SL came to LSNV in December 2023 seeking help for custody and visitation cases for her four children, ages 9, 7, 3, and newborn infant. She had spent the last fifteen years trapped in an abusive relationship with the father of the children, who manipulated, isolated, and physically beat them into submission. Reflecting back on that time in her life, she told her LSNV staff attorneys that “It felt like we were on the train to crazy town, and I realized I needed to take the wheel to make better decisions for my family.”

Taking hold of the wheel began when she filed for a protective order against the Father, and continued with filings for custody, visitation, and child support. An LSNV pro-bono volunteer attorney agreed to take on her protective order case, while an LSNV staff attorney took on the custody and visitation case. Working together, the pro-bono volunteer and the staff attorney were able to successfully negotiate a temporary custody/visitation order that built in several key protective order provisions, including 500 feet stay away order, a no contact provision, and a prohibition on allowing Father to move in next door to the client.

According to the agreement, Father was to have supervised visitation through the Stronger Together Supervised Visitation Center. However, within five days of signing the agreement, Father torpedoed the relationship with the Stronger Together and removed the family from the program. AP (abusive partner) repeatedly tried to convince SL to drop the cases and get back together. On a near-weekly basis, the client’s resolve to stay separated would falter, but thanks to encouragement from her attorneys and reminders of what the law actually says, she continued with her case, knowing that she and her children would not be safe around AP.

After a lengthy trial, LSNV was able to secure SL sole legal custody of all four children, with very limited visits for Dad, as well as safety provisions in the order to keep his contact with her at a minimum and empower her to do what is best for her children without his manipulations.