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  • Need Advice......on my case

    Hi Everyone,

    I am an immigrant from India and I have been served with the divorced papers by him after 3 1/2 years of marriage in Toronto. I got my lawyer through Legal Aid however My lawyer informed me that I am entitled to get spousal support between 11/2 years - 3 years based on length of marriage hence she recently scheduled 4 way meeting. During the 4 way meeting, my lawyer was late for 10 mins and not prepared with the answers. I was only giving all the information in the meeting. She was in a hurry to finalised the case so she asked me to agree if he is willing to pay spousal support even for 6 months. I was very confused because i did not know why my lawyer is acting so different in front of them and agreeing to the wrong information provided by him. Even though we have proof but she did not brought to the table.
    He has full time job and annual gross income is 80K.
    Finally, she asked me to get copy of my tax refund of this year then we will go the court for spousal support. I am thinking if my lawyer got intimidated by them and not representing very well to them.
    Could anyone suggest me If I am eligible to get spousal support for
    2 1/2 years or not. Initially, she said I am entitled for 2/1/2 however after the meeting she was saying Judge may approved SS for only 1 year.

    Need suggestions..........

  • #2
    You haven't shown any reason to be awarded spousal support. It requires more than just being married. You need to show factual reasons why the marriage interfered with your career.

    Did you drop out of school to get married? Did you give up a good job to move to be with your husband? Did your husband somehow need you to be at home in order to further his own career? You do not mention any children.

    3 1/2 years is not a long marriage, and even if you were out of the workforce, it is not so long that you have lost your skills and couldn't possibly find work.

    I am not trying to be hard on you, I am stating what you would have to factually show the court in order to prove an entitlement to support. If you are able to show entitlement, it would be highly unlikely that you would receive more than 18 months support.

    I cannot explain your lawyer's behaviour, but I can only guess. She may have given you the most optimistic scenario while you were in her office. Perhaps you didn't even catch when she said words like "possibly," "might," and "could." She was late and unprepared, but also you don't really have a strong case, at least that you have described here. If the other party was not agreeable to spousal support, what was she going to argue? I can't tell you that, only you know what the arguments are.

    You will have to make a full financial disclosure in order to seek support in court. If you lose, you will pay your ex's legal costs. Make sure you have a very sound case. Just having a legal aid lawyer doesn't guarantee that everything is free. It won't be free if you lose.

    If you provide more details about what facts you think would support your claim, there are many members here who have been through court and can give you feedback on how strong your argument is.

    Comment


    • #3
      Mess is correct. There might be something if you found yourself stranded here after coming over from India (might involve immigration law). If you feel your lawyer "wimped out" in a 4 way meeting you should may shop for another one. If my lawyer ever did that to me he'd have his walking papers.

      Did you get immigration after you were married or before?

      Comment


      • #4
        Hi,
        I was working on a good position in Healthcare company. After marriage, he asked me give up that job and moved to Canada with him Hence I came here. I dont have any kids. 3 1/2 years, I was going through emotional stress because of his rude behaviour. Couple of times, He and his mother and his brother physically abused me because I refused to go back to India however i never charged him for that because I thought he will change and will understand his responsibility towards me but things never work out between us. He and His mother visited Canada and pressurised me to sign uncontestant divorce and leave him. I have given loan to his brother for his college and always support him and his family but I was treated like an animal. I lost my self esteem and facing health problems because of this abusive relationship and going through counselling to get back to normal life.
        I have given all my financial disclosure to his lawyer in order to seek support in court. I am staying at my friend place temporarily, does not have clothes as he remove all my goods in absence of me.
        He says he does not want to pay spousal support because he has the pay $5000 loan which he took to pay for his brother fee on my name and other false debt information.
        I got my immigration after marriage and he is even denying that he sponsored me here in Canada and not entitled to 3 yrs of my sponsorship.

        Please Advise.......

        Comment


        • #5
          Go to your nearest Canada Immigration office and make an appointment with an immigration officer. They might be able to direct you to some sort of support agency. I think he could be in trouble with immigration - I might be wrong but talking to them won't cost you any money. Do you have permanent immigration or landed immigrant status?

