Legal Question in Family Law in New Jersey
child's father lies to the court
I am a single mom of a 7 mo old. I have a motion set for Jan 3 in Ocean county, NJ for daycare expenses, holiday visitation and as of yesterday supervised visitation. He placed the baby in jeopardy this past weekend by not giving her medication properly and not calling a Dr when she had a fever of 101 which turned out to be 103.8. She went to emergency for 2 hours.
Her father is an angry man who has already broken a judge-signed agreement, has abused me verbally and ''gaslights'' anything that is said (ie, ''I didn't say that YOU did''). He is attempting to discredit me as a mother and ask for more parenting time. He has a lawyer.
How can I prove to the court that this man doesn't really care for the child but is angry and is really trying to control me and avoid paying for his child's needs? In my motion, I included incident reports, medical records, Dr. notes and proof that the child has been completely available to him for visitation. I have complied with all court ordered Parent time. I haven't left any insane VMs and have tried to avoid speaking to him and rather text or send letters. Sice I'm pro se, please give any advice that could help. I truly believe he would let this baby have an ''accident'' to avoid paying for her.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: child's father lies to the court
You are not an attorney; there is a limit as to how much I can tell you how to present your case because of your limited knowledge. You seem to be making a good effort as a pro se. Judges usually give pro ses a lot of leeway, but be careful; once you have lost your credibility it will be gone forever.
I might suggest that you do something that may be counterintuitive for you; try to deliver your message in an economical manner designed to have the most impact. People simply do not listen forever. Say the most important
things first; hit with your biggest weapons first. Start by simply stating that the father was grossly
negligent in that he ignored a clear
danger sign, a fever, and that the
consequences could have been disasterous and THEN BACK THAT UP WITH
SOME SORT OF MEDICAL AUTHORITY, perhaps a statement from the treating physician. No judge will want to take a chance of exposing your child to
serious injury or death. Make the judge want to cover his ass by presenting a doctor's statement to this effect and you will be cooking with gas (whatever that means).
Gary Moore, Esquire
Hackensack, New Jersey
www.garymooreattorneyatlaw.com
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