What to Expect at OCL Meeting

[lorlaman]

I am in the midst of an OCL investigation and there will be a disclosure meeting in the near future.

I am trying to avoid the costs of having a lawyer represent me at the meeting and need to know if I should attend without one since I cannot afford one.

A little history;
I have 2 daughters that live with me; now 15 and 13 yrs old. My ex was arrested in Jan 2010 for assault after she called police, I defended myself in the assault, and was peace bonded and kept away from the home for 3 months; she was on prescription speed for weight loss for about 5 years and became paranoid and delusional causing all kinds of family problems believing I was trying to poison her. She weened off the drugs and the charges were dropped but she did not get proper treatment or counseling for her drug use. When she returned, the relationship quickly soured as she believed I was the cause for her arrest. In July of 2010, she assaulted my older 15yr old, the police were called and they did nothing except involve the CAS.

In Oct of 2010, she again assaulted me, this time I called police and she was again arrested. She was put in jail for 3 days until bailed out by her brother. She then kept little contact with the kids although she could have seen them whenever she wanted. I put the kids into counseling about every 2 weeks since, to help them deal with the crisis.

In March of 2011, she took me to court and was awarded a temp order for $1,500 SS and $0 child support paid to me. She also received scheduled access and we involved the OCL since she accused the lack of access in the past as my coaching the kids. Things went ok with access for about 6 weeks when the kids and her had a fight and the kids decided they did not want to see her unless they went to counseling together to help improve the relationship. Things improved with counseling at first and it was not long until their relationship soured again since she denied that she was ever at fault or that the drug use had any affect on her.

The kids had witnessed all 3 assaults, my then 12 year old was forced to testify and drilled by her criminal lawyer for over 3 hours on the stand. In Oct of 2011, she was found not guilty of her second assault charge which just concreted her thinking of doing no wrong, further accusing me of all wrong doing. All along, I maintained defacto custody. My ex refused to hand over the kid's OHIP cards, passports, birth certificates and refuses to assist in paying any of the kid's extra curricular activities or even school trips. I had to cancel my 15 yr old's piano lessons not being able to afford them even after she scored over 80% for grade 6 piano at the Royal Conservatory of Music. My 15 yr old refuses to see or talk to her mother unless it is at counseling session.

We are now at the point where the OCL will hold the disclosure meeting and I worry what the outcome will be. The kids do not want to live with her and have made that clear all along. Any advice on how to handle this would be greatly appreciated.