Child support & NSF

[Kimberley]

So the ex's cheque showed up in the mail today - it's dated for the 21st (same day as his lawyer's letter coincidentally), today is the 28th, and luckily he seems to be using a bank local to me instead of one near him (though it's possible it's not getting much use).
I popped into the bank, explained to the teller that it was to be for child support and that I would like to know if there is even money in the account to cash it. Her response to me after looking was 'I cannot cash the cheque at this time'. Of course the bank could not give me anything to document this for yet more documentation for me (I even requested the manager just to cover all the bases).
I will be checking again tomorrow, on Saturday, and again on Tuesday to see if there is money available on any of those days - as court is Tuesday afternoon, so I will be able to pop by first thing in the morning to check if need be.
I will not be informing his lawyer that the cheque would be returned NSF if I deposited it into my account to use for the kids, but rather noting this in court.
I am also thinking that it's not unreasonable of me to request my costs for the court appearance be paid by my ex. Taking the amount of lost wages for the day (minus the tax of course) along with the standard court amount they pay witnesses to appear at court for other cases for my travel expenses due to having to bring the matter to court since he has refused to behave like a father.
Is there any form that I need to fill out to request that my costs are paid?

As always, thank you to everyone for your responses.

[kassie22]

Hi, as a disclaimer I'm new here and not up to date on your story, my apologies. My only question is if the bank can't give you documentation that the cheque won't clear, why not deposit it, have it returned NSF and then reclaim any NSF fees that you would incur? That way you would have proof that the cheque was no good, that the payment was only "in theory" and when he says that he "just wrote you a cheque" you will have proof that you didn't see a dime of it.

Just wondering if a verbal message from the bank will be "good enough". But then, assuming that you're already having a hard time collecting, it would probably be hard to collect the NSF fee you're going to occur as well, which these days is ridiculous.
Best of luck on Tuesday.

[logicalvelocity]

This is interesting subject. I think no costs will be ordered as it is a case conference and the process is more or less designed to settle some of the issues in the interim. The parties are generally encoraged. The court may recommend that you move the matter by way of motion whereby the parties can submit sworn evidence by way of affidavit.

However, some courts in Ontario now allow a party to submit form 14B, along with their CC brief and it is quite possible to obtain some relieve on procedural issues.

[Kimberley]

Firstly to the NSF - I certainly cannot afford to allow an NSF while trying to raise 4 children with no child support. School starts next week & I am trying to get them the things they need to start school. I refuse to allow my ex to affect my account and my ability to clothe my children for school.

As to requesting the costs. I served my ex in July, for court in September, and he waited until the end of August to get a lawyer - who has sent me a letter to tell me that he is asking for an adjournment as he had not even met my ex yet, thus stalling right from the get-go. In my response letter to his lawyer, I requested a written agreement for the interim until the matter is settled in court, and have been met with dead silence.

[sufferer]

The NSF thing happened to me once and the bank charged only $7 dollars as te fees.I will advise you to play it as this wil be a big evidence of his carelessness,
Also this trime make sure to involve FRO>they were behind my ex and made sure to spoil his credit.Ultimately he is making sure to pay on time.

[kassie22]

I totally understand not wanting to have the NSF charge (at our bank it's 45.00!!) esp. at this time of year... Just throwing it out there. Best of luck.

[Kimberley]

I stopped at the bank again this evening & was able to cash the cheque at least - 8 days after the fact of course.
No response from his lawyer either, and I am not on my 4 day break from work thankfully. Tuesday is court, so I am just making sure I have everything on hand before the appearance.
I will be checking with the duty counsel for any other tips or questions before we're called into court to see what I can get for the interim.