HELP! Changed Divorce Documents!

[jenae567]

My ex-husband filed for divorce through Guam. (We're military, stationed in Okinawa Japan.) I signed divorce papers, agreeing that he would pay me $300 a month for 10 months. Today I was served papers that were stamped and finalized, but the papers I was served said he only has to pay me $100 a month for 10 months! Is it possible he had me sign a copy of the papers in front of the notary, and then had the papers revised and put my signed copy (for the original terms) in with the new?

Help! I'm getting screwed out of $2000! I in no way agreed to him paying me $1000 instead of $3000. And I can't really afford an attorney. What do I do??

[Ohiogal]

Originally Posted by jenae567

My ex-husband filed for divorce through Guam. (We're military, stationed in Okinawa Japan.) I signed divorce papers, agreeing that he would pay me $300 a month for 10 months. Today I was served papers that were stamped and finalized, but the papers I was served said he only has to pay me $100 a month for 10 months! Is it possible he had me sign a copy of the papers in front of the notary, and then had the papers revised and put my signed copy (for the original terms) in with the new?

Help! I'm getting screwed out of $2000! I in no way agreed to him paying me $1000 instead of $3000. And I can't really afford an attorney. What do I do??

Appeal it. Can you prove that what it was supposed to be was $300 a month -- was that stated on the record in court?

[jenae567]

All I have to show is an electronic (emailed) copy of the divorce paperwork. We went to the on-base legal office where it was notarized - FOR THE $300, not the $100. I'm afraid he took the $300 paperwork I signed off on and just took out the page I signed and had notarized, and amended the paperwork with his lawyers to have it say he only has to pay $100 - and stapled my signature to that. But I received nothing signed or notarized until I was served the finalized papers.

What strikes me as shady is that the paperwork I was served today has 2 different types of papers - one the judge stamped and signed off on (originals), and the rest - including the settlement agreement - all have the "copy machine flecks" on it, the little flecks and dots that show up from using an old or dirty copy machine. The 3 pages stamped by the judge are clean.

If he indeed swapped out papers, is this considered forgery? Can I sue him or take any legal actions? Can he be sent to jail for this?

[Ohiogal]

Originally Posted by jenae567

All I have to show is an electronic (emailed) copy of the divorce paperwork. We went to the on-base legal office where it was notarized - FOR THE $300, not the $100. I'm afraid he took the $300 paperwork I signed off on and just took out the page I signed and had notarized, and amended the paperwork with his lawyers to have it say he only has to pay $100 - and stapled my signature to that. But I received nothing signed or notarized until I was served the finalized papers.

What strikes me as shady is that the paperwork I was served today has 2 different types of papers - one the judge stamped and signed off on (originals), and the rest - including the settlement agreement - all have the "copy machine flecks" on it, the little flecks and dots that show up from using an old or dirty copy machine. The 3 pages stamped by the judge are clean.

If he indeed swapped out papers, is this considered forgery? Can I sue him or take any legal actions? Can he be sent to jail for this?

Prove it. That is your issue. You should have gone to court and made sure that what you signed was what the judge was signing.
The base legal office just notarized the papers? They didn't write them? Did you initial each page?

[mistoffolees]

Originally Posted by jenae567

All I have to show is an electronic (emailed) copy of the divorce paperwork. We went to the on-base legal office where it was notarized - FOR THE $300, not the $100. I'm afraid he took the $300 paperwork I signed off on and just took out the page I signed and had notarized, and amended the paperwork with his lawyers to have it say he only has to pay $100 - and stapled my signature to that. But I received nothing signed or notarized until I was served the finalized papers.

What strikes me as shady is that the paperwork I was served today has 2 different types of papers - one the judge stamped and signed off on (originals), and the rest - including the settlement agreement - all have the "copy machine flecks" on it, the little flecks and dots that show up from using an old or dirty copy machine. The 3 pages stamped by the judge are clean.

If he indeed swapped out papers, is this considered forgery? Can I sue him or take any legal actions? Can he be sent to jail for this?

If he swapped papers, it would be fraud, but probably not forgery, but that wouldn't really matter. It is probably also contempt of court.

It comes down to what you can prove. If you have a copy of the entire document with your signature and he changed it, then you go back to the judge with your evidence and ask for the judge to reinstate the original agreement. You'll need to do it quickly - there's usually a fairly short time limit to appeal a divorce decree.

I don't know what the cutoff is in Guam so I can't say if it's a felony or misdemeanor, but I think you're barking up the wrong tree. First, if he goes to jail, you're not going to get anything. Second, you're going to invest a lot of emotional energy and time over the matter.

Ordinarily, I would suggest hiring an attorney to file the appeal and ask the judge to force him to pay your legal expenses. However, since it's only $2,000 at stake, you have to decide how much time and money you want to invest. You have to balance that against the fact that you probably have to appear in Guam to file the appeal. Paying an attorney may be less expensive.

OR, you could go to your JAG office with all your documents and ask for their help.

OR, you could present him with the information and tell him that you're going to the JAG office if he doesn't give you the extra $2,000. Since he's likely to lose his career if you turn him in to JAG, he may comply just to stay out of trouble.

[jenae567]

I took a look at the document file the ex-husband had forwarded me a few months ago that had the divorce paperwork. It is a WRITEABLE Microsoft Word file - meaning that he could have gone in and changed the terms himself! Maybe instead of having his attorney change the settlement agreement, he took my notarized signature and then changed the wording himself later, and then printed out his "new" version and stuck my signature to it!

Unfortunately as this was done in Guam where only 1 person is required to have "residency" there (7 day stay to meet minimum requirements), he filed all the papers himself. Neither of us appeared in court as it was an "uncontested" divorce. Had I known he had changed the paperwork, of course I would have contested it. Now it looks like all I can do is appeal (can I do that in an uncontested divorce? Some of the paperwork says I waive my right.) or go to the military side of things and have him investigated through OSI, the Inspector General, or the Pentagon via my congressman. I won't get any money out of him this way most likely, but with all of the trouble this jerk has caused me and my family, I'll be just as satisfied to see him ruined.