Not having the money to pay an attorney is a different issue from whether it would be wise to seek advice from an attorney. Fearing that you might get a bad attorney is also a different issue from whether the situation warrants getting advice from a (competent) attorney. Perhaps your bad experiences with some attorneys has colored your view of attorneys generally such that you distrust them or think they are best avoided. That would be unfortunate. What I will tell you is that I have seen a number of clients through the years who decided to simply forge ahead based on their assumption of what the law was and that they’d be ok and not get legal advice only to have it blow up in their face later. Then they come to me and unfortunately it ends up taking much more effort (and thus much more costly) to deal with the problems caused by what they did than had they simply come to me before they acted and asked for advice.
I can understand why, given how things turned out with your ex-wife taking things, you would favor changing the locks and ensuring he be there when she picks up her stuff. Certainly it would be better if he can be there when she picks up the stuff. But again, there is a statute that says he cannot deny his spouse entry to his dwelling so he takes a risk in doing that. Because of that statute the OP’s situation is one that certainly could blow up in his face if he changes the locks without getting advice from a family law attorney first. His choice what to do. I’ve explained the law and made my recommendation to get advice from an attorney who actually practices family law in CA.

