I usually don't weigh in in these types of threads as I believe that unless you have been there, you don't really know what you would do. However, as a child of divorced parents, I feel compelled to weigh in about the "deal" that the mother didn't uphold so that the daughter had to remove her braces with a fork. Should her father have paid despite the deal with her mother? Absolutely - unless it would have left him destitute. Why in the world should the daughter suffer just because her parents can't amicably agree and carry through on their agreements about money. In effect, the daughter is paying for the sins of the parents. This, to me, is outrageous and my heart goes out to the daughter. To me, it is completely irrelevant that the mother didn't abide by her agreement with her ex husband - again, why should the daughter suffer? to remove braces with a fork - that is cruel and painful and shame on the father for not paying if he could afford it - and by afford it, I mean unless it stopped his other family from eating.