Catalyst
He had been paying child support initially and then just arbitrarily stopped in 2016.
My original divorce settled with an amount payable for child support a certain amount payable for extraordinary expenses and a commitment to contribute to post-secondary education, and my ex-husband wasn't doing any of that. He had been paying child support initially and then just arbitrarily stopped in 2016 after many attempts to try and get him to pay. I eventually had to retain a lawyer to go after him.
I actually really didn't want to retain a lawyer. I felt like it was a simple enough issue since it had already been through the divorce courts and stamped by a judge, and this was our divorce agreement, So I actually thought I would just file a motion myself, not retain a lawyer. I spent a whole day at the courthouse in London waiting to speak to the court-appointed lawyer about the process of doing it myself, and she was actually the one who referred me to the Family Law Group.
She said it's a way bigger issue than you think. It's not like a judge is going to look at this and say, yes, this was already agreed upon back in 2011. You have your divorce agreement. Tell my ex-husband he has to pay. She said to me, it's much bigger than that. So the first thing I did, actually, was file with FRO, the family responsibility office.
The Family Responsibility Office is a free service that does a lot of different things, but essentially, they will go after the deadbeat dad or deadbeat mom, whoever it is who's supposed to be paying because there is a court order in effect for them to pay from the original divorce. So, as long as you have a court order that says, yes, this is what they should be paying, FRO will collect it.
So it went to FRO, and for several years, they even got to the point where they garnished his wages. 50%. They collected the money from him and sent it to me. The problem was he was so upset that I had filed with FRO and so upset that they'd garnished his wages that he actually turned the tables on me and filed against me.
So the case that Lisa actually took that I did with Family Law Group was actually as a result of him coming after me. So that's how that happened. And my frustration, going back to your initial question, a lot of my frustration with lawyers initially was that when I first got divorced, even though I knew my ex-husband was a bit of a snake in the grass when it came to money and that he probably wouldn't pay me what he owed me. They strongly advised me not to file with FRO initially because they felt that, at the time, knowing my ex-husband's personality that would further agitate him. And if he thought that I was filing with FRO would not settle in the original divorce case.
Well, that was just really bad advice because I shouldn't be worrying about whether it's going to rattle him or not. He should have paid. He didn't pay. And so I ended up going to FRO anyway, and when he came after me, I finally had to retain a lawyer to try and put the issue to bed. And it took three and something years.
The number one thing was I knew it was going to be expensive. So I was thinking, "Why are we paying lawyers when if he was just going to do the right thing and just pay what was owed for his kids, we wouldn't waste money on lawyers?" But he was so bitter and angry towards me that he didn't care. He was ready to push it as far as he needed to not pay. So that was initially it, and I just wanted him out of my life. So, after 15 years, I'm still dealing with this guy. So it was that, too. It was the thought of, "Oh, my god, I have to go back into the battle again over this.
I actually really didn't want to retain a lawyer. I felt like it was a simple enough issue since it had already been through the divorce courts and stamped by a judge, and this was our divorce agreement, So I actually thought I would just file a motion myself, not retain a lawyer. I spent a whole day at the courthouse in London waiting to speak to the court-appointed lawyer about the process of doing it myself, and she was actually the one who referred me to the Family Law Group.
She said it's a way bigger issue than you think. It's not like a judge is going to look at this and say, yes, this was already agreed upon back in 2011. You have your divorce agreement. Tell my ex-husband he has to pay. She said to me, it's much bigger than that. So the first thing I did, actually, was file with FRO, the family responsibility office.
The Family Responsibility Office is a free service that does a lot of different things, but essentially, they will go after the deadbeat dad or deadbeat mom, whoever it is who's supposed to be paying because there is a court order in effect for them to pay from the original divorce. So, as long as you have a court order that says, yes, this is what they should be paying, FRO will collect it.
So it went to FRO, and for several years, they even got to the point where they garnished his wages. 50%. They collected the money from him and sent it to me. The problem was he was so upset that I had filed with FRO and so upset that they'd garnished his wages that he actually turned the tables on me and filed against me.
So the case that Lisa actually took that I did with Family Law Group was actually as a result of him coming after me. So that's how that happened. And my frustration, going back to your initial question, a lot of my frustration with lawyers initially was that when I first got divorced, even though I knew my ex-husband was a bit of a snake in the grass when it came to money and that he probably wouldn't pay me what he owed me. They strongly advised me not to file with FRO initially because they felt that, at the time, knowing my ex-husband's personality that would further agitate him. And if he thought that I was filing with FRO would not settle in the original divorce case.
Well, that was just really bad advice because I shouldn't be worrying about whether it's going to rattle him or not. He should have paid. He didn't pay. And so I ended up going to FRO anyway, and when he came after me, I finally had to retain a lawyer to try and put the issue to bed. And it took three and something years.
The number one thing was I knew it was going to be expensive. So I was thinking, "Why are we paying lawyers when if he was just going to do the right thing and just pay what was owed for his kids, we wouldn't waste money on lawyers?" But he was so bitter and angry towards me that he didn't care. He was ready to push it as far as he needed to not pay. So that was initially it, and I just wanted him out of my life. So, after 15 years, I'm still dealing with this guy. So it was that, too. It was the thought of, "Oh, my god, I have to go back into the battle again over this.
Contact Details
Family Law Group
1579, Hyde Park Road
London, ON, N6H 5L4
Phone: (519) 672-5953