Hi
The settlement agreement says I will pay 1/2 of the 2nd mortgage.
It also says she has 2 years to refi or sell the house.
She only refi's the 1st mortgage and not the 2nd mortgage.
After 2 years I stopped sending her money.
She finally sells the house 6 years after the divorce. She says I owe her money.
Thanks
The thing you have to keep in mind is that in a divorce decree, you have to do exactly what the decree says. You have no right to ignore your responsibilities just because the other person ignored theirs.
So, your ex was in contempt for not refinancing. However, she eventually did so, so it comes down to what your damages were. Since you stopped sending her money, you did not spend excess money. Did you receive the share of the home proceeds that were dictated by the decree?
Looks like you were both in contempt. Depending on whether you received the money you were supposed to receive according to the decree, you may or may not have damages. OTOH, if you were ordered to pay 1/2 of the mortgage until refinanced, then she can easily claim damages from you.
Compounding it all, there's the question of why neither of you took action 4 years ago. While the statue of limitations is different for family matters, a judge is not likely to be too concerned if neither of you cared enough to do anything 4 years ago.
Basically, this is a case where your cost will probably exceed the benefit if you go to court. Again, I'd suggest that you hire a neutral financial expert to figure the damages due to either party based on the decree and settle it.