          Is there a local Hindi organization that can help you out in some way? They might be able to direct you to some resources.

          Immigration would probably be less expensive and more effective than going to a regular lawyer.

          I think I saw a show on TV (Canadian) last year that focused on a support group in the Toronto area for women in your situation. You need to nework and get connected with people that can help you. I don't think that pursuing your ex yourself will get you very far - immigration has a deeper purse and wider resources that you should be able to tap into.

          Good luck!

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by arabian View Post
            Go to your nearest Canada Immigration office and make an appointment with an immigration officer. They might be able to direct you to some sort of support agency. I think he could be in trouble with immigration - I might be wrong but talking to them won't cost you any money. Do you have permanent immigration or landed immigrant status?

            Is there a local Hindi organization that can help you out in some way? They might be able to direct you to some resources.

            Immigration would probably be less expensive and more effective than going to a regular lawyer.

            I think I saw a show on TV (Canadian) last year that focused on a support group in the Toronto area for women in your situation. You need to nework and get connected with people that can help you. I don't think that pursuing your ex yourself will get you very far - immigration has a deeper purse and wider resources that you should be able to tap into.

            Good luck!
            If he was your sponsor to come to Canada he has a responsibility to pay your social assistance should you collect social assistance. There are specific time frames in which as your sponsor he is responsible to support you. If there is a breakdown of the marriage and you collect social assistance he is liable to pay directly for your social assistance possibly. You should talk to the immigration lawyer who prepared your paperwork.

            This should be something you talk to your lawyer about.

            With regards to the "fast" pace that the Legal Aid Lawyer is pushing settlement on... This is a common "truism" of Legal Aid Lawyers well, one type that is. They take the certificate and try to push for fast settlement as there are some weird billing allowable if they settle matters quickly. The way billing works with Legal Aid Certificates is really weird at times.

            This may because you were only given so much on your certificate and it won't cover trial. Very few certificates cover trials these days in family law it seems.

            Good Luck!
            Tayken

            Comment


            • #7
              I am not an expert on immigration, but if he is a Canadian citizen you gain citizenship as soon as you marry.

              If he is a landed immigrant, you have landed immigrant status when marrying, but I do think you need to follow up on it.

              If you married before coming to Canada, you were not sponsered, you were married. By marrying you gain your husband's status in Canada.

              You need full financial disclosure from him. The status of this loan to the brother is vague. Is he paying off the loan, but it is in your name? Does your husband have any other assets? There needs to be an equalization of assets done. It sounds like you are halfway to negotiating a transfer of the loan to your husband, if he is already making payments. You need to collect any paperwork on this loan and discuss it carefully with a lawyer.

              Because you gave up a decent job to come to Canada to marry, you certainly have a strong claim for spousal support, but again, it will be tough to argue longer than 18 months. That said, it is in your husband's interest to stay out of court and you should use that as leverage to get a settlement.

              Comment


              • #8
                Are you working now? If so, what is your income?

                Depending on your income now, you may be entitled to SS. But I doubt it would be for anything more than 2 years.

                As for the immigration matters, stop listening to your ex and start talking to the people at the immigration office. If your ex says he will do X or Y, ignore him, but follow up with immigration when he is not around and see what they say.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Hi Everyone,

                  Thank you so much for all your valuable feedback. I came on visitor visa then he changed my visa status to Work Permit. Later on, we got PR in July 2010 so my status here is Permanent resident. I will definitely try to see an immigration officer for more information on my sponsorship validity.
                  Currently, I am not working and trying to find job in any field. I was laid off 3 three times because of less work issue in the companies.
                  He is a software developer and well settled with his job and Annual income 80K. We have received his financial disclosure however he mentioned false information about having $60,000 debt, $5,000 loan took in 2010 for his brother fee on my name (he paying just the interest amount every month). On top of that, he also mentioned that I have taken $4000 loan from him (absolutely wrong).
                  Yesterday, My lawyer informed me that they wanted to see my copy of Income tax refund 2011 and also proof that I am looking for a job then she will booked case conference and finally court date.
                  Does anyone have any idea how long it will take to get a court date? and What will happen in case conference?



                  Sincerely,
                  Aerial

                  Comment

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