Doctor's Notes

[FamilyBlah]

Is it possible to challenge the validity or even the relevancy of a Dr's note?

EX obtained a note from our family Dr that states, "XXXXXX remains off due to health reasons."

Seven days after obtaining the Dr's note, EX quit her job.

One day after quitting her job EX left the matrimonial home taking the children with her and moving into a women's shelter under the false allegations of abuse.

CAS investigated and exactly 1 month from the day she left the matrimonial home, CAS informed me that there was no reason for them to be involved in this matter.

EX is attempting to claim retroactive child support from the day she left the matrimonial home until the date of the temporary child support Order (5 1/2 months between the dates).

I intend to show what monies I paid to support the children during that time. I also intend to show what money she had at the time? Is this the correct approach?

She refers to the Dr's note in her application and subsequent affidavits claiming she was unable to continue working in her field due to health reasons. However, the job she was doing at the time she obtained the note and quit is not what she went to college for.

She claims she applied for ODSP but did not qualify.

After only about 2.5 to 3 months after the case conference where Child Support was ordered she returned to work. I have no evidence as to whether she obtained clearance from the Dr. to return to work. Am I correct in my belief that this is something she should have obtained?



Any answers or discussion is much appreciated!

[Mess]

The doctor's note, her being off work, her applying for ODSP, and whether or not she is in the field she went to college for are all completely irrelevent to separation and divorce.

If you think that it is relevent to a certain issue you must draw a clear connection between these factors and that issue.

She decided to leave the mat home with the children. Presumably made a fake claim of abuse to enter a woman's shelter because she didn't have anywhere else to go.

You are responsible for supporting your children, as is she. You are responsible for paying child support from the time she left. If you paid for various expenses instead of paying her directly you may make that argument. However be aware that there are expenses, called "section 7" that must be paid on top of child support. So you may not successfully argue, for example, that you paid for daycare and that was your child support contribution.

If there are no issues with the CAS you should first of all concentrate on getting that in writing from them, if you haven't already. Secondly, there is no reason the children shouldn't be living with you; she is working, so are you, you are in the mat home. You have as much right to have them live with you as she does. She has essentially abducted them, although you won't be successful in charging her with that. But what you should be focusing your energy on, instead of concentrating on why she quit her job, is to get a court order for the children to be returned to the mat home, or if not, for them to live with you and her on a 50/50 basis.

If she is back working now, the time she was off work was just a blip. She was likely bullshitting, so what? What are you out to prove with this? She was off work because she was moving out and trying to put together housing and a support network. You aren't going to get anywhere with that.

[FamilyBlah]

Thanks Mess!

If the other party has tried to make the issues of her Dr's note, application for ODSP, etc, relevant through affidavits should I even bother attempting to refute it or do I just ignore it.

I thought it was relevant because both parents have a responsibility to support their children based on their ability. By doing what she did she manipulated the situation to intentionally decrease her ability to pay.

I am attempting to get a copy of the CAS file but I am getting the "it will take at least 6 months" answer. Six months is not an option. Should I ask the other party to consent to an order to get them (CAS would have 30 days) or should I just go straight to the court? The other side in this litigation has been extremely unreasonable (I have evidence to support this).

[Mess]

You can get a court order (if you've already had a case conference) and receive the CAS file in 30 days. This is CAS hoops you have to jump through. I doubt that the other party's consent will make any difference.

The file is mainly relevent if the other party is trying to deny access/equal access because of the abuse claims. If not, the CAS file is not relevent to anything. If the abuse claim is in the arguments then you need to refute it.

If it were me, and the abuse claim was in the arguments, I would put in an affidavit that the CAS found no evidence of abuse and their report will not be provided by them for six months. Now you at least have the counter argument on record, and the other party can hardly refute it. You can also ask the next conference judge for a court order. The main issue here is you would want an interim access order that is unsullied by accusations of abuse. If the abuse is not being persued, it doesn't really matter (although you might still want the copy of the CAS file on hand just in case for later.)

If the other party has tried to make the issues of her Dr's note, application for ODSP, etc, relevant through affidavits should I even bother attempting to refute it or do I just ignore it.

You should always respond to anything the other party claims if you don't agree with it. How exactly are they trying to make it relevant? I would respond along the lines of:

1. The (applicant?)'s claim that being unable to work due to medical issues from (date) to (date) is not relevent to the issue of (what? Child custody? Spousal support?) because,
   a. The physician provided the note only to justify to the employer a temporary work absence, not to sway a court decision;
   b. The illness was temporary;
   c. The illness was not serious enough to warrant a permanent decision on (whatever the issue is);
   d. The applicant is now working.

I don't know what your full situation is, but I would argue along those lines, in that format.

[FamilyBlah]

Thanks again Mess!

Restricting access between the children and me based on her claims of abuse is exactly what she has been doing, despite the fact there has never been an order regarding custody or access.

The only time the court has addressed the issue of custody/access was at an uncontested hearing when her lawyer snuck in a request for her client "to continue as the primary caregiver."

I am going to file a motion for an order to have that removed as the court was mislead, it was an uncontested hearing and it's an issue before the court on which the court has yet to reach a decision. I have asked the other party to consent to an order to remove the statement but they have refused.

What sort of thing would I be expected to show the court to get an order for the CAS file? I assume I would only be expected to show that they are relevant to the issues at hand?

[Mess]

If the other party has brought it up, they have already shown the court the necessity of seeing the CAS file. Just refer to the fact the file exists and you need an order to accelerate the process to a reasonable time frame.

[nogoingback]

Thanks again Mess!

The only time the court has addressed the issue of custody/access was at an uncontested hearing when her lawyer snuck in a request for her client "to continue as the primary caregiver."

This "primary caregiver" trick was what my STBX's lawyer has recently slipped into affidavits as well. I had to fight back saying that omission of any mention of a primary caregiver in our separation agreement, negotiated by senior lawyers, was not an oversight. I gather the term primary caregiver is something written into standard separation agreements, but was removed in mine. With so many details being negotiated at the time, I was not fully aware of it being removed nor did I have a full understanding of the implications as such. I am very grateful now that this language was purposely omitted, as she tries to claim otherwise.