Put in jail and forced to pay alimony I did not owe and had already paid

[radman44]

Background. I went through a very nasty divorce that just keeps giving. It was finalized in 2012. My ex-wife and her attorney have habit of finding out when I am working out of town and then mailing motions to my house notifying me of a court date. The problem is that I have not received a couple on time and was put in jail November 2012 for contempt. I had to pay $30,350 to get out. That brings me to my question. I never received any document itemizing what that was for. I got a vague email explanation from her attorney stating it was for back alimony for the months of Feb to May 2012 plus attorney fees. He then sent a second email stating it was for more attorney fees and less alimony. He and my ex-wife apparently told the judge in August 2012 that I owed the $30,350. The problem is that I determine how they came up with that amount and cannot get an explanation from her or her attorney. Here is the kicker. I paid the back alimony for Feb to May 2012 in May of 2012. I have the cleared check. This was months before the motion for contempt was filed in Aug 2012 saying I owed the $30,350. I was jailed and forced to pay the $30,350 in November. Obviously someone, my ex-wife and/or her attorney lied in court because I did not own the money. Basically I was put in jail and forced to pay the $30,350 when I did not owe it. How do I handle this? Isn't this perjury by her and unprofessional conduct by the attorney? What about this being a criminal act? How can I get an itemization of what the $30,350 consists of?

 

[LdiJ]

Background. I went through a very nasty divorce that just keeps giving. It was finalized in 2012. My ex-wife and her attorney have habit of finding out when I am working out of town and then mailing motions to my house notifying me of a court date. The problem is that I have not received a couple on time and was put in jail November 2012 for contempt. I had to pay $30,350 to get out. That brings me to my question. I never received any document itemizing what that was for. I got a vague email explanation from her attorney stating it was for back alimony for the months of Feb to May 2012 plus attorney fees. He then sent a second email stating it was for more attorney fees and less alimony. He and my ex-wife apparently told the judge in August 2012 that I owed the $30,350. The problem is that I determine how they came up with that amount and cannot get an explanation from her or her attorney. Here is the kicker. I paid the back alimony for Feb to May 2012 in May of 2012. I have the cleared check. This was months before the motion for contempt was filed in Aug 2012 saying I owed the $30,350. I was jailed and forced to pay the $30,350 in November. Obviously someone, my ex-wife and/or her attorney lied in court because I did not own the money. Basically I was put in jail and forced to pay the $30,350 when I did not owe it. How do I handle this? Isn't this perjury by her and unprofessional conduct by the attorney? What about this being a criminal act? How can I get an itemization of what the $30,350 consists of?

Obviously you need an attorney. If you had 30350.00 available to pay a purge, then you clearly need an attorney.

 

[latigo]

Background. I went through a very nasty divorce that just keeps giving. It was finalized in 2012. My ex-wife and her attorney have habit of finding out when I am working out of town and then mailing motions to my house notifying me of a court date. The problem is that I have not received a couple on time and was put in jail November 2012 for contempt. I had to pay $30,350 to get out. That brings me to my question. I never received any document itemizing what that was for. I got a vague email explanation from her attorney stating it was for back alimony for the months of Feb to May 2012 plus attorney fees. He then sent a second email stating it was for more attorney fees and less alimony. He and my ex-wife apparently told the judge in August 2012 that I owed the $30,350. The problem is that I determine how they came up with that amount and cannot get an explanation from her or her attorney. Here is the kicker. I paid the back alimony for Feb to May 2012 in May of 2012. I have the cleared check. This was months before the motion for contempt was filed in Aug 2012 saying I owed the $30,350. I was jailed and forced to pay the $30,350 in November. Obviously someone, my ex-wife and/or her attorney lied in court because I did not own the money. Basically I was put in jail and forced to pay the $30,350 when I did not owe it. How do I handle this? Isn't this perjury by her and unprofessional conduct by the attorney? What about this being a criminal act? How can I get an itemization of what the $30,350 consists of?

