what can I do.. slander?

[superdaddydrew]

My ex wife recently filed a petition against me citing past social services cases that she filed. The allegations are very bad, she accuses me of neglect and hitting the kids, specifically said I choked one of them. She calls me a drug addict, says I am financialy unstable and just outrageous things.

All the Social Services cases have found all claims unsubstantiated, one case even shows evidence of her coaching the children telling them what to tell the social workers. She owes me 5000 dollars in child support and has the nerve to allege I'm financially unstable.

I have several drug tests from employment and social services that are all clean. I do take medication because of a broken neck but only as I am supposed to.

She is making the children very angry at her and is trying to ruin my reputation, can I file a slander lawsuit against her? She repeatedly makes the same allegations and they are proven false every time, how can I stop this?

 

[CdwJava]

Anyone can file suit for most anything. Whether you have a case that you can win, and whether it will be worthwhile for you to pay an attorney to pursue the matter is up to you.

Many of these sorts of allegations are not going to be slanderous if she can articulate even a weak but reasonable belief that they are true. You should consult an attorney to see if there is any potential action. But, keep in mind that if she does not have any money or assets, it may not be worthwhile to pursue it. And, note that "unsubstantiated" does not mean the acts did not occur, only that they could not be substantiated (proven). You would have been in a better position had the investigations resulted in "unfounded" conclusions.

- Carl