Bizzare child custody question

[donfos]

My step son (M) and his girlfriend (E) are having a problem with her ex husband in Alberta Canada. The situation seems bizarre and I am looking for advice on how to advise them.

E left her husband as a result of ongoing physical and mental abuse to herself and her 3 children (daughter aged 13 and 2 sons aged 9 & 7). The daughter has had emotional problems for some time (suffers from bipolar disorder).

The ex husband is a very clever and manipulative person and seems to have an incredible ability to convince people to believe his lies. He has openly admitted to E that he will stop at nothing to see her totally destroyed. She has already been bankrupted as a result of the divorce and he is now trying to make sure that she loses the children as well. He seems to have brainwashed the daughter and has managed to turn against E completely. He has her convinced that he was faultless and that E only made up everything about him. He has also coached her to say that the real abuser was M and that M still abuses E and the two sons. M did not even know E at the time this was all going on. The ex even went so far as to get someone to impersonate a police officer while the sons were visiting to tell them that M was a criminal and had been wanted by the police for some time.

All this is total fantasy and manipulation . M works in a profession where he has to provide police clearances and can prove he has no police record of any kind. The ex also reported M & E to social services to say they were abusing the two boys. Social services interviewed the boys and M & E and dismissed the case and told them that this was an obvious case of the husband trying to abuse the system for custody reasons. Unfortunately he has with the aid of the brainwashed daughter managed to convince Es family that he is blameless and that E has mental problems and M is an abuser. He is trying to use the families support and the legal system to get full custody of all the children.

What is the best option for E in a situation like this? The odds, no matter how bizarre seem to be stacked against her. The allegations are totally false but with family members supporting the ex she is concerned that the courts will err on the side of caution (no smoke without fire etc.). What would be her best course of action in a situation like this?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Carefully document and collect and all evidence and witnesses etc. that can help. It pays to steadily and persistently refute those kinds of false allegations, accusations.

Of course a good lawyer would help as well if possible at some point.

[The ex even went so far as to get someone to impersonate a police officer ]


That for example is a crime if true!