but I don’t see that happening. She’s going to drag this out as long as possible. She even lied to the police during a wellness check, saying I never tried to set up visits. Meanwhile, I have texts and emails proving I’ve been reaching out.
Just needed to vent… this is all so overwhelming. If anyone else has been through something like this, I’d love to hear your thoughts. It’s hard to stay strong.