StaceyW (06-Sep-16)
Hi Dave A,
It's a public school in Mpumalanga.
Thanks!
Hi Dave A,
Thanks for that reply. And the link.
According to this law, 'parent' is thus defined as:
a) the biological of adoptive parent or legal guardian of a learner;
b) the person legally entitled to custody of a learner; or
c) the person who undertakes to fulfil the obligations of a person referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) towards the learner's education at school;
Now the ex is then classified as (b) & (c) as he has full custody and is under obligation to fulfill all financial needs of the child/ren.
If I understand what you're saying, whether he is under this obligation or not, whether we have a settlement stating that I have no obligation to pay anything towards school fees, or not, I would still be held liable because I am (a) the biological parent?
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StaceyW (06-Sep-16)
So basically, I just go to the court, with a letter that the ex has signed stating that he will pay off the debt once he finds a job and has an income, and then agree that I will pay until that time, in small installments. (Whatever amount is affordable, which quite honestly, is really not alot as my husband and have have a 1yr old daughter together.)
Will that then be enough for them?
Someone also mentioned to me that I should then in return sue the ex for the money. Personally I don't see the point in that, as it would just accumulate more lawyers fees, and he can't pay it back anyway.
But then again, if that is the best way, perhaps I should consider it.. I'll have to see what's best.
I think I'm just so fed up with the toerag that I'm not thinking straight. A day or two to calm down a bit should bring some clarity.
Thank you again Dave A, you have been a great help in giving me some much needed advice, and direction.
My only other comment is to try to avoid this becoming a judgement or an order of court against your name. If you can come to an arrangement with the school or lawyer directly without it becoming an order of court, that would be about as close to a win as you're probably going to get in the circumstances.
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StaceyW (06-Sep-16)
Again Thanks Dave.
I have tried to speak to the school, they won't even talk to me, I'm referred back to the lawyers firm handling he case.
Phoning the firm did not help, as the lawyer handling it is on leave until the 20th, which is basically 2 days before the summons is for...
Not much I can do at the moment.
For now, I'm going to ask my dad to give his lawyer a call and get some more advice.
Hopefully things will get resolved amicably.
I'll let you know.
Just an update on my case for you Dave A.
I have acquired legal representation, as upon request of the documents on file from the prosecutors, we found that the ex had in fact been in to the attorney's offices and signed an acknowledgement of debt with them. However on this form they had him as 1st respondent and my name as 2nd respondent, his signature on each page as 1st, and someone else's signature where I should have signed as 2nd.
The attorney agrees and admits that I didn't sign anything, however, is still proceeding to try and claim the school fees + costs from me.
They seem to think that there's nothing wrong with having someone sign on my behalf, when I had no knowledge thereof..... Screams fraud in our opinion.
My attorneys, are putting in an application to rescind, and will also be proceeding against the school and the prosecuting attorneys for damages and costs.
Its a tough one this. I remember being on the Governing body and dealing with non paying parents that were separated or divorced. We were very often told that the other spouse was going to pay the debt and gave us a run around. The one said the other everytime. We then always ended up going for both parents because an agreement between divorcing parents really has got nothing to do with the school. I am just mentioning this here.
Quite honestly HR, if I had known about it from the start it wouldn't have been a problem. We could have made arrangements and it wouldn't have gone this far. It would have been paid last year, while the child was still in the school, and there would have been no issues.
One would think that after being divorced for 11 years the ex would suck up his pride and tell me when there's a problem relating to the kids, but he doesn't, he still just keeps on telling lies.
The main reason I'm now fighting this is the fact that they are basing their whole case on fraudulent documents. They claim that I signed an aknowledgment of debt with my ex-husband last year in October, when in fact a) it is not my signature, b) they have witness signatures, but no names to the witnesses, and c) I was in a different town on that specific date, with a 6 week old baby, I don't drive(can't drive, and don't have a licence), and was packing to move to Gauteng... so there is absolutely no way I could have been there at all.
It is now up to them to prove that it was I that signed those documents, which they won't be able to do.
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