Pro Se Exhibits - is it hear say?

North Carolina Divorce Law Divorce and Separation Answers
1

I have several questions on what can be submitted as exhibits. Hopefully you can help me so I can prepare correctly.

  1. During therapy my child drew a Support Map indicating the things in their life that support them and what they support. The therapist this was done with will be in the court room but the child will not. Will I be able to enter this as an exhibit without my child there? Or is it hear say?

  2. I have an email that I wrote to my ex regarding his behavior with my son (choking him), and what my son said about wanting to see him in the future. Can I submit that as an exhibit or is that hear say?

  3. DSS paper work regarding being choked by father. Can that be submitted or is that hear say? DSS will not be there.

  4. My son telling the therapist about being choked…is that hear say? Therapist will be there. Son told multiple therapists about this.

  5. School IEP reports. I don’t want my son’s IEP put in the court records for everyone to see, but I do want the signature pages submitted to show that he was or was not at the meeting. Can I just submit the signature page?

  6. Medical records - I want to establish that He has not attended any appointments with the psychiatrist. Do I have to submit the medical records to prove this if he doesn’t admit to it? Again, I really don’t want my son’s medical records on file for the world to see.

Also, I applied for child support 8/1/2012 with Child Support Services. To date they have not been able to collect anything from him and he has out right told CSS that he doesn’t think he should have to pay. Unfortunately when I filed for Custody and CS I did not indicate I wanted to back date it. Is there any way I can get it back dated before my filing date of 12/1/2012? Should I subpoena the girl at CSS or her records?

Thank you so much for your help.
Pam

2
  1. During therapy my child drew a Support Map indicating the things in their life that support them and what they support. The therapist this was done with will be in the court room but the child will not. Will I be able to enter this as an exhibit without my child there? Or is it hear say?

If the therapist can authenticate it, you should be able to get it in.

  1. I have an email that I wrote to my ex regarding his behavior with my son (choking him), and what my son said about wanting to see him in the future. Can I submit that as an exhibit or is that hear say?

since the email contains statements made by your son, those statements are hearsay.

  1. DSS paper work regarding being choked by father. Can that be submitted or is that hear say? DSS will not be there.

If DSS isn’t there, then you don’t have a witness to authenticate it so you can’t get it in.

  1. My son telling the therapist about being choked…is that hear say? Therapist will be there. Son told multiple therapists about this.

therapy records about this can be submitted. the therapist can testify about it, as long as the testimony is not for the truth of the matter asserted, but for another reaction (i.e., treatment of the child).

  1. School IEP reports. I don’t want my son’s IEP put in the court records for everyone to see, but I do want the signature pages submitted to show that he was or was not at the meeting. Can I just submit the signature page?

to put a document into evidence, you need to put the entire document into evidence. if you weren’t at the IEP, you have to put someone on the stand that can authenticate the document. If you were at the IEP, you can testify that your son wasn’t present without a document.

  1. Medical records - I want to establish that He has not attended any appointments with the psychiatrist. Do I have to submit the medical records to prove this if he doesn’t admit to it? Again, I really don’t want my son’s medical records on file for the world to see.

You can ask that the records be sealed. Again, you will have to make sure the records are authenticated.

Also, I applied for child support 8/1/2012 with Child Support Services. To date they have not been able to collect anything from him and he has out right told CSS that he doesn’t think he should have to pay. Unfortunately when I filed for Custody and CS I did not indicate I wanted to back date it. Is there any way I can get it back dated before my filing date of 12/1/2012? Should I subpoena the girl at CSS or her records?

I believe you can file a motion for retroactive support if it was not requested in the original complaint.

3

Thank you very much for your reply Ms. Putiri. Of course this has led to another one or two questions. Is there specific wording I have to use to file the motion for back child support? If so, what is it? Or where can I find it?

Also, in my statement to the court, can I use what my son told me was said between the two of them?, or his version of what happened, i.e dad choked me, brother locked me out of the house and dad wasn’t there? My son will not be there but the dad will be. Don’t want to use a bunch of statements if they can’t be used. I am trying to communicate the incidents that led up to me not letting their dad see them. Dad was being abusive.

Thanks

4

When I draft a complaint for child support that includes a claim for back support, I include a paragraph that the Plaintiff is entitled to an award of retroactive support for the period of (insert date) to the time of the filing of this complaint. I may also include a statement about Defendant’s failure to provide any financial support for the child or inadequate financial support depending on the circumstances.

You can put the children’s statements into evidence, but you must state that they aren’t for the truth of the matter asserted but to show how you reacted to the statements, i.e., your concern for the children’s safety, withholding visitation, and filing the complaint/motion which brought you into court.

5

Thank you so much Kathleen for suggesting the motion for back child support. We had an emergency Child support hearing today (because our date got moved out to March 2014 due to the death of his mother) and that went well and child custody has started. We also heard the motion for back child support. His lawyer objected but the judge allowed it. Does that mean I got back child support or we will discuss it at the hearing in March?

Thanks so MUCH!!!
Pam

6

Without being in court and hearing what exactly was ordered, I can’t advise as to whether back support was granted (and if so in what amount and how it is to be paid back) or held open for entry in March.

7

She didn’t say anything about amounts. Just said that she would allow the motion.

Thanks
Pam