Stories of Strength

I was deployed overseas when my ex filed for sole custody. She knew my APO address—we'd been communicating regularly about our daughter. But her attorney filed a Certificate of Last Known Address listing a house I hadn't lived in for three years.

By the time I returned stateside, a default judgment had stripped me of all custody rights. I was devastated. My daughter was told I had "abandoned" her.

With help from a veterans' legal aid organization, I filed a Bill of Review. We obtained email records proving opposing counsel knew my current address. After 14 months of fighting, the default judgment was vacated.

My ex-husband's attorney served papers to my parents' address—a house I moved out of when I was 18. I was 34 when this happened. They knew where I lived; I was still in the same apartment complex where we'd exchanged our kids for visitation.

The default judgment modified our custody agreement, giving him primary custody and reducing my time with my children to four days a month.

I represented myself pro se initially because I couldn't afford an attorney. After connecting with SAFE SAPCR and learning about Bill of Review procedures, I filed one myself. The court found extrinsic fraud and set aside the judgment.

English is my second language, and I believe my ex's attorney counted on that. The documents were complex, the process confusing. When papers were left at my old workplace—a job I'd left six months earlier—I never saw them.

The default judgment terminated my parental rights entirely. My children were told their mother didn't want them anymore. That's a lie that still haunts me.

A legal aid attorney took my case pro bono after hearing my story at a community event. It took two years, but we proved the service was fraudulent. I was reunited with my children on their birthdays—the best gift I ever received.