When does aggressive negotiation become criminal blackmail?

[bob_0101]

Hello all,

New member. First post! Hoping someone will have knowledge that can help with this question:

Imagine - Divorced couple with children; At the outset of an action to vary child support, each has submitted their accounts for disclosure. She realizes that he has inadvertently provided information of a highly compromising nature.

At what point does using that information as leverage to make him settle stop being strong negotiation and cross the line into actual criminal blackmail?

[dinkyface]

I wonder if she would be willing to accept the financial consequences of following through on the blackmail i.e.
person loses professional license and job -> no longer able to work in the field he is qualified in -> earning power takes nosedive -> CS and SS drop significantly

It seems that she would be making offers that are 'unexplicably' low/aggressive, then you get to court, and she would not be able to explain her negotiating position to the judge (doubtful she'd want to say that she was blackmailing!), then judge decides in favour of him, and she ends up paying legal costs.

Or, YOU could bring up the possibility of blackmail in court (carefully - to ensure it is believable).

Is this 'matter' something relevant to the kids' best interests, or does it show you were not negotiating settlement in good faith? If no, then it should be useless as blackmail IN FAMILY COURT.

[Rioe]

I know you probably don't want to, but you should probably provide more information so we can help you. First of all, is it possible that the entry is just an error? Or is it just something of a personal nature? Or is the other parent accidentally admitting to something criminal? If it's the latter, it could be an offence not to report it to the proper authorities. And frankly, using something like that in the negotiation, even if it was merely personal, could still be extortion.

[billiechic]

if you are refering to something that shows an affair, it doesnt matter. Unless of course the spouse was spending excessive amount of family money on that affair.

I think more details are required for a proper answer. If you dont want to provide them publically, you may want to ask some of the senior members via PM. Best bet though is to speak toa lawyer if you are dealing with something criminal in nature.

[bob_0101]

Thanks, all, for taking time to reply. Some clarifications:

- I know that it would have no effect in family court on the determination of support

- no, nothing criminal or to do with the children

Basically what I'm trying to ask is, if she calls him to say "Accept my last offer or this info goes where you don't want it to go.", (ex: business partners, CRA, professional licensing office, etc) will she have committed blackmail in the legal criminal sense and turned the tables on herself? That is, will she have committed blackmail and he could call the cops on her? Or, at the very least, could he accept her last offer and then go back to court saying he was under duress? Or even before that, bring the threat into the current court action and have it work in his favour?

[frustratedwithex]

My ex spent over a year sending me emails with all kinds of threats about what he would do if I didn't accept his offers. On some of them he included 'Without Prejudice", this means nothing really, in the context he was using it anyways. He just gave himself permission to be a bully.

When I asked my lawyer if the emails could be used for anything, he said no. Basically nobody wants to read them. Does it establish that he is aggressive and unreasonable, yes. Did I become defensive and unwilling to listen to anything he said, yes.

Ignore her and deal with only the information that is necessary.

Check here to learn about high conflict people.

And here on how to respond to hostile email.

[standing on the sidelines]

Originally Posted by bob_0101

Thanks, all, for taking time to reply. Some clarifications:

- I know that it would have no effect in family court on the determination of support

- no, nothing criminal or to do with the children

Basically what I'm trying to ask is, if she calls him to say "Accept my last offer or this info goes where you don't want it to go.", (ex: business partners, CRA, professional licensing office, etc) will she have committed blackmail in the legal criminal sense and turned the tables on herself? That is, will she have committed blackmail and he could call the cops on her? Or, at the very least, could he accept her last offer and then go back to court saying he was under duress? Or even before that, bring the threat into the current court action and have it work in his favour?

screwed. if he did something wrong and she is holding it over him then take away her power and come clean with the people in question that she can go to. What is to stop her from using it later?? Best just to get rid of the problem once and for all. He can try and say duress but then she could still use it against him and he will have to admit the wrong-doing. If he calls the cops on her he better make sure that whatever he did wrong doesnt come with criminal charges when he has to admit what she was blackmailing him with.

Just get your buddy to admit and accept responsibility for whatever he did and then she cannot use it against him to bargin with.

[blinkandimgone]

Originally Posted by bob_0101

Thanks, all, for taking time to reply. Some clarifications:

- I know that it would have no effect in family court on the determination of support

- no, nothing criminal or to do with the children

Basically what I'm trying to ask is, if she calls him to say "Accept my last offer or this info goes where you don't want it to go.", (ex: business partners, CRA, professional licensing office, etc) will she have committed blackmail in the legal criminal sense and turned the tables on herself? That is, will she have committed blackmail and he could call the cops on her? Or, at the very least, could he accept her last offer and then go back to court saying he was under duress? Or even before that, bring the threat into the current court action and have it work in his favour?

Any offer signed under those conditions could be very easily contested at a later time. You can't be held to a contract or agreement that you were coerced to sign or signed under duress. He would be stupid to agree to it but she would be even more stupid to think making him sign an offer under those conditions would work in her favour leaving him wiith the ability to threaten to reopen at any time.

Be honest and up front in all your dealings and you won't have to worry about getting caught with your pants down later.