A young survivor of domestic violence came to legal aid for help. She had been verbally, physically, and emotionally abused by her husband, often in front of her nine year old son. During their brief marriage, the client’s husband would physically assault her, and during one terrifying incident he attempted to strangle her.
With legal aid’s help, the client obtained a divorce and received custody of her son, with parenting time granted to her ex-husband. On one of the rare weekends he used his parenting time, he fled to Ohio with the child and falsely accused her of child abuse. Legal aid represented her again and obtained an order requiring her ex-husband to return the child to his mother in Michigan. The client was grateful for the help and indicated, “I felt empowered having an attorney by my side at the hearing.”