Name changed for privacy; photo not the client.
Represented by JALA attorney Michelle Broyles, “Yvette” was awarded sole parental responsibility and 100% timesharing for her four minor children in 2021 in a divorce from her husband, who was allowed supervised visits after being released from jail in California for serious crimes.
Now engaged to a man with whom she has a 14-month-old son, she and her partner plan to move to the Washington, DC, area, where her partner was offered a job at a law school, and where they both have family.
In the meantime, Yvette’s ex-husband began showing up at the children’s schools and trying to take them with him, as well as watching Yvette’s house and waiting until the kids were home and she was not, then convincing them to let him in and go places with him.
Her fiancé moved in, and her ex-husband began showing up with law enforcement officers and demanding the children from him, causing Yvette to have to regularly leave work to handle the situation. She kept a copy of the final judgement from the divorce with her at all times for this reason. The repeated absences from these incidents cost Yvette her job.
Broyles helped Yvette petition to relocate, citing finances and the job opportunity, as well as family support, stalking and domestic violence. She demonstrated that her ex-husband was not exercising his visitation and instead terrorizing the children, and argued that it was important to keep all of the siblings together.
Broyles, division chief of JALA’s Family Law and Victim Advocacy unit, prevailed in the relocation trial, and Yvette will now able to sell her home and relocate with her family as soon as her ex-husband signs the deed, which he must do to avoid jail.
“She was very nervous and at one point wanted to give up, but I reminded her of who she is and what she is capable of doing,” Broyles said.
