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  • Form 10A: Reply by Applicant

    I need your friendly advice folks! Some background:
    • Marriage broke down in 2003, with one child from the marriage. I remarried in 2005 and have since had 2 more children!
    • In late January, I finally got it together and filed a Motion to Change Child Support (CS). We have had a shared parenting arrangement (44/56 split) for nearly 3 years now, and I want to have the CS determined using the straight offset calculation.
    • My EX would only let me have the extra time if I paid full table support (i.e. without any offset, or consideration for my extra expenses). The EX has a stable job earning ~ $63000 annual salary. My earnings are > $150000, but I have a family of 5 to support (2 new children in new relationship), lots of debt, etc.
    • I pay 100% of daycare, clothing, etc for when my 8-year old daughter is with me.
    • First Court Appearance (Ont Court of Justice) is April 7, where I understand that not much happens, except that they will set a Case Conference Date at that time.
    So, I received her Response to my motion on Feb 25, where she obviously did not agree. In her response:

    a) She also has about 30 additional points of "background" to support her stance, many of which are either not true, or are exaggerations & misrepresentations... all made to bolster her case and make her look good. However, these are now in the Court's records!

    b) Her sworn Financial Statement (Form 13) which is now part of the Court records shows expenditures that are simply unrealistic & crazy high, and then she has completed a Children's Budget suggesting that our daughter represents 43% of her TOTAL "sworn" expenses of $6700 per month... or $2900 per month(!!) for a child she has only about half the time. As examples, this $2900 attributable to my daughter includes: a) nearly $400 per month for food for a child she has for about 17 days per month... $24 per day for food! b) nearly $400 per month for car expenses, c) $500 for "savings, lawyers fees, and addition income tax required". I spent a lot of time doing my own honest budget (went through 12 months of receipts & credit card statements) in order to be accurate, and estimated my budget for my daughter was ~ $1175 per month, in addition to the full table CS that I pay.

    After sitting on her Response for the past 10 days, I finally concluded late last night that I better respond to her points. Now, I am representing myself, and I just read that any reply by Form 10A needs to be served to the Respondant & filed with the Court within 10 days! So, am I screwed??

    I just came back from the Court House, where I talked to duty counsel. He told me to still go ahead and complete Form 10A, but I would need a file a motion if I wanted to get my 10A put into the Court record. He said that not having the 10A in there is not "fatal" (gee thanks!), and that the Case Conference would be a good time to get out all the facts.

    What are people's thoughts on the following:

    1. Filing a Form 10A to counteract aggressive points made by the Respondant? Am I in trouble for not doing so in a timely manner?

    2. Ludicrous "sworn" Financial Statements & Children's Budgets?

    I still feel confident generally, but am a bit shaken that I missed the Form 10A filing deadline! (maybe I should hire a lawyer)

    Thanks in advance everyone for any advice or thoughts you may have!

  • #2
    I would put as much down as you possibly can. It will be part of your Continuing Record. It sometimes seems petty to respond to each and every point, just don't eleborate too much. If you don't do it now, on time or not, you might regret it if you have to go to court again in the future. (which seems likely by the sounds of your ex).

    Comment


    • #3
      Thanks Cistead for your input. What about the fact that I am now just past the 10 days timeframe to "officially" respond? Am I now too late to do anything to get it into the record?

      Comment


      • #4
        And what should I do about the EX's ludicrous "sworn" Financial Statement?

        Comment


        • #5
          My current husband and I are in the exact same circumstances right now. I find it very hard to respond to each and every lie, fabrication, etc. It seems so petty. My husband and I have paid over 15,000 in lawyers fees over the last few years, we started winning when we represented ourselves. Just fill out what you know to be true about yourself. If the judge can't see what she is doing for himself, you don't stand a chance anyway. As far as filing late, you should phone the court right away and sweet talk the person and see if they will allow you do fax it in right away. They make the decisions regarding late filing. If she/he says no, ask for an alternative.

          Comment


          • #6
            Also, I believe that there is a form called Consent for Late filing. However, your ex would have to agree to it. If she doesn't, it may bite her in the ^%$% down the road, as it doesn't show good faith.

            Comment

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