What to do - Do I call my D18 as witness to defend myself ?

[plainNamedDad44]

Hi community,

BACKGROUND:

As some of you know I have battled for and won my children back. All four.

Now the hard part. There was an incident of DV during the marriage in 2012 - I would ask you not to judge, suffice to say I have taken full responsibility. STBX was caught stealing money meant as security for a business loan. Regardless, I reacted poorly and have paid a heavy price. Despite that I now have my children, the OCL has sided with me and STBX pays support. I am the APPLICANT.

WHATS HAPPENING NOW:
In early 2017, STBX amends pleadings for a claim of tort, claiming whiplash during an entirely fictitious and egregious account of the incident of DV.

STBX claims to have discovered her injuries 30 months after DV, and very significantly after a self inflected head injury.

I am very confident that STBX's claims will fail the "but for" test. That said,

My D18 witnessed the assault, to which she agrees that the DV as described by STBX is utterly untrue, secondly, D18 saw the intervening event in which STBX injured her head, which seems to be the basis of STBX's claim.

The relationship between STBX and children is non existent. STBX has chosen to pursue $$$ and litigation instead of children.

I am prepared to provide compensation, but STBX saught damages will bankrupt me. So I must fight.

QUESTION:

Should I call D18 as a witness to the stand ? D18 could clearly rebut the baloney.

PND

[arabian]

Did your daughter make a statement (at the time of the alleged DV) to the police?

getting one's kids involved in divorce stuff is generally distasteful to judges (along with videotaping them and trying to use that for evidence).

I'd tread very carefully here.

[mcdreamy]

You just seriously asked this?

No. You don't. Find another way. Cheesus I thought you were the good guy.

[plainNamedDad44]

Originally Posted by mcdreamy

You just seriously asked this?

No. You don't. Find another way. Cheesus I thought you were the good guy.

I apologize for the distasteful thread, but I am only asking D18 to mainly confirm the intervening events and to rebut the falsehoods.

I made a mistake. I owned up. I have never ever lied to the courts or my children.

I am the only stable parent my children have. I am very close with all of them. I can't take care of them if I'm living in a cardboard box eating cat food.

I appreciate and understand the criticism, but I am looking for legal help, based on legal principles. Sanctimonious statements, while understandable, are not helpful.

[Berner_Faith]

To my knowledge you can call anyone as a witness but I could be way off base. I don’t know how credible a judge would think the child would be but I suppose that’s a conversation you need to have with your 18 year old and see how they feel about it


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[plainNamedDad44]

Originally Posted by Berner_Faith

To my knowledge you can call anyone as a witness but I could be way off base. I don’t know how credible a judge would think the child would be but I suppose that’s a conversation you need to have with your 18 year old and see how they feel about it


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D18 is of the age of majority. Not a child. D18 and I have talked. She is comfortable with telling the truth. Because D18 is not a minor, I thought there would be no credibility issues in that regard.

[arabian]

Keep in mind that any witnesses you call can (and likely will) be examined by OC.

I thought you had sold your house and were now working on imputing income for your ex. I'm having difficulty grasping the relevance of a DV allegation from several years ago.

Sure you'll likely take some flack from the other side about this past situation but sometimes it is better to just suck it up, let them take their jabs, and then move on.

A good lawyer knows exactly what their witness is going to attest to. Court is pressure cooker. Are you certain of what your adult child(ren) will say in that environment with their mother staring them down?

Judge will most certainly be thinking that having one's children (adult or not) testify in court will not in any way aid in reunification of the family. This action could backfire on you.

Think this through carefully.

[arabian]

I came across this while doing a cursory search on CanLii (Ontario):

https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/do...&resultIndex=1

It may or may not be of interest to you.

[plainNamedDad44]

Originally Posted by arabian

Keep in mind that any witnesses you call can (and likely will) be examined by OC.

I thought you had sold your house and were now working on imputing income for your ex. I'm having difficulty grasping the relevance of a DV allegation from several years ago.

Sure you'll likely take some flack from the other side about this past situation but sometimes it is better to just suck it up, let them take their jabs, and then move on.

A good lawyer knows exactly what their witness is going to attest to. Court is pressure cooker. Are you certain of what your adult child(ren) will say in that environment with their mother staring them down?

Judge will most certainly be thinking that having one's children (adult or not) testify in court will not in any way aid in reunification of the family. This action could backfire on you.

Think this through carefully.

It's not just flack. I'm being sued for an insanely large damages amount for alleged whiplash based on a false narrative and several intervening events. I have to defend myself. While Im confident that the medical records and expert witness testimony would suffice, would I not be a fool notto allow a willing witness?

[arabian]

Surely the whiplash is a matter handled outside of family court? I'd be checking into whether or not the matter belongs in family court and go from there.

Personal injury lawyers don't typically go after small potatoes (you) and instead look to be paid by insurance companies.