Has anyone ever experienced this situation?

[tylersmom]

What is the name of your state? PA
I'll try to make this quick and just give facts:

Ex owns corporation that usually does about 2-3 million in business a year, his income was $100K/year. I recently filed for support with domestic relations and he is now claiming he makes $50,000/year (he showed a W-2, that he made himself as company owner). My lawyer anticipated this and requested my ex bring his corporate returns, so that if he was claiming an decrease in income, he could show why. My ex brought the corporate returns, but refused to show them, claiming that he doesn't own the business, his father does. I know this is not true. I witnessed his father sign and my ex sign papers giving my ex the business (we were still married at the time). We are now entering into the De Novo (is that correct) phase of all this and I'm getting nervous. I'm not asking for alot, but his income is substantially larger than mine and I just want some help. Has anyone seen this situation before? Am I wasting my time and money?

 

[Zephyr]

was your ex's ownership in the business dealt with at all during your original divorce proceedings?

 

[tylersmom]

No, it was not dealt with, basically because I was scared and didn't want to fight him. He had a lawyer friend of his draw up all the divorce paperwork and had me sign it. There was an marital agreement that discussed the terms of custody and child support. He threatened me that if I got my own lawyer that he would take our son. I was scared because I didn't have money and after he told me to leave with our son, he cut off any access I had to funds. I got a job immediately, but it would never cover legal fees and supporting our son. It was a bad marriage and I was afraid of him. I did what he wanted. I feel very foolish now. It's been almost 4 years since we split up, and I finally worked up the nerve to see a lawyer due to custody issues as well as support issues. My lawyer checked into things and informed me that my ex filed for the divorce as though our son didn't exist and that he never submitted the "marital agreement" as an order. I basically had to start over. I think he anticipated I was going to do this because I was becoming less and less afraid of him and more and more angry at his bullying.

 

[Zephyr]

No, it was not dealt with, basically because I was scared and didn't want to fight him. He had a lawyer friend of his draw up all the divorce paperwork and had me sign it. There was an marital agreement that discussed the terms of custody and child support. He threatened me that if I got my own lawyer that he would take our son. I was scared because I didn't have money and after he told me to leave with our son, he cut off any access I had to funds. I got a job immediately, but it would never cover legal fees and supporting our son. It was a bad marriage and I was afraid of him. I did what he wanted. I feel very foolish now. It's been almost 4 years since we split up, and I finally worked up the nerve to see a lawyer due to custody issues as well as support issues. My lawyer checked into things and informed me that my ex filed for the divorce as though our son didn't exist and that he never submitted the "marital agreement" as an order. I basically had to start over. I think he anticipated I was going to do this because I was becoming less and less afraid of him and more and more angry at his bullying.

clarify this please- especially - when did your lawyer say this?

 

[tylersmom]

At my first visit with the lawyer, I gave him any copies I had of the divorce paperwork. He said he didn't see an order for custody or support. I told him that was all I had. He went to the courthouse and asked for the actual divorce decree and custody/support order. All he got was a basic divorce decree. There was no mention of a child anywhere and the agreement I signed was never signed by a judge. Not to get off the subject, but nobody had custody of my son! I immediately filed for custody and went to domestic relations. That was in March of this year. Our divorce was final January 2004.

 

[Zephyr]

wow- if dad has a mortgage or auto loan- you may want to see if your lawyer can subpoena the loan applications- dad would want to make his income look as large as possible there

 

[tylersmom]

I know already that he is going to subpoena his corporate tax returns and I'm sure he will do that too. I was just curious to see if any one out there (especially attorneys) had any experience with support cases where the defendent owns a corp. and is basically hiding money. My lawyer, of course, feels confident, but even he admitted that these cases can be tricky. I have alot of faith in my lawyer, he came highly recommended and he is very sharp. I feel good because I'm not the one hiding anything or being dishonest, and I'm positive my ex is. I'm still a little nervous though because my ex has alot more money behind him. The only reason I can pay for this is because I have some wonderful friends and family that are also fed up with what my ex has been doing, and are willing to help me as much as they can.