I am filing this complaint against my attorney Terrance Poppe because of the way he handled my divorce and custody case. I had left my marriage due to domestic violence and my ex husband in retaliation took our children and left me homeless after I asked for a divorce. I first represented myself due to inability to afford an attorney since I had been a stay at home mom and never had access to our money, and my husband took everything when he put me out on the street. In August 2017, judge Mcmanaman told me I he was granting my last continuance in the matter, and I immediately began calling attorneys. I had called the office of Terrance Poppe earlier that year when the matter started and was quickly shut down, however I decided to call again. Terrance Poppe called me back right away and said he saw me in court that morning and also overheard my ex husbands attorney, Deb Lyford talking about the case. poppe offered a consultation where he ended up waiving his $2000 retainer fee and took my case 1.5 months before divorce was finalized, he told me right away I couldn’t get alimony after 7 years of marriage and being a stay at home mom. He never returned phone calls or emails even when the matter was urgent. I had been in the process of meeting with investigators through voices of hope to file rape charges against my ex husband and wanted his opinion and to know if it would negatively impact my case or interfere with me getting my kids. I called almost daily sometimes multiple times a day and also sent emails and my calls were never returned. I also was wanting to know what he needed for my upcoming court date, and was told my his secretary that despite me telling him twice the date and time he did not have it in his schedule. As my court date grew closer and he continued to ignore my calls, I called his secretary again the day before court and was told That Mr. Poppy was out of town. I told his secretary that he had known about the court date from the start and asked her what was going to be done about it. His secretary said she would call me back and she didn’t call me back later and told me that they had got a continuance for the case. I continue to try and get a hold of Mr. poppy regarding meeting with the investigators and he continue to ignore my calls until I finally scheduled a meeting with poppe to discuss my concerns. He advised me not to meet with investigators to file rape chargesagainst my ex husband whom I had a hand written note where he admitted to it, poppe told me he wanted me to make sure my ex husband stayed out of jail so that he had to pay me lots of money In child support. Poppe set up a settlment meeting one week before my final hearing, and immediately took sides with my husband and his attorney, even stating outloud that he agreed with them. He did not stick up for me at all and joined in on their verbal attacks and questioning my ability to take care of my children because I live in a domestic violence complex that is rent free, and because I have no family orsupport system. They used this as an excuse to allow my ex to have my children more than apartment do, yet still say it’s joint custody. Poppe was the one to say no child support in the meeting, and I agreed under the belief that I would at least get state assistance so that I could work, both attorneys assured me I would. During the settlment I became upset and started crying uncontrollably, poppe pulled me out of the room and I told him I was having an anxiety attack and couldn’t breathe. Poppe laughed at me and said I was faking it. I tried to question and say I didn’t agree with some of the things he was doing and he got an attitude and said “..and how much money have you payed me?”. We went back into the meeting and I don’t remember the rest of what was discussed as I was too upset and crying. I even blacked out after the meeting because of he stress. 2 days after the settlment I emailed popped attorney and told her I was not mentally there and should not have been at or agreed to anything in the meeting. I expressed that I was not happy with the way poppe handled things and told her I wasn’t sure what was even agreed upon. I also called a few times and never got a return call or email until the night before the hearing when poppe called me at 6pm and told me he was withdrawing from the case because he was not happy that I had emailed his secretary, he didn’t think I appreciated what he had done for me and again brought up money asking me how much I had payed him so far. He said he would email me the settlment agreement and for me to read it and we would talk later. The next day, he called me and hour and a half before the hearing to ask if I read the agreement. I told him it wasn’t as bad as I thought and that my ex had led me to believe something different. He then agreed to come to court. Poppe showed up late to the hearing, had the wrong mans name down as my husband, and neither attorney had a child support calculation done. We were there maybe 15 minutes and he kept handing me papers and telling me to sign them, and at one point him and my ex’s attorney started writing things into the agreement that had already been typed up. They asked the judge if they could submit the child support papers later and he granted it and we were dismissed. I told poppe right away and he was already aware from previous conversations that I wanted to turn around and file ex parte custody and appeal. He did not seem have any problems with that. The following Monday the decree came out, I had to call the courthouse to get the papers emailed to as poppe never bothered sending me a copy. I was upset that the judge basically signed off without actually reading the settlment and still issued no child support. I also was upset when I read the child support calculation because the numbers were completely made up. They put that my husband and I both made the exact same amount of money, everything was put as exactly the same for both sides, when I was not currently working and the previous job that I had I was working part time and barely making 800$ a month. My ex had purposely got fired from his good paying job to get out of child support and I had given poppe text message evidence to support it, which he never showed the judge. They based my ex husbands income off of him working full time minimum wage, but our tax documents that I also gave poppe showed him making 50,000 to 60,000 the last 3 years. They put both of our incomes as 1500. Regardless no child support was ordered, and there are many errors in the final decree, and although both attorneys told me I could get assistance I found out that I actually can’t get it because my ex husband already does. I immediately called poppe the day I got the decree and of course had to leave a message and told him I wanted to file ex parte custody and get my kids . It is now 2 months later and I have called and emailed many times and even let him know how urgent it was, and that my children’s daycare has documented bruises. I told Mr. Poppy’s secretary on one of those phone calls that I wanted to file the ex parte as soon as possible before I ran out of time because I was concerned about my children safety and well-being, she assured me that she would get the message to him and I have yet to help hear from him.Poppe has not returned one phone call or email, but sent me a bill for 1400 and 1090$ of that was for the final court appearance that he was late to. It says on the papers he gave me he charges 250$ an hour and we wer in court less than 20 minutes, so I don’t know how he comes up with 1090$ and I recently learned that it may be too late to appeal the divorce decree . Because even though I have called and emailed him to take action, the 30 days is up. I cannot help but feel that Mr. Poppy was negligent and completely unethical and his handling of my case and had he done his job correctly I would have had a better outcome for myself and my children. My children are my world and I need to figure out how to get all of this overturned and file ex parte custody on my own because I can’t afford an attorney. My kids daycare an has documented bruises on my 2 year old that are suspicious, my 2 year old also received 2nd degree burns after his dad left him near a hot smoker unsupervised land then neglected to seek him medical attention.both the school and daycare have documented that my kids often claim they are hungry and that there dad does not feed them, and my 32 year old has anxiety attacks and becomes fearful and clings to me when he has to return to his dad and claims his dad whoops him. whoops him. I have no clue what I can do to get my kids out of that situation or how to go about fighting all of this on my own

