My Ex is Asking that I Make Untrue Statements about our Custody Agreement to Gain more Welfare Benefits, What Should I do?


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“My ex-husband and I have joint custody of our children per our divorce decree, with me as the primary physical custodian of the children. My ex-husband receives disability benefits, including food stamps. He is about to be recertified for his food stamps, and wants a letter from me stating that he has the kids with him at least 50% of the time, so that he can obtain more food stamp money and more in the way of assistance benefits. While I don’t wish to stand in the way of him receiving his benefits, I am unwilling to make such statements when they are not true, and I am afraid I would be opening myself up to potential fraudulent activity. Am I over-reacting to this, or are these warning sirens in my head going off for a good reason?”

Question: In this instance, you are right to heed the warning sirens in your head. Unless you actually do have a true 50/50 timeshare in practice, I caution against swearing out the suggested statement to allow your ex to get more government benefits. Welfare fraud is bad. Period.