Advocacy Letter | Teen Ink

Advocacy Letter

December 11, 2013
By Erika Galstad GOLD, Hartland, Wisconsin
Erika Galstad GOLD, Hartland, Wisconsin
10 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Dear Judge Dreyfuss,
I really appreciate what you have done for my mother and father, and helping them have a sound life again. I am writing this letter to request a re-evaluation of the custody agreement between my mother and father.
The way the court system has issued the custody agreement between my parents is based off of a biased opinion. Every 1 in 6 custodial parents are men, that is about 17.6% (Grall, “Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2009”). I want to self-represent so I can gain more custody with my father. In my situation, my father just recently moved to Chicago from California. He is now able to spend more time with me. I fully understand that I have to fulfill my responsibility of going to school in Wisconsin, but that is why I would go through the school week at my area high school; but on weekends, have the freedom to choose where I stay. I would be able to get to Chicago by taking Amtrak, and getting home on time by taking the Amtrak home. This would be possible if I left the station at the Milwaukee airport on Friday evening, and leave Union Station in Chicago in the early afternoon.
Personally, I feel like my mother is trying to restrict me from seeing, or spending time with my father. My father spends a significant amount of money on child support, but none of that money goes to clothes needed for the upcoming weather. I feel like my mother is using the money my father gives her for her own needs, and not me.
In my personal opinion, I feel that the custody between my parents is 25% to 75%; but unfortunately, it was agreed that it was 50-50. I would like the chance to self-represent myself and prove that I am responsible enough to choose where I stay.



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