It doesn’t appear that you are penniless so why haven’t you addressed these issues with your attorney? An attorney that can, among other things, make a formal court appearance on your behalf to thus avoid notices of future proceedings being served upon you by mailing them to your residence.

Obviously if the woman lied under oath with respect to the non-payment then she committed felony perjury.

Also, if her attorney prosecuted the contempt citation knowing that her claims were false or failed to take reasonable steps to ascertain their veracity, including, I would think, a letter of demand upon you so that you could produce proof of payment – then he or she might suffer Rule 11 court sanctions.

As far as the “itemization” of the $30K it should be contained in the court order. And if not, a transcript of the court testimony.

You ask, “how do I handle this? My question is, what have you been doing about “handling” it up to now? We’re are looking at nine months since the contempt order!

Let us here back after you have (belatedly) spoken with your attorney. If what you say is provable, you indeed have legal recourse. Including perhaps, a claim for restitutuion plus punitive damages. But it is not something you should attempt pro se.

Good luck

 

[Bali Hai]

Background. I went through a very nasty divorce that just keeps giving. It was finalized in 2012. My ex-wife and her attorney have habit of finding out when I am working out of town and then mailing motions to my house notifying me of a court date. The problem is that I have not received a couple on time and was put in jail November 2012 for contempt. I had to pay $30,350 to get out. That brings me to my question. I never received any document itemizing what that was for. I got a vague email explanation from her attorney stating it was for back alimony for the months of Feb to May 2012 plus attorney fees. He then sent a second email stating it was for more attorney fees and less alimony. He and my ex-wife apparently told the judge in August 2012 that I owed the $30,350. The problem is that I determine how they came up with that amount and cannot get an explanation from her or her attorney. Here is the kicker. I paid the back alimony for Feb to May 2012 in May of 2012. I have the cleared check. This was months before the motion for contempt was filed in Aug 2012 saying I owed the $30,350. I was jailed and forced to pay the $30,350 in November. Obviously someone, my ex-wife and/or her attorney lied in court because I did not own the money. Basically I was put in jail and forced to pay the $30,350 when I did not owe it. How do I handle this? Isn't this perjury by her and unprofessional conduct by the attorney? What about this being a criminal act? How can I get an itemization of what the $30,350 consists of?

Lawyers and courts deal with the law, they are not good at math.

 

[radman44]

It doesn’t appear that you are penniless so why haven’t you addressed these issues with your attorney? An attorney that can, among other things, make a formal court appearance on your behalf to thus avoid notices of future proceedings being served upon you by mailing them to your residence.

Obviously if the woman lied under oath with respect to the non-payment then she committed felony perjury.

Also, if her attorney prosecuted the contempt citation knowing that her claims were false or failed to take reasonable steps to ascertain their veracity, including, I would think, a letter of demand upon you so that you could produce proof of payment – then he or she might suffer Rule 11 court sanctions.

As far as the “itemization” of the $30K it should be contained in the court order. And if not, a transcript of the court testimony.

You ask, “how do I handle this? My question is, what have you been doing about “handling” it up to now? We’re are looking at nine months since the contempt order!

Let us here back after you have (belatedly) spoken with your attorney. If what you say is provable, you indeed have legal recourse. Including perhaps, a claim for restitutuion plus punitive damages. But it is not something you should attempt pro se.


Thank you for the response. There are a few more compounding details regarding my attorney, or lack of one. I have had two attorneys and both were absolutely worthless. Every time we went to court it was amateur hour and my ex-wife's attorney made them look totally incompetent. I was doing most of the work and research for them. Many times I was on the witness stand and had to help them find documents. It was embarrassing. I finally got tired of wasting my money. I live in a small town and there are no lawyers locally capable of handling my case. Its complicated. I have spoken with attorneys in three larger cities near me but I get the same response from all. They do not mind the drive or my case but refuse to work in this county because they all say the family court system is corrupt. I will continue to look for a good attorney but so far no luck.

