Today I am thankful for friends in the legal field.
I had a friend ask me about Michael. She is a paralegal who works for people arrested for driving while impaired.
I told her that my ex was allegedly in a 8-27 month in-patient drug and alcohol program which exempted him from paying child support.
She asked to see proof.
I gave her access to my email account.
As she scrolled through the emails, she laughed at my lawyer.
She laughed at the paralegal as she read the emails my lawyer's office sent to me.
Then she questioned their efficacy.
Apparently, my lawyer's paralegal doesn't use capital letters.
I never noticed.
My friend did.
She said that after spending $10,000 with a law firm, the least they could do is capitalize the pronoun I and begin their sentences with a capital letter.
She noted that neither my lawyer nor my paralegal ever answered my question of how and when to proceed.
She told me to demand a refund.
Lawyers tend to bill us just to complain.
Complaining will not do any good. I may leave a review on Avvo after I hire someone else. My review will be similar to many others that were posted in the past few months.
Could it be that my lawyer is sick and his paralegal is working outside of her scope of practice?
I don't know.
I just need to hire someone else.
I'd better work some mojo to get my money back in another way.
My friend pointed out numerous mistakes made in my case.
1.) We needed proof that my ex had a drug problem and should have subpoenaed intake records showing his impairment.
2.) Voluntary living situations are not supposed to impact child support.
3.) The longest in-patient drug and alcohol program she works with is 6 months and that is for repeat offenders.
She said that it seems to her that my ex likes having free housing and being taken care of. She said that he probably lied and said he had a drug or alcohol program to get the room.
I don't know.
Sigh......
*******
In the State of Colorado, people cannot just put forth a letter claiming to be in rehab and expect to be absolved of child support.
They cannot even expect to have it lowered without proof that they have a drug and alcohol program and have been court ordered to therapy.
She searched for a court case against my ex. She couldn't find anyone with his name that was court ordered into drug or alcohol rehab.
So.....my lawyer misled me.
She also cautioned me about fretting over all of those oxycodone bottles. She said that it was common for people to keep bottles of pills they don't use just in case they need them later. It didn't mean he was an addict.
I have been told to start interviewing lawyers....pronto.
I was also told that even if my ex lowers his child support to a crazy level, which is what happened, he is still expected to pay it whether or not he is in rehab.
My lawyer is not very good. I'm seeing this reflected in the reviews other people leave for him.
I'm sad.
If I wrote his name....you'd probably wonder why I couldn't figure it out.
His last name, quite literally, means leach.
Live and learn. I spent enough money on this crap to have been able to buy each of my girls a decent used car.
My lawyer is greedy.
What is the State of Colorado's excuse?
I wonder WHY the Colorado Child Support Enforcement division isn't aware of state law? They are the ones that pushed this situation to fruition.
I've still got a lot of research to do.
In truth, there is probably nothing I can do because my lawyer agreed with CO-PEP. It's probably best for me to let my ex slink off and hide without helping. On some level, I'm afraid if I do what is best for the kids, the stalking will pick up again.
I'm still trying to find lawmakers willing to listen to me and understand my arguments for defunding a program that rewards deadbeat parents and puts custodial parents and their children into financial dire straits.
I wanted to share this just in case another person found themselves in the same situation. CO-PEP should not exist to excuse deadbeat parents.
It's got to go.
Love ya,
S.