Shawnte: I would speak with someone who works at the Agency in which the kids are living which handles child abuse cases. If any of your kids are in school, speak with a school nurse or school counselor, and, for yourself, speak with someone at the Domestic Violence Hotline or at your local women's services center. It is most likely that your ex took the kids to avoid paying child support. It does not seem, at this time, until you get some type of emergency public housing, that you can provide a place for the kids (unless there is enough room where you live and they allow it). If you are capeable of working full time, the courts would expect that, especially since it was not a long marriage. Check the divorce laws in your State on line and learn all you can. In some places, there are agencies that teach women how to either work in medical offices or to take care of/do errands/clean for the elderly. Most Lawyers charge for every phone call, e-mail, court time for you, etc.

The place that I live is set up for women fleeing domestic violence. I have my own 3 bedroom apartment and can come and go as neeeded but it is rent free. It is set up to help me get on my feet and start my life over again so housing is not an issue. It is run by catholic nuns who live on site and complete coltrol access with video cameras and alarms, it is truly a blessing. I have spoken with the agency about it they are aware of the situation but the my don’t help with these things, I have been to both local domestic violence agencies and they have helped me as much as they can, however in the beginning the told me to file ex parte custody and had the papers and I didn’t listen because I would never keep my husband from my kids and I never would have thought he would do it to me so I wouldn’t sign the papers, 4 days later he did it to me and got the upper hand. I have been to the courthouse and all the legal aid help desks and researched online And my understanding is that I can file a malpractice suit against my attorney, and I can file an ex parte custody order, and I can file a motion to modify the divorce decree and a few other things but I can not afford an attorney to help do these things and I go to understand how to do it myself. So far the domestic violence shelter have helped me by calling investigators that have taken my reports, I have called cps and I continue to document everything. My main concern right now is my kids safety and I can’t fond an attorney willing to help me file ex parte custody even after they see the pictures of 2nd degree burns and black and blue ears, and over 40 abscensss from school and my kids reporting heir dad doesn’t have food and they are always hungry. I have done everything I can think of and I get absolutely nowhere. I honestly just need a miracle at this point

I am here to say just how sorry I feel about your promlem. I came to this forum because I needed some support after getting a divorce in california and as far as we I couldn't afford a lawyer and we didn't have joint property, I filed it online. But your story is appalling, I couldn't just pass by. Sorry to read that! Carry on!