To late for judgement?

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

My divorce has been final for 3 years (this coming July 2009). In the divorce decree I was awarded equity in the homestead, payments to be made to me monthly, and to be paid in full a year from which the divorce was final. Fast forward, the house went to forclosure and I haven't received anything. Is it too late to ask for a judgement? (He had to be out of the house 11/2008)

Dreamdoll said:

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

My divorce has been final for 3 years (this coming July 2009). In the divorce decree I was awarded equity in the homestead, payments to be made to me monthly, and to be paid in full a year from which the divorce was final. Fast forward, the house went to forclosure and I haven't received anything. Is it too late to ask for a judgement? (He had to be out of the house 11/2008)

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You can ask for him to be held in contempt, but it may not be worth the trouble.

You were awarded the equity in the home. If the house is going into foreclosure, there probably isn't any equity.

You can sue to recover any payments which were to have been made to you but weren't paid, though.

Okay. Does it matter that in the divorce decree there was a specific amount stated? (my attorney showed in the divorcee decree how the amount was "calculated" as well.

Thank you..

Dreamdoll said:

Okay. Does it matter that in the divorce decree there was a specific amount stated? (my attorney showed in the divorcee decree how the amount was "calculated" as well.

Thank you..

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Then it can be enforced. You were not granted equity per se but rather an amount that was a portion of the equity.

Ohiogal said:

Then it can be enforced. You were not granted equity per se but rather an amount that was a portion of the equity.

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OP will have to provide the exact wording to be sure. Without knowing the specifics, it's hard to give good advice. If it is as simple as "person A must pay person B $xxxx", then it should be easy to go to court to have in enforced. I'm guessing the wording is not quite that simple.

The calculation of the amount (kinda long) is pretty self explanatory including an interest at the rate of 5% per annum commencing upon entry of the Judgement and Decree herein...

I think this is where my problem would come in:

The Petitoner's marital lien shall be satisfied and paid in full not later than twelve (12) months following entry of the Judgement and Decree herein. Any and all payments made by the Respondent to the Petitioner shall be specifically marked and designated as payment on Petitioner's marital lien, with both parties keeping appropriate record and documentation relative to the same. However, in the event the mortgage payments on the homestead presently due and owing to (our mortgage company) become more than three (3) months in arrears and/or the Respondent fails or refuses to timely satisfy the Petitioner's marital lien, the homestead of the parties shall be immediately placed on the market for sale without the need for further Court Order with the full cooperation of the Respondent, and the Petitioner's marital lien shall be satisfied out of the proceeds therefrom. Immediately upon full satisfaction of the marital lien created herein, Petitioner shall execute and deliver to Respondent a Satisfaction of Lien.

Here lies my problem....I didn't even know the house was being forclosed.

Is there anything I can do?

Dreamdoll said:

The calculation of the amount (kinda long) is pretty self explanatory including an interest at the rate of 5% per annum commencing upon entry of the Judgement and Decree herein...

I think this is where my problem would come in:

The Petitoner's marital lien shall be satisfied and paid in full not later than twelve (12) months following entry of the Judgement and Decree herein. Any and all payments made by the Respondent to the Petitioner shall be specifically marked and designated as payment on Petitioner's marital lien, with both parties keeping appropriate record and documentation relative to the same. However, in the event the mortgage payments on the homestead presently due and owing to (our mortgage company) become more than three (3) months in arrears and/or the Respondent fails or refuses to timely satisfy the Petitioner's marital lien, the homestead of the parties shall be immediately placed on the market for sale without the need for further Court Order with the full cooperation of the Respondent, and the Petitioner's marital lien shall be satisfied out of the proceeds therefrom. Immediately upon full satisfaction of the marital lien created herein, Petitioner shall execute and deliver to Respondent a Satisfaction of Lien.

Here lies my problem....I didn't even know the house was being forclosed.

Is there anything I can do?

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Ohiogal can confirm, but I don't see any real problems there for you. Your ex owes you the lien and I don't see anything that allows them off the hook if the home value drops (check the section where the marital lien is defined to be sure).

So, your ex owes you the money defined in the agreement. You can go back to court to have him held in contempt.

Two issues though:

1. It's too late now, but you could have ordered the house sold as soon as he fell 3 months behind on your marital lien. Not a big deal, but you might have gotten resolution sooner.

2. Is your name on the mortgage? If so, your credit rating is going to suffer when the house is foreclosed. In principle, you can sue him for damage to your credit rating, but it's probably so hard and expensive to quantify that it's probably not worth the bother (unless you have an occupation where you can lose your job for bad credit). If your name is on the mortgage, go to the bank and present everything to them. You're not going to get off the hook, but they may be 'gentler' with what they report to the credit agency. For example, if the home sale price is just a little shy of what's owed, they may not bother reporting the short sale - it all depends on how nice they want to be, so it's worth talking with them. Also, do whatever you can to prepare yourself for the likelihood that you will have a hard time getting credit any time soon.

You’ve already been granted your judgment. Unless Minnesota’s rules greatly differ from most it is NOT up to the court that issued the judgment to enforce it!

Nor, as also suggested, is it an issue susceptible to a motion in re contempt.

Had the monthly payments been designated as alimony, perhaps yes. The court would retain jurisdiction to enforce its alimony order. But those payments clearly represent your distribution of a marital asset. The court would not retain jurisdiction to enforce that division. At least not in this state.

You will need to consult with a local attorney. But for what it is worth, in my state the post judgment process would require you to submit to the clerk of the court your affidavit calculating the amount owed under the judgment and decree and request the issuance of a Writ of Execution in that amount.

Talk to the attorney that represented you in the divorce case. He or she is the person that allowed that real property to be set over to the ex leaving you but a promise to pay.

Sax