Seltzer Family Law, PLLC

Terrible experience with Sarah particularly. My coparent withheld my ability to see my infant on multiple occasions, Sarah charged me for documentation that didn’t improve or remedy the situation; the coparent was not held accountable whatsoever. The response I received from filing the expensive paperwork Sarah’s firm advised was my coparent filing a false police report saying their vehicle was broken into implicating me for which I had proofs were 100% false (the vehicle was NOT broken into or tampered with and I was nowhere remotely close to area it was located at the time in question). I was required to meet at police stations following that accusation – know what the coparent showed up in?? The undamaged vehicle in question on the DAY FOLLOWING the accusation. (For the record, it’s supposed to be a crime in Texas to file a false police report). Again, none of it mattered when we *never made it to court* — saddled with $25k worth of representation debt (when the standard for family court settlements is ~$11k to my understanding), a hefty child support amount, and ONE day more than a standard possession as a non-custodial parent. I wrote her an angry, frustrated “who do you work for here?” email to which she felt the need to call me personally at 3 am having me tell her I thought she was the perfect person to help me with my situation or she would be resigning my case. Should’ve dropped her then and there. I’m an honorably discharged veteran, a former federal employee, an Eagle Scout, etc. I was up against someone with a an assault record. Continuously told her firm I wanted a 50/50 coparenting agreement and wasn’t trying to skirt child support because I didn’t think it would help my case. Not what was presented at the 2-3 court days we were supposed to have, I took off work for and made special arrangements for but didn’t actually “take.” We never made it to court – ended up in mediation with a RETIRED judge who didn’t read or pay any attention to the facts of the case whatsoever as his blanketed opening statement at mediation was – “I don’t care what the facts are here, I’m not taking any child away from his mother short of something drug related” – a determination based solely based on gender/sex. I did 90% of the talking during mediation; Sarah and her assistant sat there and barely spoke. I’m not an attorney. I didn’t get paid $25k to represent someone. Had no idea what I was doing. Sarah worked with the coparent’s attorney and came up with a 30+ page document that provides more coverage for my co-parent than me and I was billed for it; co-parent walked away from the case on a pro-bono basis. If I mess up, jail time and fines. If the co-parent messes up, there would be hefty court fees for me to enforce anything and then next to 0 repercussions for them. My coparent has been so empowered by how easy it was to walk over me that she has continued to violate the agreement (never missed a day with my son, coparent’s missed a plethora; coparent doesn’t send written updates when our circumstances change, I’ve had to; coparent moved outside the agreed upon living area, repercussions are supposed to be me becoming custodial, NOPE; coparent filed 2 more false police reports since implicating but not naming me to avoid harassment charges, nothing stopping them). If you’re a single father out there for any reason and are looking for help, know upfront no one (courts, attorneys, etc) cares about the dad’s rights or involvement in a child’s life. Since the resolution, I’ve struggled to make ends meet between the debts and my obligations. Think when I’m struggling to this degree that I can afford or would even bother going back to court to have my coparent “held accountable” for the violations?? Steer clear of Sarah’s firm; felt massively overcharged for the minimal support or intervention I received from them.