Debt collection-statue of limitations

[jenerikj]

Nebraska

We had a horrible attorney almost 19 years ago for a child custody case. We were young and 18 and didn't have a clue about what she should've been fighting for as far as long term stuff. Ex..claiming on taxes and other issues. We have not had contact with that attorney for at least 10 years I can say for certain. We do have a balance left that we never saw bills on for years. Figured she knew she sucked at getting us any thing fair. We'll the last few years she's sending bills. Now she's trying to settle our account for a way lesser amount and wants us to advise of our intentions. I keep saying statue of limitations to myself and want to reply back with that but not sure it applies to this bill? I don't want to pay something she has no legal ground to collect at this point. She wasn't worth what money we have paid her!! And since she is an attorney and knows the laws I need to know the law on this also. Thank you for taking the time to review this for me.

 

[quincy]

Nebraska

We had a horrible attorney almost 19 years ago for a child custody case. We were young and 18 and didn't have a clue about what she should've been fighting for as far as long term stuff. Ex..claiming on taxes and other issues. We have not had contact with that attorney for at least 10 years I can say for certain. We do have a balance left that we never saw bills on for years. Figured she knew she sucked at getting us any thing fair. We'll the last few years she's sending bills. Now she's trying to settle our account for a way lesser amount and wants us to advise of our intentions. I keep saying statue of limitations to myself and want to reply back with that but not sure it applies to this bill? I don't want to pay something she has no legal ground to collect at this point. She wasn't worth what money we have paid her!! And since she is an attorney and knows the laws I need to know the law on this also. Thank you for taking the time to review this for me.

When was the last time you paid anything on the debt owed the attorney?

 

[jenerikj]

When was the last time you paid anything on the debt owed the attorney?

It has to have been at least 10 years also i would say

 

[quincy]

It has to have been at least 10 years also i would say

Thank you for responding to my question, jenerikj.

In Nebraska, there is generally a five year statute of limitation for filing any legal collection action that is based on a written contract. But there are exceptions to this five year limit. You will best know if any of the exceptions could apply to your situation.

Here is a link to the law, with exceptions listed: http://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-205

 

[jenerikj]

Thank you for replying. I did read through that (twice) and tried to understand some of it. I honestly don't think anything pertains to us in there. Now to decide if I should just ignore it or reply back to her.

 

[quincy]

Thank you for replying. I did read through that (twice) and tried to understand some of it. I honestly don't think anything pertains to us in there. Now to decide if I should just ignore it or reply back to her.

I'm sorry to have left you to do the reading. It is not always easy to understand statutes and annotations, even when you are used to reading them.

If you have not been in contact with the attorney for ten years, even if the contact was only to acknowledge that you owe the money and will pay it back eventually, and the attorney never filed a suit against you and obtained a judgment, I think you can safely ignore the attorney's communications.

It does not appear the attorney can file suit to collect on the debt. Her purpose in contacting you could be to encourage you to acknowledge the debt and honor it now by paying voluntarily what you owe.

But, a caveat: What I have said above is based strictly on what I know of your situation from your posts.