New here~ Case conference next week

[supar3]

Hello everyone,

I am really glad to have found this forum. I could use the experience of those who have done this before me.

In brief, my ex and I have our first case conference next week. We have been seperated since 1998 and have 2 children. I do not have a lawyer at present. In a nutshell, he was ordered to pay 350.00/month support for 2 kids back in 1998. His payments have never increased nor has he ever provided me with proof of income. He co-owns a business which he has had for about 20 years. FRO got involved last July when he stopped making payments. Since then, they have taken 3 actions against him, the lastest of which is a drivers licence suspension which takes effect either today or tomorrow, not sure as they don't tell me much. He was given 35 days, 35 days ago and so I will assume his licence is gone. Currently, he is 10 months behind in his payments.

As stated, our case conference is next week. My plan orginally was to have his future child support payments reflect his income (I have no idea what that is). However, I am now hoping that the judge will do something next week to get him to cough up the 10 months that he owes.

He also cautioned me that his accountant was going do his books to reflect a yearly amount that would cause his payments to decrease. I am not sure if this is a threat or if he will actually walk into a courtroom stating he makes less than 23,000/year.

I am very nervous about the appearance next week and am really not sure what to expect. I am very surprised at how little FRO has been able to accomplish with him and at times feel like its hopeless. I wish I had a lawyer, and probably could find one if I tried, cause I am worried the judge will rule in his favour somehow, which sounds stupid, but seriously....he has gotten away with so much since 1998 that nothing would surprise me at this point.

Any insight, advice, words of encouragment or caution would be so appreciated.

Thanks in advance for anything you can offer.

[dadtotheend]

Don't be nervous, you are in the driver's seat. He is in arrears, the CS hasn't been adjusted in more than 10 years even though (I presume) you have repeatedly asked to see his income and the FRO is taking extreme steps with him and his driver's licence. The court will not be sympathetic to that.

Let his accountant bring the numbers and then you can evaluate their validity. I think the judge will order that he get his financial disclosure filed, and you will probably have to set another court date for that. But I would rather be you then him right now.

[supar3]

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

I cannot get a hold of my case worker at FRO (as usual). I have no idea what the next steps are that they take, if he has offered them any information at all yet (they have been after him since Oct for proof of income), or what happens next on their end. The law clerks last week were surprised FRO hasn't filed to take him to court already. I love how you are kept in the dark with these people.

I guess then I will not hold my breath that anything will get settled next week. I was very surprised at our first appearance that all we did was set a date to come back. Seemed like a big waste of time.

I needed to file some papers last week at the courthouse and was told that a father who was really behind in his payments was tossed in jail on the spot. Apparently, there is a judge now who is so fed up with parents who don't pay that he or she stopped the conference and had him taken away in cuffs. I have no idea though how far behind he was. Kind of scary. If it were me, I would just pay what I owe and be done with it.

Any idea how long the conference will lasts? Do I need to bring anything with the exception of my copies of the motion etc? Any questions I should be prepared to answer that I may not have thought of?

I guess I could hit the legal aid office once again and get more advice from whoever is working. It seems I get different answers from different lawyers though, so I never feel sure about what I have been told.