So DH and I had an initial call with a lawyer and it went quite well. She was referred by a family friend.

She said asked if a "order to seek work" had been issued yet. She also told us that it sounded like a good time to go address everything - restraining order violations, her not following the court order, changing visitation and getting some child support. She was concerned that BM might still be able to ask for spousal support.

Our next step is to gather a set of all the court orders and court documents for her and we will meet next Friday. She said the goal of the meeting was to decide if this is a good time to pursue it and also see if it made sense financially (will any award we receive be more than what it costs to hire her).

I liked her. She also was pretty shocked by the story and asked, "well, where was she for those 7 years?"

I would really like to nail *ss for some child support and then maybe she'll STFU and stop telling SS that shoes are a necessity, not a reward while she pays nothing to support his actual needs, buys him video games, and drives off in her new car with fancy rims.