My mother just went through a hellish custody battle with her ex-husband for custody of their kids. He not only made life hell for her, but also for me as I was living with them at the time. He accused my mother of verbal abuse and me of mental abuse. There was no evidence of either, but he used these false accusations to have the guardian ad litum investigate. Keep in mind that this same man terrorized, intimidated, and abused both me and my mother growing up. We both have physical scars to prove it.
Anyway, without going into anymore details, he’s managed to get the children under his thumb and my mom is too intimidated by him to really confront him over any issues. She’s also had very poor legal council in this situation while he has one of the best custody lawyers in the state (according to him). Initially when the guardian ad litum investigated she said that there was no reason to change the schedule for their custody. Now she says she wants their father to have them half of the time.
Personally I feel this is a good thing, as it will give both the father and my siblings a better idea of what life with each other really is like. The children actually believe they will not have to do school work when they go live with him (not something he has probably told them, but you can see the delusions they have about their father). She doesn’t see it this way and feels like she is losing her kids, and is extremely upset by the situation. I really want her to be able to talk with people who have been through similar situations and, at one point when I had a discussion with the guardian ad litum, I thought the court was going to give her this help. Instead she wound up in mandatory anger management.
Personally I feel that the guardian ad litum should have been more forthcoming to me when asking if I felt my mom needed ‘someone to talk to.’
Anyway, this is why I’ve come here. Is there a support group for women going through custody battles? I live in Canton, Ohio and have called hospitals, community services, clinics, and our local crisis center for information on a support group. I have had no luck and I am hoping someone here would know of a better resource online for finding one.
Thank you for your time.