Owelty???

[Starwarsfan]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas

Hi,
I am legally disabled and terminally ill. My divorce decree mandates that I pay my ex-spouse $100 per month for 5-years or until a total sum of $6000 is paid. The presiding Judge also allowed her counsel an "Owelty" lien against my homesteaded house and adjoining property. The house and property were in my name before, during and after marriage. Due to my lack of finances, other than social security disability, I was unable to afford paid counsel so I was forced to start the divorce proceedings "Pro Se" but learned that I could make motion to the court to appoint counsel with my submission of an "Inability to Pay" affidavit. I did this immediately and the court appointed counsel. Great! Or was it? Do any of you have experience or knowledge of Owelty, Disability and Homested. Did I get a fair shake or was I done wrongly by the court.

 

[Ohiogal]

If that is all the information you can provide, no one can tell you. What assets existed. What property was she awarded in the house? How long were you married? How much equity was in the house before the marriage and at the end of the marriage? Was there an outstanding mortgage on the house? How much does your ex earn? Was the $100 a month a property settlement?

 

[LdiJ]

In addition to what OG said, is the lien for the 6000.00 you owe her until its paid off, or is the lien for what was stated to be her share of the equity in the home?

 

[Starwarsfan]

Thank you both for your responses and I apologize for my brevity in the original post. The divorce was very convoluted and twisted with false accusations, restraining orders, falsely claimed violations of said orders, etc. The marriage lasted only sixteen months and there are no children of the marriage. There were no assets other than the house, property and individual personal effects. There is no real equity in the house due to a repressed market in the small, east Texas County where I reside although there is a small mortgage of $21k. The ex was also awarded several of the large household appliances despite the fact that they existed in the home prior to marriage. She was supposed to have picked these up "On or Before" January 15, 2009 and she has made no effort to do so. There was also a sizable amount of credit card card debt (60K+)which she opened in my name without my consent or knowledge while I was hospitalized from June 2004 to April 2005. The judge wanted nothing to do with the division of debt. Lastly, the Owelty Lien is for the sum of $6000 and nothing more. I can prepay if I had the means thereby eliminating the lien.

Since this divorce was final in November 2008 I have lost my opportunity to appeal but I now want some in sight to whether I might lessen this monthly burden by making a "motion to amend" on the $100 per month or $6000.

As I am sure you are all aware, it is quite difficult for us layman to explain the finer details of a failed relationship without some sort of emotion.

I applaud you for your efforts...

Happy Holidays

 

[ecmst12]

I can't imagine an order to pay support for almost 5x longer then the marriage actually lasted was fair in any objective sense.

 

[LdiJ]

I can't imagine an order to pay support for almost 5x longer then the marriage actually lasted was fair in any objective sense.

I think its a property settlement rather than any kind of spousal support or alimony. I think that is why the judge allowed a lien to be placed against his home, because of concern that he would not or could not pay.

What I don't understand is why the debt wasn't addressed.

Starwarsfan, what are you doing about the debt?

 

[Ohiogal]

I think its a property settlement rather than any kind of spousal support or alimony. I think that is why the judge allowed a lien to be placed against his home, because of concern that he would not or could not pay.

What I don't understand is why the debt wasn't addressed.

Starwarsfan, what are you doing about the debt?

The date was premarital in his name. If he did not file charges against her it matters not> OH and then he married her AFTER she allegedly opened the accounts in his name and ran up the debt. I can understand why it was not addressed.

I agree about the lien however.

 

[LdiJ]

The date was premarital in his name. If he did not file charges against her it matters not> OH and then he married her AFTER she allegedly opened the accounts in his name and ran up the debt. I can understand why it was not addressed.

I agree about the lien however.

I missed that the dates would indicate that it was premarital. However, he didn't say exactly when he got divorced. However, logically it would seem to be fairly recent, otherwise he would almost be done paying her.

 

[Starwarsfan]

Thank you all for your input.

The credit card debt has been abandoned despite my original attempts to make far less than minimum payments on it. My credit score plummeted. After speaking with a bankruptcy firm I was advised to not endure the cost of filing bankruptcy and simply wait out the creditors to write it off. This upset me morally but what else could I do? My home is protected under the Homestead laws so the creditors cannot touch it.

 

[Ohiogal]

I missed that the dates would indicate that it was premarital. However, he didn't say exactly when he got divorced. However, logically it would seem to be fairly recent, otherwise he would almost be done paying her.

He said this in the midst of all his words:

The marriage lasted only sixteen months and there are no children of the marriage.

and

Since this divorce was final in November 2008

So they were married from July 2007 to November 2008 approximately.

The debt was June 2004 through April 2005 or thereabouts. he had no qualms about her doing this as he then MARRIED HER after debt was rung up. Now he is just not going to pay it and somehow-- though upset about it -- sees nothing wrong with his credibility or integrity.

 

[Starwarsfan]

It does hurt my own personal integrity immensely but given my medical condition and existing conditions there is nothing I can do but to answer to the big guy upstairs when I arrive there.

It is very difficult to put your personal life on public display for all to read. This is vastly different than sitting in a private counselors office divulging information about personal and spousal indiscretions during a divorce.

There are certainly a lot of deep thinkers here and kudos to you for your efforts but as of this writing I will consider this matter closed under file heading "Beating A Dead Horse"

Happy Holidays and Thank you all so much!