Caught in a lie.....

[CISTEAD]

Just received the breakdown on Ortho expense for Section 7 expenses, finally. Mom clearly lied on her Motion regarding the costs, to the tune of approx. 4,000.
I get that it will be reduced accordingly, however, my question is, do the Judges even care if they lie?
Are there any consequences at all, or are we forever pawns?

[NBDad]

If they lie enough, they'll piss the judges off. Mine lied through her teeth, pulled a bunch of other stuff, scammed the government, welfare, etc...trust me, it all comes out in the wash if you fight hard enough.

With my ex, it cost her everything she owned (she fled the province on the heels of a Child Protection investigation)...also cost her the children...I have sole custody.

The trick with section 7 is to word it properly.

ie. The parties agree to split the costs associated to special expenses proportional to their line 150 notice of assessment amounts in each given year.

To facilitate this, as well as to facilitate proper calculation of child support, the parties agree to provide the other with a copy of their notice of assessment no later than June 30 of each year.

The parties agree that "section 7" expenses are hereby defined as any necessary, tax-deductable educational, medical or dental expense.**

The parties also agree that the amount of section 7 expense that will be split will be the net amount after any applicable deductions are applied. (ie. from benefits)*

The parties agree that any submitted section 7 expense that would exceed the maximum tax deductible amount for a calendar year will have to be agreed to at least 30 days prior and IN WRITING, or the other party will not be required to contribute towards the expense.

* This prevents her from nailing you with a bill for 4K when her/your benefits is picking up 2500 of it. Basically it means if the expense is 4000 and benefits cover 2500...the amount you pay on is 1500. (4000-2500).

** Do yourself a HUGE favor and define post secondary expenses separately...I don't care if the child is 18 months or 18 years. Do it NOW. This also means that you are limiting her to hitting you with stupid amounts of section 7...$500/year/child for sports activities, 3%?? of gross income for medical/dental amounts, etc. If it goes over this amount, she needs your agreement IN WRITING and 30 days before, or you don't have to pay.

[NBDad]

Goes without saying that this is an extreme definition, I broke out the crayons on it. Sometimes you have to dot every i and cross every single t. Leave them NO loopholes, be VERY specific. (When you are done writing it, have someone NOT involved with things read it over and see if they spot anything that might be open to interpretation. Second pair of eyes and all that)

If she won't agree, file a motion to vary through the courts, reference the fact she lied and tried to scam you for $4000 as the reason for the proposed changes. Make sure you request costs. (That way if the judge agrees with you and makes a judgment that is close to what you originally proposed, you might get some of your expenses covered, for the ex being a bonehead)

Also, you shouldn't be handing her cash...any kind of section 7 like this, you should be insisting on being shown the receipt + breakdown prior to paying, or if she cannot afford the cost up front, then insist on seeing the breakdown ahead of time, then YOU go into the office (dentist/doctor/whatever) and pay YOUR portion DIRECTLY to them.

[billiechic]

good advice.
I'm sure you learned all that the hard way though.

[CISTEAD]

Thanks for all the help. We have not given one dime as of yet. It looks like you have got the T-shirt on this one. Next settlement con. is for September, I will take your suggestions to hopefully avoid further opportunities to be taken.

[NBDad]

good advice.
I'm sure you learned all that the hard way though.

Whereever would you get THAT idea?

Still learning, though I will admit I have gotten a lot better at things over the last 18 months.

[logicalvelocity]

Whenever this subject arises - This dated judicial view comes to mind.

Mary Lou Benotto: Ethics in Family Law: Is Family Law Advocacy a Contradiction in Terms?