I am the non-custodial mom of a 12 year old who lives with her dad. I have full custody of 2 other kids - ages 4 and 1.

I'm really at a loss. I filed a petition to modify the parenting plan back in August but the judge has not set a hearing date for us yet, even though my ex's attorney responded and she asked for the case to be dismissed. The judge has not made a decision yet.

I'm afraid I might be missing something from the filing, preventing the judge from granting a hearing date. That happened before but the only way I was able to get a clue about it was because an attorney had a quick look at it.

Right now, I cannot afford an attorney.

I don't qualify for legal aid because I don't live in the state where the case is.

I have supervised visits due to a relative taking my daughter out of state 11 years ago. The judge told me to my face "it's not you - it's your mom." And that's the reason why I can't have supervision removed.

I got remarried on Oct 29, 2023. As of this past Sunday, my ex has told me that he doesn't want to allow Skype calls anymore because my mom was present at my wedding ceremony and she came out in the background of a Skype video call. The court order states that Skype calls should happen every week.

The attorney that I had refused to file a request to change the visitation monitor because "I already have a monitor". That monitor has raised their prices and it's not sustainable for me to pay the fee for the next 6 years (until she turns 18). The attorney didn't seem to care. He took himself off the case because of a conflict of interest.

As of now, I have to travel 5,000 miles with 2 other kids just to be able to see my oldest daughter. I have to pay $2k - $3k per month when I am over there in supervised monitor fees, not including the airfare cost, or cost of accommodation.

My plan of action is to get a 2nd job to be able to afford an attorney, but is there anything else I could do? Could I order a transcript and file an appeal regarding the judge's reasoning for not removing supervised visitation?

Not really sure why someone downvoted this. Was it offensive? Lol.