I'm Curtis. I'm not a lawyer — and that's the point.

I'm a single father in Michigan. Over the past several years I've been through the things a lot of parents are searching for at 2 a.m.: hearings with the Friend of the Court, hiring an attorney (and learning how to actually use one), representing myself on a court date, mediation, custody exchanges, tax season with a support order — and, on the other side of all of it, buying my first home as a single parent.

I started the YouTube channel Single Parenting Life with Bigg Certs because when I was going through it, almost everything I could find online was written by law firms trying to sell a consultation or by courts in language nobody talks in. What I wanted — someone who had actually sat in that hallway waiting for a referee hearing — didn't exist. So I became it.

The channel is a podcast about single parenting from mothers and fathers — the ups and downs, the laughs, the cries. No bashing. Just a different perspective.

What you'll find here

• My real experience with Michigan's Friend of the Court system
• What preparing for a hearing actually looks like when you're not a lawyer
• The unglamorous reality of co-parenting logistics
• Money as a single parent: taxes, support, and buying a home on one income

What you won't find here

Legal advice. I don't give it, because I'm not qualified to give it and because your case is not my case. What I can offer is what it was like for one dad, in one Michigan county, with one set of facts — so the system feels a little less unknown when you walk in. For decisions about your own case, talk to a licensed family law attorney in your state.