Toronto Man spends in excess of $500,000 in 12 months on an annual Income of $50,000, defending his divorce lawsuit?

A Toronto man is financially ruined after spending an excess of  $500,000 (half a million dollars) in a period of about 13 months defending his family lawsuit. This father never saw the lawyers ruining him financially and never got past the 1st step in a Divorce, the Case Conference phase.

Financial Ruins in divorce—stevendepolo

This sort of financial ruin is not acceptable and the presiding judges ought to have clamped down on the lawyers for gouging him. This is unheard of in family court unless you are wealthy individual. This person’s expenses with the lawyer was completely out of control and was exposed to loosing everything that he acquired in his life. Essentially the lawyer brought this person to the brink of bankruptcy within one year of litigation. His lawyer new exactly what his financial situation was but did nothing to stop the financial devastation.

This loving father continues to rely on his 82 year old mother to fund his outrageous litigation claim but she now too faces serious financial consequences also. This father turned to us to bring matters to a quick close and to  limit his financial exposure. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to assist him as he was to scared to defend his own case and wasn’t able to move past his fears and uncertainty. Do it yourself cases is not for everyone but it is a great alternative if you have no money to defend your case.

Financial divorce, is responsible for about 9% of family debt

Toronto Father continues to Financially sabotage himself?

He continues to self sabotage himself and his child because he can’t participate in the extra curricular activities that most children would experience because there is no money to do so. He lacked the incentive to go on himself while lacking self confidence and self esteem. This father was absolutely petrified of loosing his child and was willing to continue the financial devastation for the sake and fear not being able to conduct his own case and to say NO to this absurdity. This father’s annual  income was approximately $50,000  and would sustain a bill that would last for decades if it wasn’t for his mother graciousness. We worked with our client and he knew exactly what options could be used to stop the this outrageous situation so that his money could be better spent on his child’s future holidays, child activities, medical and educational needs. Most families will incur a family debt of an additional 9% in families overall budget due to costs of divorce litigation however, this Toronto father will incur an additional debt that exceed 600% of his early expenses. In our estimation his total expenses including trial would have exceed $1,200,000.00 and if he losses this trial he will be subject to paying his former wife’s lawyers fees and court related expenses also estimated to be approximately 1.1 million dollars. This Toronto father will undoubtedly have to declare bankruptcy to make normal living or give up all of his assets to pay for his Divorce debt.

Google “marriage and finances” and you’re presented with more than 28 million results, led by a Forbes articles titled “5 Financial Mistakes that Ruin Your Marriage“. Dr Phil, that alleged bastion of human relationships, believes money is the number one problem in marriage, the number one reason couples fight, the number one cause of divorce.

Do it Yourself Litigation for Divorcing Parents isn’t for Everyone!

Not everyone can do their Divorce litigation by themselves, while many other self represented litigants choose to fight their own lawsuit because they have enough money and self esteem, inspiration to fuel the fight. Our clients have found our eBooks,  one to one discussions very useful source of information to ramp up their understanding of the law very quickly.  Other have found that ordering the samples of actual court documents permitted them to draft their own motions and claims.

Learn how to do our own divorcing couples financial statement

Learn more about court room tactics and win your case. BUY NOW- eBooks or purchase actual court materials used in previous court hearings to assist you.  To get your Original Family Court documents Ontario for divorces click here.

Dealing With Financial Debt Part 3 Divorce Debt In Canada

DIVORCE-FINANCIAL-EQUALIZATION OF NET FAMILY PROPERTY? 

In yet another bizaree family dispute Kenny was forced to pay child support by the Family Responsibility Office for a child he didn’t know, according to Ottawa Divorce forum!

They did a story or three not that long ago about the horrors of dealing with them…you need to call Ctv or some other news station…this needs to be out to the public..not swept under the carpet…

 click here to go to Ottawa Divorce forum to see Kenny’s story and responses…

Kenny ought to have served and filed an emergency motion with a supporting affidavit and exhibits (serve it on his former, and FRO) that the Family Responsibility Office garnished the wrong account. As part of the relief sought the Notice of Motion required a repayment forthwith.  Once this is done the parties will usually come to a resolution before the court hearing, otherwise the faulting party is subject to court costs (and if FRO caused harm to Kenney then he may sue them in small claims court for damages or another cause of action).

What is not clear is why the family court in the originating court order filled out a form that did not delineate the payor and the recipient and there particulars of employment etc. There is usually NO way for any mistakes unless either Family Court or FRO administration did something VERY wrong while filling in the standard family court forms. Sometimes the judge makes a mistake and orders the Respondent to make child support payments as opposed to in this case his former wife Rita however a Notice of Motion that is short served can get this repaired or amended  quickly. Kenny ought to read the court order thoroughly to ensure that everything is correct and compare it to the hand written endorsement to determine why his name appears on someone else’s support  order for child support payment.

If there is an over-payment by Kenny and assuming that the court order was issued and entered with a Support Deduction Order “SDO”  in Kenny’s favour, then he is entitled to get it ALL back. The SDO is automatically filed with FRO to garnish her wages (up to 50% of her wages) and seize all of her income tax returns until all money is returned. If there is no SDO and Rita is not willing to pay the outstanding money/over-payment back or if she is unemployed or on welfare there may be some problems getting repaid.

Family Responsibility Office Enforcement Options

Family Responsibility Office Enforcement actions which they may take include:

• garnishing your bank accounts
• garnishing money you may be entitled to receive from the Government of Canada (for example, income tax refunds, employment insurance benefits, Canada Pension Plan benefits, and Old Age Security benefits)
• reporting you to the credit bureau
• suspending your driver’s licence
• suspending your Canadian passport or other federal licences (including a pilot’s licence, as well as maritime and navigational licences and certificates)
• placing a lien on your personal property
• issuing a writ of seizure and sale for property you own
• reporting you to your professional or occupational organization(s)
• seizing your lottery winnings, and
• starting a Default Hearing, which could result in up to 180 days of jail time.

Garnishment Options 50% for support 20% for court costs orders

Assuming there is no SDO, then a garnishment has to  be filled out with the court in her jurisdiction and then the garnishment has to be served  on a director or owner (or a person with proper authority) at her place of employment. The employer is then required by law to garnish her wages and Kenny would be entitled to get 50% of her wages until the child support over-payment or debt is paid.  You can get up to 20% wages garnishment lets say for an outstanding court cost order is paid back in full.

Support Order and Court Cost Orders are different

The support order and cost orders are different orders while FRO will enforce a support order they will not od so for court cost order unless ordered by the court. and one isif there is an SDO then FRO ought to garnish her federal taxes, otherwise obtain a garnishment were she works or against her bank accounts and collect the money.  Collections of outstanding support is sometimes easier said than done however, all the filing fees, parking and time can be added over and above the original amount in the  judgement or court order.

click here for Wages Act, Ontario 

Exemption from seizure or garnishment

2)  Subject to subsection (3), 80 per cent of a person’s wages are exempt from seizure or garnishment. R.S.O. 1990, c. W.1, s. 7 (2).

Idem, support or maintenance

(3)  Fifty per cent of a person’s wages are exempt from seizure or garnishment in the enforcement of an order for support or maintenance enforceable in Ontario. R.S.O. 1990, c. W.1, s. 7 (3)

Read more about Orser v. Grant case... another bizarre family case where FRO acts without compassion and understanding.ARRESTS the father after his father passing away .. this case involved three family courts (Ottawa, Toronto and Milton) and much of Ontario Tax dollars wasted for what appears to be moms get even attitude!