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pets and community property

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J

jilly knight

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? texas

Divorce is in texas and i moved to washington 9 mths ago. In 2003, for christmas, my aunt gave me 50.00 dollars to go and buy 2 dogs for me as a christmas gift. The gift was fo rme only and i adopted 2 puppies and put them in my name only on the adoption papers. When i moved in oct, 2004, the dogs came with me and had been seperated for 5 mths and my spouse did not take my dogs with him, of course. Now i have lived in washington state for almost 9 mths with my dogs and they r now 21 mths old , almost.
We had nothing else to argue over but now i found out he wants 1 or both dogs in texas. He hasnt even seen them since oct of 2004 because they r with me. His lawyer says because my aunt handed me the money and then i purchased dogs they r community property. Is this true and can i lose them? I have sent the court in texas several letters and copy of adoption papers only in my name. My aunt sent a letter and notorized she gave me the money to buy the puppies and they were a gift. The court date is july 5 2005 and i cant afford to go. I notified the court i can not afford to fly in and sent letters on my dogs? Please tell me what may happen and if i could lose them. What happens if i put them in some one elses name in washington? They r my babies and brother and sister and would die if seperated from me or each other.

Sincerly, Jilly
 


LdiJ

LdiJ

Senior Member
jilly knight said:
What is the name of your state? texas

Divorce is in texas and i moved to washington 9 mths ago. In 2003, for christmas, my aunt gave me 50.00 dollars to go and buy 2 dogs for me as a christmas gift. The gift was fo rme only and i adopted 2 puppies and put them in my name only on the adoption papers. When i moved in oct, 2004, the dogs came with me and had been seperated for 5 mths and my spouse did not take my dogs with him, of course. Now i have lived in washington state for almost 9 mths with my dogs and they r now 21 mths old , almost.
We had nothing else to argue over but now i found out he wants 1 or both dogs in texas. He hasnt even seen them since oct of 2004 because they r with me. His lawyer says because my aunt handed me the money and then i purchased dogs they r community property. Is this true and can i lose them? I have sent the court in texas several letters and copy of adoption papers only in my name. My aunt sent a letter and notorized she gave me the money to buy the puppies and they were a gift. The court date is july 5 2005 and i cant afford to go. I notified the court i can not afford to fly in and sent letters on my dogs? Please tell me what may happen and if i could lose them. What happens if i put them in some one elses name in washington? They r my babies and brother and sister and would die if seperated from me or each other.

Sincerly, Jilly
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I can't believe that this is even going to court. Pets are property. The maximum a judge can do is order you to give him half of the value of the dogs....which is 25.00....sigh.

Heck...if a judge was actually wierd enough to order that he gets the dogs...and you refuse to obey the order, the worst that can happen is that a judgement can be placed against you for the value of the dogs.

This is truly ridiculous.
 
LdiJ

LdiJ

Senior Member
jilly knight said:
Lol, the dogs only cost 10.83 each and th rest i used for collars and food. This is the final divorce hearing and they did a publication in paper for dogs...because at the time he didnt have my address when i moved to washington. The divorce papers filed i recieved were just a standard divorce paper and nothing about dogs. On the final hearing<soon> i guess that is what he is asking to get them from the court. I know this all sounds nuts and i agree, but i was concerned what happens if i dont give them to him if court orders it. Or if he shows up at my door with papers to turn them over. SO basically you are saying nothing to worry about and the judge will only order payment, but not the dogs to him? I thought a gift was seperate property, like inheritance. His lawyer was most rude today when I called him after recieving a letter to do so and then said" he just wants the dogs" and see u in court and hung up on me. I thought" all this over pets that were bought for me?". I pray you are right and i have nothing to worry about, but a judgement. The lawyer acted so different.....maybe scare tactic.

Are you a lawyer??????

thanks alot :)

thanks :)
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No I am not an attorney, just an educated layperson. Yes, you are correct that gifts are normally separate property. I honestly can't believe that this one is going to go anywhere. However, if you can't afford to be there for court, I would recommend that you attempt to get permission to appear telephonically.
 
J

jilly knight

Junior Member
Dear L

I requested a telephone conference and they said the court doesnt do it in collin county, i wrote a letter. But i sent the court a letter i couldnt come and all the info on my dogs. He was only with my dogs for 5 mths and i have had them alone a total of 14 mths. ok let me ask you this too. Someone will put them in their name here in wahsington if need be....lol...how can he prove they r his.....DNA? lol
 
LdiJ

LdiJ

Senior Member
jilly knight said:
I requested a telephone conference and they said the court doesnt do it in collin county, i wrote a letter. But i sent the court a letter i couldnt come and all the info on my dogs. He was only with my dogs for 5 mths and i have had them alone a total of 14 mths. ok let me ask you this too. Someone will put them in their name here in wahsington if need be....lol...how can he prove they r his.....DNA? lol
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Again, because they are property rather than children....the end result to you would be financial. This whole thing is absurd. Yes, you certainly could "sell" them to someone else for fair market value, and there wouldn't be a thing that he could do.
 
