What We Do

Legal Defense Fund

The single most devastating weapon in family court is financial attrition. The parent with deeper pockets can file motion after motion, demand evaluation after evaluation, and simply wait for the other parent to run out of money. When they do, they lose. Not because they are a bad parent, but because they are a broke one.

The Vera Black Foundation Legal Defense Fund provides direct financial assistance to parents who are fighting for their rights in custody proceedings. We fund attorney fees, filing costs, evaluation expenses, and expert witnesses for parents who would otherwise be forced to capitulate to an unjust outcome.

Who qualifies: Any parent — mother or father — engaged in a custody dispute who can demonstrate financial hardship and a meritorious case. We evaluate applications based on need, case merit, and the potential for the case to set meaningful precedent.

Education & Resources

Most parents enter family court with no idea how the system works, what their rights are, or what strategies they should employ. They rely entirely on attorneys who may or may not have their best interests at heart. This information asymmetry is itself a form of injustice.

We are building a comprehensive library of resources available to every parent, regardless of their ability to pay:

• Legal template library — Motion templates, response frameworks, and filing guides for every state
• State-by-state guides — Know your rights in your jurisdiction. Custody presumptions, support formulas, and procedural requirements
• Know Your Rights handbook — A plain-English guide to family court procedure, your constitutional protections, and how to identify when your rights are being violated
• Video education series — Interviews with family law attorneys, judges, legislators, and parents who have navigated the system
• Self-representation guide — For parents who cannot afford an attorney, a step-by-step guide to representing yourself effectively

Advocacy & Legislative Reform

Defending individual parents is essential, but it is not sufficient. The system itself must change. We are pursuing legislative reform at the state and federal level to restructure the incentives that make family court a predatory institution.

Current priorities:

• Default shared parenting legislation — Working with state legislators to establish 50/50 custody as the default presumption in all states
• Title IV-D reform — Federal advocacy to restructure performance incentives so states benefit from shared parenting outcomes, not maximized support collections
• Family court transparency act — Requiring public reporting of outcomes by judge, including custody split percentages, support deviations, and conflict of interest disclosures
• Attorney fee reform — Capping fees in custody proceedings and establishing public defender programs for parents in family court
• Policy research — Publishing original research on family court outcomes, financial impacts, and child wellbeing metrics to build the evidence base for reform

Crisis Support

Family court proceedings are among the most psychologically devastating experiences a person can endure. The combination of financial stress, uncertainty about your children's futures, and the adversarial nature of the process pushes parents to their breaking point. Some do not survive it.

Our crisis support services include:

• 24/7 support line — A phone and text line staffed by trained counselors who understand the unique stress of family court (launching soon)
• Peer support groups — Weekly virtual meetings where parents can share their experiences, strategies, and support with others going through the same fight
• Emergency assistance — For parents facing imminent separation from their children, fast-track evaluation and, where possible, emergency legal intervention
• Mental health referrals — Connections to therapists and counselors who specialize in the psychological impact of custody disputes