I am a single parent to an 18-year-old boy named Jeremy. He is a great son, friend and as his teachers describe him “an old soul”. Just an all-round amazing human being. I got a legal separation from a man that helped me raised him for 9 years, up to he was 16 years old. I am very grateful for all he did for us. I am a firm believer of the phrase “A grateful heart is a magnet for miracles”.
My story is as follows… While married I was very well off. We enjoyed a lavish lifestyle (trips, nice vehicles and all that it had to offer) BUT my husband started drinking heavily after 5 years of marriage, he began to try to control me by being a financial bully. I tried holding the marriage together because he was the first man my son had ever lived with. We always lived alone prior to that and now. I exited that marriage after 9 years because there was nothing else, I could do to fix it on my own. We decided too legally separate. He made me sign some paperwork, not knowing I was signing off what was rightfully mine. The agreement also included that he would pay my son’s school until he graduated.
We had a house in Canada and rented a nice apartment in Buffalo, NY (where my son had attended HS for two years already – Freshman and Sophomore years). While married I use to travel constantly across the border and resided in both Canada and Buffalo. After the legal separation, my son and I moved permanently to Buffalo and my ex-husband stayed in our matrimonial home in Canada. My family wanted us to be closer to them instead of alone here in Buffalo, NY. So, my son thought it would be ok if we moved closer to my family in NYC. We moved to NJ close to a school that was similar to his all-boys school in Buffalo. Since I only have one child and my son never been through an experience like this, we did not know that mid Junior year at the school in NJ; he was depressed. He is so selfless, that he never mentioned anything to me. I thought all was well until his teachers at that school, called me with their concerns, they said they thought he was depressed because he was always secluded and looked sad. I decided that he would finish the Junior year there and start Senior year with his peers, in Buffalo. I was told that schools do not transfer seniors but his teachers and principal in Buffalo, in communication with the school in NJ, understood the severity of the issue at hand and told my son that if he excelled in his Junior year, they would gladly accept him back. And excelled he did!
Long story short, I have a career as an Accountant, but my salary is only enough for my bills, food and I am struggling to pay my son’s last year of private school.
When we moved, my ex-husband was still paying the school because it was part of our agreement since he was the one that could afford that lifestyle, but since he saw no other way to continue controlling me, he stopped paying midyear the school in NJ.
Currently, we owe $5,379.02 at the school in NJ and need his Junior year transcript for him to apply to college on January 5th, 2025.
The good news is that he violated the separation agreement, and it is now null. I can sue for my share that he deceived me with. As soon as my son starts college, I can focus on just that. That also cost money and now, my priority is getting my son to college. He dreams of going to Syracuse University. Please help us if you can.
Thank you and God Bless