J

jilly knight

Junior Member
to L

ok so i could put them in a friends name even after the final hearing if they ordered him to have them and i couldnt get into trouble for losing or selling poperty?? My thoughts were...if this had to happen....basically couldnt prove they were my dogs..and if he came here to get one or both<which he would for spite> then id show vet papers they were in someone elses name and not my dogs. I KNOW this is all weird...but courts ruling can be be weird..im like u i hope its just property and so be it. I wasnt sure if u could sell or give property away during or after the divorce? Oh i will let u know whats ruled when i found out and get papers....im curious as well. Yeah, even if lawyer said they were community property....but lets see if the judge rules a gift...or the other.

Thanks L
 
P

pty

Member
jilly knight said:
if he came here to get one or both<which he would for spite>
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I don't have any answers for you on this, but most likely he just wants to hurt you and sees this as a way of doing it (in the first post you referred to these dogs as your 'babies'). You must have really p*ssed him off :)
 
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V

VeronicaGia

Senior Member
You need to find a way to get to court on July 5! Otherwise, whatever he asks for he will win by default. And since you didn't bother to show up for court, appealing a default ruling is next to impossible.

Hire an attorney to represent you or get there yourself. Don't be foolish.
 
J

jilly knight

Junior Member
dear A

I live in Washington now and divorce is in texas and i cant afford an attorney or to fly there. I have written letters to the judge and explained why i left DALLAS and he was abusive and a alcoholic and i wouldnt be in court because of all the above. My aunt sent a notorized letter she gave me money to buy the dogs as a christmas present and they were a gift, only to me. These are property of mine and they r not children. I agve him the truck and income tax return and when he left he left the dogs and they have been with me, alone, for 14 mths. I will do whatever it takes to keep my 2 dogs. I am not foolish, but a woman trying to start over and not everyone can afford out rageous attorney prices. I have kept in close contact with the court and done ALL i can to plead my case. So i guess we shall see what happens and again they r not children, but property as i have been told several times. And that a gift is seperate property and when i adopted these dogs they were put only in my name. Is it true they would order a judgement on them or what could happen?????

thanks,
Jill
 
J

jilly knight

Junior Member
Dear P

yes i made him mad because i got the guts to leave him after 15 years of an abusive alcholic marriage. And he thought it would never happen and i packe dup and left the state without his help or knowledge and i explained all this to the court and he was recently" busted" for pot and i also told the court this. I was never into all that mess and finally got the balls and finances to run away quickly. I am 46 yrs old and not a child, but took along time to plan it all. So the only way he can hurt me is thru my dogs. When he left he took what he wanted and my dogs stayed with me and then i left 5 mths later to another state. So he had ample time to try and get my dogs and he didnt and waited till i left to file for diovrce. Like i said the papers were a standard divorce, no kids. Asking for nothing and nothing in the papers. So i wrote the court a few letters explaining all.....and i couldnt afford to be there. People make it sound so easy to say....hire an attorney....fly back to dallas...well its not always possible.

Thanks again
 
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LdiJ

LdiJ

Senior Member
jilly knight said:
yes i made him mad because i got the guts to leave him after 15 years of an abusive alcholic marriage. And he thought it would never happen and i packe dup and left the state without his help or knowledge and i explained all this to the court and he was recently" busted" for pot and i also told the court this. I was never into all that mess and finally got the balls and finances to run away quickly. I am 46 yrs old and not a child, but took along time to plan it all. So the only way he can hurt me is thru my dogs. When he left he took what he wanted and my dogs stayed with me and then i left 5 mths later to another state. So he had ample time to try and get my dogs and he didnt and waited till i left to file for diovrce. Like i said the papers were a standard divorce, no kids. Asking for nothing and nothing in the papers. So i wrote the court a few letters explaining all.....and i couldnt afford to be there. People make it sound so easy to say....hire an attorney....fly back to dallas...well its not always possible.

Thanks again
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Contact the courts and at least TRY to get permission to attend the hearing telephonically.
 
1

1mrtym

Member
This is really dumb. People on here have everything on the line sometimes. Losing their children, homes, everything! And you are on here about 2 dogs. I would be thinking real seriously about getting a life.
 
T

TatumEstes

Member
Obviously you don't have pets

1mrtym said:
This is really dumb. People on here have everything on the line sometimes. Losing their children, homes, everything! And you are on here about 2 dogs. I would be thinking real seriously about getting a life.
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You're a jerk. This is a fair legal question because she's really being called to court over it. People who have pets love them like parents love their kids. If this was such a joke, this many people wouldn't have responded to it. I would be thinking real seriously about getting a heart.
 
1

1mrtym

Member
There are MANY more important issues to deal with in a divorce than a couple of DOGS. Life goes on. We all have to deal with it. Heartless? I don't think so. Realist, YES.
 
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