I owe 1900, and with everything else I can only give him a few hundred per month.

So he wont help you unless its paid in full?

I'm confused. What has he done for $1900?

Okay, I see the missing timeline.
You posted court was on march 23 but never posted the outcome. Is that what the 1900 is for?
What happened in that hearing?

I apologize that meeting court date was for joint custody, and her agreement to allow me to have the family home. I thought that was posted. I just spoke to the lawyers assistant. He is going to talk with the lawyer about it today.

Please tell me you printed these emails. If she agreed of FRoR then reneged, she looks REALLY bad.

I suggest you find a "Fathers Rights" group in your state and ask them (online or in person) to help you.
Since she is homeless the kids should not be spending nights with her

Every email is documented and saved. I barely speak to her outside of email, I avoid it. Everything is documented.

Jedi's suggestion about a father's rights group is awesome. Think you can make time to find one in your area and contact them today? Might be a workaround for your financial issues with your current attorney.

A lawyer will still get back to you if you own him/her money. They legally probably cannot work on your case if you haven't paid them. They will tell you that though.

If your wife is homeless, see if there are any legal resources at the court house to simply fill out an ex-parte emergency custody order. There isn't a need to go to father's rights groups (I am not going to argue with the dads on this board, but from my experience, they simply try to harass good moms most of the time). She is engaging in child endangerment. You don't need legal advice on this issue. You simply need to fill out the paperwork.

So, RoFR was not written into our Custody agreement, however since I have returned home, she has allowed me to have them while she works. Here was out conversation last night:

Her
7:41 PM (3 hours ago)
to me
You don't need to worry about the kids this weekend they are taken care of as in being watched while I work.

me
7:42 PM (3 hours ago)
to her
I want to have them. And I am willing to bet they want to be here with me as well.

me
9:36 PM (1 hour ago)
to her
Checking to see if you received my reply.
**EDIT** expressed this morning that she would rather be at home here than to be watched by someone else.
As I have explained in writing before, the precedent set by both of us (and by you verbally) in the custody hearing is for me to have right of first refusal as witnessed by my attorney.
In the event that you and I cannot see eye to eye on this, I will continue to document our inability to come to agreements that are intended to be in the best interest of our children, and that includes having as much time as possible with each parent, and as little babysitting as can be had, preferably none at all.

her
9:48 PM (1 hour ago)
to me
I received your response they chose to stay here.

me
10:26 PM (25 minutes ago)
to her
Who will be watching them and where will they be staying please.

her
10:29 PM (22 minutes ago)
to me
**EDIT** at his place.

me
10:38 PM (12 minutes ago)
to her
I am stating my objection. I am respectfully requesting that i have our children while you are working. I am their father and I have that right. Also your employment is very close, so dropping our children to me should not be a travel issue.

They did not arrive this morning.

Sir, you dont have rofr.
Is **EDIT** the affair partner?
Do you know him?

Not only should you Legally Demand the Right Of First Refusal, you should have your attorney motion in the Best Interests Of The Child, that they are Not to be in the presence of any Opposite Sex, or even Same Sex potential romantic interests while in the custody of Either Parent.

This is Not the time to wuss out and be so danged fragile so as to not hurt your WW's feelings that you are looking out for the childrens best interests.

The Best Interests Of A Child Take Precedence Over The Potential Conflict Created By You Seeking A Fairer Regard To Visitation With Your Children Versus Hurting Your Wayward Wife's Feelings.

I would also Stringently seek the Court/Judge to admonish your WW for playing games with the legal visitation rights you have and Should Demand that ANY available time be made available to you, versus her taunting you and rubbing it in, that someone else named Michael will be watching them and There Is Nothing You Can Do About It. That is bordering on Contempt, if it has not already crossed the line and also may be cause to cite her for creating an environment allowing for Parental Alienation, if this has become, or will become a regular pattern.

This IS The Time NOW For You To Require YOUR Attorney To Be VERY Proactive AND Aggressive. Make Him Earn His Fee. HE Works For YOU.

But you too, need to grow some gonads and Make Your Desires Known, if in fact you do care enough for your children to spend as much extra time with them, possibly even at last minutes notice, as much as you can.

LTL

Yes **EDIT** is the affair partner.

No I do not know him personally. You are right LTL, I have spent too much time trying to do right by her and our children that I have fogged the importance of what I must do for them. I just began to realize that this past week.

I sent her a second email this morning after hearing a voicemail she left me last night (not normal for her to call), stating that our son **EDIT** (5) got into her vitamin B12.

This was my reply: "I received your voice mail. Thank you for letting me know. Also, I am again respectfully requesting that our children be brought to me this morning while you work. At any time either one of us is unable to care for them for a length of time, such as employment, the other parent should have them. This is in our children's best interests."

She has not replied, and she would have normally dropped them off to me about now before this stunt.

I am less concerned for her feelings as I was before. There are consequences to her decisions and I feel that I have somehow, even subconsciously, tried to shield her from them. I know that I must be more careful to prevent my doing that.

I plan to seek out my lawyer first thing tomorrow morning, and push the issue. If he is unwilling, I will file myself.

I know that as of right now no matter what I do my wife will see it as a controlling and dominating move to do anything that restrict her in any way, but I also understand that as a parent I must do what is right by our children. It is now 6am, and they are not here.

Just got this email from her 'I didn't go to work I called out' undoubtedly so she could spend the day with her kids...... And OM. I find it odd though that she felt the need to tell me anything at all.

How does a homeless person have a job, boyfriend and auto?
How does she afford anything?
If i wear you i would go into foreclosure if necessary to get the money to pay an attorney.

She is homeless by choice. She did not want to be here. The car she drives is a 2008 Chevy equinox that we bought together before this happened. She just kept it, since I worked at home we always called it her car. I couldn't afford the payment on top of mortgage and everything else anyway. She was fired from her long term job at Lowe's way back, I know I mentioned it prior. She got a job about a month after moving into the shelter (2ish months ago). All she pays now is the car payment insurance and gas. From what I hear she has a trailer now, walking distance to OM, which is 30+ minutes from our home. But I have 0 details as of yet.

The welfare department will not allow kids in a shelter or trailer if you have a home.

I have confirmation that the trailer she moved into belongs to her OM's brother and wife. They have 1 room and only mommy's bed to sleep in. First night there or 5 year old son got into her bottle of b12 vitamins and ate almost the entire amount, these were under the bed as well as unknown prescription drugs.

This is I direct violation of our custody agreement regarding cohabitation with opposite sex non blood relatives.