Deadbeat dad flees to Philippines leaving four kids without support

[representingself]

Deadbeat dad flees to Philippines leaving four kids without support - thestar.com

[FamilyBlah]

Unfortunately, both parents refusing to act in the best interests of their children is a much too common theme.

The Courts often contribute more to the problem.

[Mess]

I ran their details through a support calculator. The CS is for 4 children; the judge didn't consider the 19 year old capable of working. I guess being a drug addict keeps you a child of the family.

The article makes much of the 11 year old's cancer. It aches me to say this, but the child is in remission and has been testing regular and now without cancer. This shouldn't be relevent.

The mum get's a 1.2 million dollar house, with a separate apartment that rents for $2000 per month. The spousal support award is higher than the calculator if she earned $0.

According to the calculator the spousal should be nil, if she is just considered to have the income from renting the apartment, not to mention that she should be capable of working. At $0 income, the high end of support shows $500 per month, not the $1500 per month awarded by the judge.

The father earned $100k per year, which is about $5000 a month after taxes. The support award was for $4000 per month, leaving him $1000 per month to live on.

The mom gets $2500 per month from the Ont Government to help with the children's disabilities. She was awarded $4000 in support from the father, the apartment rents for $2000 per month. There should be around $8-900 per month CCTB that isn't mentioned in the article. That's $112k per year, most of it tax free. I recognize that most of that government supplements and CS, but it hardly justfies a ridiculous spousal support award.

She claims in the article that she "got nothing" in equalization, ignoring the $600,000 equity in the home. They were about to settle in the courthouse before the trial, but she backed out. The judge's award, on the surface, is ridiculous, yet she was awarded costs.

Without reading the decision, it's hard to fault the father here. The Star article goes out of it's way to paint a sympathetic picture of the mother, but gives no reasons for a decision for spousal that seems unprecidented.

I usually am really down on "deadbeats" but the father has a point. If he was paying the table amount of CS on his current income in the Phillppenes I'd probably fully support him.

[FamilyBlah]

Mess,

Please write a letter to the editor.

Thank you!

[Exquizique]

Well written Mess! My partner and I were just discussing the article and came to the same points as you did. Shame that most people reading the article would know nothing about the "intricacies" of divorce settlement, SS/CS calculations and the like, and be strung along by the emotional slant in the article. Total hogwash.

I would love to read the Canlii decision, and see what were the points in consideration that caused the judge to make such a decision.

[billm]

Originally Posted by Mess

According to the calculator the spousal should be nil, if she is just considered to have the income from renting the apartment, not to mention that she should be capable of working. At $0 income, the high end of support shows $500 per month, not the $1500 per month awarded by the judge.

What numbers did you run and where?

I typed in 100K/0K and 4 kids to mysupportcalculator.ca and got $2196 CS and SS of $810 to $1,208 per month (with a midpoint of $1,005 per month) for a 22 year marriage.

What I find unfortunate about the story was they they signed off on everything after going to court and he was fine with it all - they agreed to support and equalization.

Then she claimed she did not understand what she agreed to and that her circumstances had changed and their agreement was set aside. People need finality in their lives - with family law your relationship never seems to be over.

He is still a deadbeat though - he doesn't pay spousal is fine with me as that was their original agreement, but he should be paying table CS - there is no excuse for that. Also, leaving the country when you have four kids that need a dad - also inexcusable and I wouldn't give him the time of day.

The mother though:
In subsequent court pleadings, Donna maintains she was “rushed and pressured and did not read” the documents before she signed them. She said she did not understand she was signing away the right to any future spousal support, even if her circumstances changed.

This is a lie I would bet. She went to court, she had a lawyer, she should stick by what she agreed to. If she had, this mess would not have occurred it seems.

Looks like they are both messed up - and family court helped them to cause havoc to their childrens lives.

[Mess]

Actually you're right Bill, those were my numbers on spousal the second time through. 0-$528 is what you get if you give her an income of $24k (the apartment rental or minimum wage, take your pick.) Even so the high end we're getting on $0 is much lower than the awarded amount.

Either she can't afford the marital home, so sell it for 1.2 million and buy something affordable, or rent out the apartment and declare the income.

[Access Dad]

After reading this article, I have difficulty siding with the mother here. She got the home worth $1.2 mill, she gets benefits from the government for her child's disability, she got an apartment built in the home that she can rent for $2000 a month and CS. The SS amount is unfair. Why should this guy have to live on beans and ketchup while the mother cannot even get at least a part time job. She was also part of the deal that produced 4 children. She's got a teaching degree, I'm sure she could find employment that accomodates her children's needs.

[billm]

Originally Posted by Access Dad

After reading this article, I have difficulty siding with the mother here. She got the home worth $1.2 mill...

Ummm, what? Why would you state something so misleading?

She got a home worth 1.2 million, with a 600K mortgage, which she had to pay 175K to her ex for equalization.

Let's see 1.2 - 600 - 175 = 425K, of which a portion was lump sum spousal - she was a SAHM to four kids for a long time.

I wonder too if the value of the home is 1.2 million today (everyone especially the Star likes to use big numbers). In 2008, she got the home, probably with the 600K mortgage and the 175K buyout but it was probably worth less than 1 million then.

[May_May]

Irregardless of the money, I think it is absolutely wrong that she has 3 of their 4 children in photographs for the publicity/press photos.
The children should be kept out of this, and is helping ensure there will be no possibility of reconciliation between they children and their father because they are being taught to hate their father. It's bad enough with what children (never mind us adults) have to deal with when adjusting to your parents separating, but having them pose with angry faces for the press pictures is not acceptable.