Fraudulent divorce decree? Please help me.

[Shoilski]

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

I got divorced in 1989. The divorce decree stated an amount of 5000 dollars was to be paid to my wife upon my future retirement. I retired 18 months ago and instead of allowing me to pay the sum directly to her, she filed for the amount to be garnished from my retirement pension. That was last November when the garnishment began and is still happening to the tune of $22,500. She informed me that the courthouse "didn't like the wording" and said it was "outdated," so it was redrawn and enforced. How is this this not an error or fraudulent filing? Do I not have to sign a new or modified divorce decree? I have not seen it nor signed anything. I was told that along with the original "agreed sum" of 5000, an amount of interest starting in 1989 until present was also applied to the total sum to be garnished. Please tell me this is not legally allowed to occur?

 

[Proserpina]

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

I got divorced in 1989. The divorce decree stated an amount of 5000 dollars was to be paid to my wife upon my future retirement. I retired 18 months ago and instead of allowing me to pay the sum directly to her, she filed for the amount to be garnished from my retirement pension. That was last November when the garnishment began and is still happening to the tune of $22,500. She informed me that the courthouse "didn't like the wording" and said it was "outdated," so it was redrawn and enforced. How is this this not an error or fraudulent filing? Do I not have to sign a new or modified divorce decree? I have not seen it nor signed anything. I was told that along with the original "agreed sum" of 5000, an amount of interest starting in 1989 until present was also applied to the total sum to be garnished. Please tell me this is not legally allowed to occur?

Is there a reason you haven't argued against it yet?

I'm not convinced that improper service is going to make a real difference - she'll simply serve you again. Granted, you could try to argue why it shouldn't go up, but it depends a lot on the wording and if it's vague enough she could absolutely get an increase. You need to take your decree to an attorney asap - and that's hoping that you can even appeal at this point.

 

[single317dad]

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

I got divorced in 1989. The divorce decree stated an amount of 5000 dollars was to be paid to my wife upon my future retirement. I retired 18 months ago and instead of allowing me to pay the sum directly to her, she filed for the amount to be garnished from my retirement pension. That was last November when the garnishment began and is still happening to the tune of $22,500. She informed me that the courthouse "didn't like the wording" and said it was "outdated," so it was redrawn and enforced. How is this this not an error or fraudulent filing? Do I not have to sign a new or modified divorce decree? I have not seen it nor signed anything. I was told that along with the original "agreed sum" of 5000, an amount of interest starting in 1989 until present was also applied to the total sum to be garnished. Please tell me this is not legally allowed to occur?

What did the original decree state regarding interest? It may have been a mistake for them to add interest, or it may have been perfectly legitimate. 8% interest over 24 years is only a total of $11,000 though, so you should ask for the calculations at the very least.

It's even possible your ex has defrauded the court in this process. If a new case was filed and it was argued that you've owed her this debt for 24 years and simply haven't paid, then lies were told. To be honest, that's the only way I see this whole thing happening, but it would take a really gullible judge to let it happen. Either way, she got your account information somehow (probably subpoena) and service seems to have been weak or possibly fraudulent, unless you ignored a summons or two.

 

[LdiJ]

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

I got divorced in 1989. The divorce decree stated an amount of 5000 dollars was to be paid to my wife upon my future retirement. I retired 18 months ago and instead of allowing me to pay the sum directly to her, she filed for the amount to be garnished from my retirement pension. That was last November when the garnishment began and is still happening to the tune of $22,500. She informed me that the courthouse "didn't like the wording" and said it was "outdated," so it was redrawn and enforced. How is this this not an error or fraudulent filing? Do I not have to sign a new or modified divorce decree? I have not seen it nor signed anything. I was told that along with the original "agreed sum" of 5000, an amount of interest starting in 1989 until present was also applied to the total sum to be garnished. Please tell me this is not legally allowed to occur?

I think that you need to take your divorce decree and have it reviewed by an attorney, as well as the more recent paperwork, because this does not make sense to me.

First, retirement accounts are normally divided at the time that a divorce takes place. Pensions which cannot be divided at the time of the divorce are normally divided based on a calculated percentage. A lump sum amount at the time of retirement is unusual.

Also, the garnishment only started last November, which means its been going on for only 9 months and so far she has received 22.5k? How big is your pension?

Its really unlikely that any fraud took place. Its possible that an error took place or that either you or the courts misinterpreted the divorce decree. Letting a local attorney review all of the paperwork from both the divorce decree and the recent court action is the best way to determine what the situation actually is.

In most cases though, you are well beyond the period to appeal.