Hi Everyone,
Just for the record, today is Tuesday October 1, 2013 and not Tuesday July 30, 2013. I just thought I would clarify that, because where I live, we’ve been having summer like weather. But Tuesday July 30, 2013, was a very HOT and interesting day. This is what I mean.
Okay for anyone who doesn’t already know, I am taking the daughter’s father to court for what is called retroactive child support and interest as per the Justice Act. I have been wanting to do this for a long time but could either not find him, felt extremely physically, verbally and financially threatened by him and his now wife, or simply did not have the time and/or the emotional energy to take him court before. There are other factors, but they are for another blog but all of the above were why I didn’t do this earlier. On a side note, I would like to add that there will be two very eye-opening blogs about our legal system.
Now before Tuesday July 30, 2013, I had what is called a Case Conference with a DRO. DRO means a Dispute Resolution Officer. So there was me, the attorney, the DRO and Duty Counsel in a private room, called Chambers, to discuss a date which was, Tuesday July 30. Duty Counsel is a Crown Attorney/lawyer, who is hired by the province of Ontario.
The hearing time was set for 9:30 but if I wanted to speak to Duty Counsel, I had to be at the court house at or before 9 am. I was there at 9 am. Before I spoke with Duty Counsel the, for lack of a better word, Court Greeter, approached me and told me that there was a conflict (of interest) because my daughter’s father had seen the now Judge years ago when he was Duty Counsel. There was ONLY one other Judge that day, and he would speak to her to see if she wanted to address this matter. In legal talk, a matter is anything that has you in court. If the Judge didn’t then we would have to set another date.
My daughter’s father’s attorney shows up, the Court Greeter tells him about the conflict, and the lawyer says, “It’s a simple matter.” In legal terms, that means, “we will be out of Court before the door has a chance to close behind us”. I am serious. That’s what it means.
My daughter’s father and his wife arrive. They don’t say ONE word to me and barely look at me. That is HIGHLY unusual for them because every other time we’ve been to court they SCREAM swear words at me, call me names, make hurtful comments about my body size, the list goes on. Yep! That’s what I was dealing with. He wasn’t like that when I first met him, but people get funny when it comes to money.
A few minutes later, off I go to see Duty Counsel. He is the same person who sat with me in Chambers, to set the date for Tuesday July 30. He tells me the Judge is willing to meet in her Chambers with him and The Respondent’s representative. He tells me the Judge’s name. I thought, “I know that Judge, she’s on one of my COUNTLESS Court Orders.” I tell him that, he says that’s okay and asks what I am I seeking, meaning in legal terms what do I want. I tell him. He says that’s too much. I narrow it down to what I have ALWAYS been seeking which is FULL financial disclosure, which by the way is in EVERY ONE of my Court Orders, and retroactive child support as per the Child Support Guidelines and interest as per the Justice Act with dates. Off he goes. I go and sit in the waiting room.
Less than 10 minutes later he asked for me to sit in a more private area, but still in the waiting room and told me that the Judge dismissed my case. I was PISSED off because I know this Judge and know what she DIDN’T do on one of my Court Hearings, (THAT will be one of the eye-opening blogs) I told him, “You have to stick up for me!” Now he is looking at the floor, with both of his hands on each side of his face, as he tells me, “There’s nothing I can do. The Judge said it was D.B.S.”
Then I literally stood up as I figuratively stood up for myself and I said to him, “I KNOW D.B.S.! If you can’t stand up for me, at least let me stand up for myself! I CAN do this!” He says my standing up for myself is not going to help because the Judge is dealing with C.A.S, I had no idea what that meant but I didn’t care. I told him, “Just go in there and ask!” He left looking defeated and waited to speak to the Judge. I went to sit where I formerly sat.
Everyone around us could hear every word, so I asked them smiling, “I sounded kind of feisty didn’t I?” They laughed as they agreed that I did, but then I said to them, “What is the worst that can happen? At least now I have a chance. The Judge was just going to throw it out of court. ” They agreed on those points too. Duty Counsel walked by and I asked him for my notes, he gave them to me and I started reading. I read my notes as many times as I could before going into the Court room. Every once in a while I would look up to see, my daughter’s father watching me reading my notes. But I didn’t care. I just kept reading.
As I walked to the Court room, everyone around me wished me luck. I passed his wife on my way into Court. She just sat on the window sill smiling away to herself. That PISSED me off!
Once in Court, the Judge said a few things, the lawyer said a few things, and then Duty Council said a few things, all of which I can’t remember. My daughter’s father sat beside his lawyer. I sat beside Duty Counsel. When it was my turn to talk I stood up and said something like, “Good afternoon Your Honour. Thank you for giving me this opportunity. I would like to add that I have versed myself on D.B.S.” and then I started reading my notes.
