Help increase my daughters time with me.

To respect my daughter’s privacy and ensure my crowdfunding campaign does not cause any conflicts, I have chosen not to refer to her by name or include any photos of her. However, those of you who know me, also know my daughter and I hope you can understand my desire to spend more time with her and the struggles I continue to face as I work toward achieving my goal of being more present and involved in her life.

I cannot even begin to express how painful it has been for my daughter and me to endure the limited parenting schedule we’ve had since she was born. There have been many occasions these past five years that I’ve simply wanted to pick her up from daycare earlier, take her to a park, museum, meetup with friends, or just hang out like a typical dad and daughter. I want to be able to drop her off and pick her up from school more than once per week and I want to be there for her when she is sick and unable to attend school. But sadly, none of those things are possible with the current parenting schedule.

As I have not been able to settle this matter outside of court and I cannot afford my own attorney, I decided to represent myself and I filed my motions to request that the Judge modify the parenting schedule. Fighting in court to obtain ever moment with my daughter has been the most heartbreaking and challenging experience of my life. It’s been very difficult and agonizing for me to fight this battle alone up against my ex’s experienced attorney.

The judge recently appointed a Gaudian Ad Litem (GAL) attorney to represent my daughter in court and help implement a parenting schedule. The GAL is a powerful advocate and voice for my daughter in the court room and having the GAL appointed is the best course of action to increase my parenting time because they will thoroughly investigate the matter and ultimately help implement a parenting schedule that is in the best interests of my daughter.

Unfortunately, the judge ordered that I pay the majority of the GAL fees. This would not be as big of a problem for me if I had received that new job with increased salary and sign on bonus that I told some of you about. However, that job opportunity fell through and I am still with my current employer and required to take two weeks of furlough (unpaid time off) with the rest of the employees in my division this year.

I am ordered to pay the initial retainer fee of two thousand dollars for the GAL by Friday November 16^th. Additional GAL fees will accrue as the case moves forward. Based on research and discussions I have had with the GAL, my total fees will accrue to a final amount between ten and fifteen thousand dollars.

I will not be able to afford the GAL fees without your help and the judge will not increase my parenting time without the GAL.

As I am sure many of you can relate, spending time with our children is one of the most important and enjoyable things we can do especially because they grow up so fast. Every moment is an opportunity to become a cherished memory. Every moment is a precious gift of unimaginable worth. I cannot get back all the moments that I have missed these past 5 years since she was born. But with your help, my daughter and I will spend more time together and create more priceless memories in the months and years ahead.

The reason I am using an online service to help me raise funds is because I want to keep this matter private and I want to keep all donors anonymous.

Please consider making a donation to help my daughter increase her parenting time with me.

Thank you and have a great day.