In Louisiana’s Cajun country, a woman is fighting in a family court after finding out her husband of 12 years is trying to get away with a major fraudulent divorce scam. According to reports, her husband used a woman to impersonate his wife in order to get his divorce decree. What are some ways to protect yourself from a fraudulent divorce scam?

Divorce Fraud Bayou

Divorce Gris Gris

Teqela Mouton is going through a mix of emotions after learning her husband, Kendrick Paul Francis, was allegedly part of a scheme to get a fraudulent divorce from her. A worse surprise was finding out her husband’s friend, LaShonda Pope, allegedly impersonated her to obtain the divorce final judgment.

“The way I’m feeling right now is insane. I really don’t know how to feel that a person could actually steal your identity and get away with it.”

Mouton now lives in Texas where she and her husband have been married for 12 years in November. They have two children together, ages 9 and 14. Mouton said for the past two years, she has been traveling back and forth to the Acadiana region of Louisiana to gather information on how she ended up getting divorced without her noticing?

“My husband did not contact me, told me anything about he wanted to divorce me and didn’t tell me that he filed for a divorce. If he wanted a divorce, I would have given it to him.”

Mouton said she never received a summons and was not present in any court proceedings for the alleged divorce.

Florida Fraudulent Divorce

I have written on fraud in divorce before. But an actual imposter posing as you to get a divorce is a fraud that is not a common occurrence. But fraud can happen. Historically in Florida, a contrived, false or fraudulent grounds for a dissolution of marriage, and then terminating a marriage through fraud on the courts, was not tolerated. This is inherent in the judicial process.

Fraud could also take the form of misrepresentations, concealments or untruths by a spouse. Courts will not indulge or reward falsehoods, and when a fraud upon the other spouse, or on the court, is proved it would be a failure of proof that the marriage was irretrievably broken for instance.

In addition, courts can relieve a party from a final judgment of dissolution of marriage for fraud (whether heretofore denominated intrinsic or extrinsic), misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party under the rules of procedure. However, the motion must be filed within a reasonable time, and not more than 1 year after the judgment unless the motion is based on fraudulent financial affidavits in marital or paternity cases.

A Fraudulent Fais Do-Do

Mouton never received the paperwork, couldn’t get actual copies of the final judgment or pleadings, and the only thing the courthouse let her do was to look at the documents in the court file. She says that the documents she reviewed had a lot of incorrect information, from spelling of names, to children’s birthdays, to wrong addresses.

Then she saw where the summons was originally sent to, LaShonda Pope’s address in Abbeville, Louisiana even though Mouton had been living in the state of Texas since 2022. She gathered the information from the courthouse, and went to an attorney.

In a voice recording shared with local news in Louisiana, the imposter told Mouton:

“You have been divorced, it’s public record. Guess what you see that ring, guess what I’m about to be married to him next. So you can get ready. I’ll get you an invitation.”

According to the state of Louisiana, Mouton and her husband Francis are still married. St. Martin Parish considers the divorce decree to be fraudulent. The police have been involved. The imposter has had an arraignment at the Vermilion Parish courthouse, and is being charged with first-degree injuring public records. She has pled not guilty.

The KLFY article is here.

False Abuse Claims

If a parent makes a false allegation against another parent to get the upper hand in court, they can badly undermine the parent-child relationship and use the court as a weapon to make the damage last longer.

How often do false claims happen? Accurate statistics are not known, but some have given estimates ranging from 2% to 35%. The wide range in the statistics can depend on several factors, including whether the child is reporting or a parent, and the audience.

Whatever the percentage of false claims, attorneys, judges, and mental health experts all know firsthand that it is a big problem in family court. Nothing can disrupt, sidetrack, or impede a case more than an allegation of abuse that eventually proves to be false.

Detecting a false allegation is critical because judges can be influenced by the accusation, even if it is not substantiated by the evidence. Sadly, a child custody decision could result in favor of the falsely accusing parent. Uncovering and exposing a false allegation is vital in making sure the offending parent is not rewarded for destructive behavior.

False allegations of abuse are often made during contentious child custody cases. One parent believes that he or she will gain leverage in the case by lodging an allegation of abuse against the other parent. More often than not, the allegation of abuse is a tactic used to alienate the child from the targeted parent. In other words, it is part of parental alienation. A number of steps can be taken by the targeted parent to beat the false allegation of abuse.

Florida False Abuse Claims

I have written on fraud in divorce and child custody cases before. False allegations of abuse can become the nuclear bomb of divorce and child custody cases, as Florida requires mandatory reporting of child abuse by judges and others.

There are protections and penalties for creating false abuse claims. For example, anyone who knowingly and willfully makes a false report, or counsels another to make a false report can be guilty of a felony.

In addition to criminal penalties, a false allegation can harm your child custody case too. When a court creates, or modifies a parenting plan, including a time-sharing schedule, the court must make the best interest of the child the primary consideration.

Determining the best interests of the child requires a judge to evaluate all of the factors affecting the welfare and interests of a child, including, but not limited to evidence that a parent has knowingly provided false information to the court regarding domestic violence, sexual violence, child abuse, child abandonment, or child neglect.

Self-Protection

As in all matters, protecting yourself requires some work. Try to collect as much documentation as possible to disprove the allegation. Typically these include emails, texts, photos and more.

Research hiring mental health experts who can address false allegations, parental alienation, and the particular facts in a case. Forensic experts are an invaluable resource to help you in court.

False allegations of abuse are considered parental alienation. The intent of the alienating parent is to disrupt a child’s relationship with the targeted parent. Alienation is at the heart of false claims.

The Psychiatric Times article is here.

Tag: alienation and fraud

Fighting A Fraudulent Divorce