I read those notes for over 10 minutes. At one point, Duty Counsel handed me a tissue. I took it and wiped my eyes while reading fearing I would lose my spot on the page. I did try to look up to the Judge as often as possible and she looked annoyed. I didn’t care, I just kept on reading. When I finished reading 3 of my 4 pages, I looked up to see the Judge CLOCK WATCHING!!! That PISSED me off. She wanted me to stop but I looked her straight in the eye and said, “This one is only one page.” She let me continue reading.
When I finished reading, she said a few things, the lawyer said a few things, and then Duty Counsel (I think) said a few things. The Judge gave me a hearing date! And suggested I get a lawyer, or as she put it, “seek Counsel.” I wanted to say, “With all due respect Your Honour, had I of listened to Duty Counsel today you and I would not be having this conversation,” but I didn’t. She, the Judge, meant a family law lawyer, but I’ve had those already. THAT will be an interesting blog!
I got a HEARING DATE! I changed the Judge’s mind from my case being dismissed to a hearing date. Just so everyone knows that was HUGE!!! No one but I expected that to happen. Duty Counsel SHOT out of the room, the lawyer and my daughter’s father left a few seconds later and then me.
Because my daughter’s father, his wife and their lawyer sat directly in front of the Court room, I could see them. Then I thought, “Hmmm. Looks like Houston has a problem and the name of the problem is ANNA LEBER!!!” And I know they have a problem, because lawyers who are paid GOOD MONEY for a problem, like me, to go away don’t look like someone has to pick their jaw up from the floor! My daughter’s father looked like someone punched him in the face and the stomach at the same time and his wife wasn’t smiling anymore. Just for the record, I wasn’t smiling either. I was too upset about what I read because it was about my daughter’s and my life and how my daughter’s father financially SCREWED us over because in my opinion, the courts ALLOWED him too! And I could FINALLY prove it! Hence my new Court date! From all of my days in court with lawyers who, in my opinion, did NOTHING to help me help myself, someone finally listened to me. This is probably because I did it myself!
Now why they waited for me to leave the Court room and then look at me is beyond my comprehension but they did. They also watched me walk to my former seat and most likely heard every word that the people who were sitting with me before asked and said to me. Once they heard I had a Court date, they congratulated me and they were not using their inside voices either. We high-fived each other and talked about my standing up for myself. It was great! Not only was I proud of me, they were proud of me too!
Duty Counsel and I spoke for a few minutes after I found him, the Court Recorder handed me two pieces of paper that I would later have to have deciphered and then I got back to me day, which was packed!
So what is D.B.S? On Tuesday July 30, 2013, I had no idea. I knew EVERYTHING about it but didn’t know what it was. Since I now know, D.B.S. is a case that took place in Canada, became a precedent and is now cited by lawyers and the Courts for similar cases. The full case is called, D.B.S. v S.R.G. This case took place on July 31, 2006 in the Supreme Court of Canada in Alberta. Cases can have the full name of the parties, or in non-legal terms people, involved or cases can have, like in this case, (pun fully intended) the initials.
D.B.S and other cases within the link provided below, all revolve around a term called, “blameworthy conduct.” Blameworthy conduct is when the payor parent does one or more things to financially benefit themselves at the financial expense of their child. The list of blameworthy conduct is pretty long and my daughter’s father actively and knowingly participated in EVERY ASPECT of blameworthy conduct for fourteen years!
Now the interesting thing is, no one told me about D.B.S. I just sat in an office, day after day, for hours on end until someone told me the term, “blameworthy conduct”. The reason I am telling you this is because as soon as I got home and did an online search of, blameworthy conduct, I found enough information for me to get a new court date.
One reason I got a new court date is because I knew my STUFF! Another reason is that on Tuesday July 30, when I got up at 5 am, I had a feeling that I should just add something. It was just a few sentences, but those few sentences saved me! The reason for this is because those sentences revolved around what the Judge that I stood before, the one, who changed her mind, did and didn’t do years ago in one of my Court hearings, which in my opinion, was readily apparent that she made an error of law. Readily apparent is legal talk, for blatantly obvious and error of law means huge mistake! Had I of not added those few sentences, I think things may have gone differently for me. It’s hard to argue with the facts everyone, including Your Honor!
Here’s the link for the D.B.S v S.R.G. case if anyone is interested. There are three other cases involved in the link below,
http://scc.lexum.org/decisia-scc-csc/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/2311/index.do
I will be blogging about D.B.S./blameworthy conduct in the future, but if anyone is having a problem with ONLY their child support, please feel free to contact me at arebelsrant@hotmail.com I’ll do my best to help you help yourself. Tomorrow’s blog will be what I said on Tuesday July 30, 2013, excluding names of Judges etc. It will be a long, but interesting read if you or someone you know is having a problem with their child support.
Thank you for reading, A. Rebel’s Rant! ;D
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