I have the court documents and there is no itemization of the $30,350 in any document. It just lists the amount. There are no transcripts. No court reporter is ever there. I asked my ex-wife and her attorney and neither will even answer so I know something is up. Until I find an attorney can I write the court a letter asking for the itemization or is that improper?

 

[single317dad]

You need to check your tin foil hat; I think it's sprung a leak.

I hear a lot of these conspiracy theories, about incompetent judges, corrupt court systems, and defense and prosecutors who work together to put the screws to you, the little guy. Usually, what the accuser means is that they lost their court case, so someone must have been paid off.

Get a new lawyer. Any one who is licensed to practice in your jurisdiction will do nicely. If you think there has been a mistake in the application of the law, then appeal the ruling. If you just want clarification, then file for it. If you're routinely unavailable to retrieve your mail, then hire an agent to do it for you. If you had an attorney, they would be receiving the motions as well. While you may have been treated unfairly at some point in these proceedings, I get the feeling you've brought quite a bit of this on yourself. You don't just get thrown in jail as soon as someone says you owe them money; there's a process for that, and you missed every single step of it if you were somehow surprised by the end result.

 

[radman44]

You need to check your tin foil hat; I think it's sprung a leak.

I hear a lot of these conspiracy theories, about incompetent judges, corrupt court systems, and defense and prosecutors who work together to put the screws to you, the little guy. Usually, what the accuser means is that they lost their court case, so someone must have been paid off.

Get a new lawyer. Any one who is licensed to practice in your jurisdiction will do nicely. If you think there has been a mistake in the application of the law, then appeal the ruling. If you just want clarification, then file for it. If you're routinely unavailable to retrieve your mail, then hire an agent to do it for you. If you had an attorney, they would be receiving the motions as well. While you may have been treated unfairly at some point in these proceedings, I get the feeling you've brought quite a bit of this on yourself. You don't just get thrown in jail as soon as someone says you owe them money; there's a process for that, and you missed every single step of it if you were somehow surprised by the end result.

I don't need some stupid response to my post. Never mentioned the word conspiracy. I mentioned that my ex-wife lied. Wow. That would be a first. If you offer no educated response maybe you should stay off this post. If you had actually read my previous post you would understand that I have tried to hire a competent attorney locally. Obviously this forum is not the place for good answers if the moderators allow this nonsense.

 

[single317dad]

I don't need some stupid response to my post. Never mentioned the word conspiracy. I mentioned that my ex-wife lied. Wow. That would be a first. If you offer no educated response maybe you should stay off this post. If you had actually read my previous post you would understand that I have tried to hire a competent attorney locally. Obviously this forum is not the place for good answers if the moderators allow this nonsense.

I did read your post. It's just like a thousand others, claiming the entire local court system is one big boys' club and there's no way you can get a fair shake. So, if I humor you and concede, for the sake of argument, that EVERY local attorney EXCEPT the one your ex-wife has hired is completely incompetent, then my advice still stands:

Get a new lawyer. Any one who is licensed to practice in your jurisdiction will do nicely. If you think there has been a mistake in the application of the law, then appeal the ruling. If you just want clarification, then file for it. If you're routinely unavailable to retrieve your mail, then hire an agent to do it for you. If you had an attorney, they would be receiving the motions as well. While you may have been treated unfairly at some point in these proceedings, I get the feeling you've brought quite a bit of this on yourself. You don't just get thrown in jail as soon as someone says you owe them money; there's a process for that, and you missed every single step of it if you were somehow surprised by the end result.

Your attorney does not have to live in your town; it can be anyone licensed to practice there. Since you never answered the critical first question that the forum asks you when you start your new post, then we do not know what state that is.

The response you received was legally accurate. I have a feeling your attitude is hampering you more in finding an attorney to represent you than the "corrupt family law system" is.