Legal Court Order ??

[Gracie3787]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Florida
An order for my husband to pay arrears was issued in June 2002. I would like some opinions as to how legal and enforceable the order is. A short version of the history:
My husband quit paying support in Aug 1999, after his oldest turned 18. Although I disagreed with him, I knew that CSE would catch up with him. They did, in April 2001 he was found in contempt, he assumed that he would be ordered to pay arrears and his then 20 yr old married daughter would be taken off CS. The judge said that she could not order arrears or modification until petitions were filed.

From April 2001 to June 2002 two modifications were done due to childrens' emancipations. CSE did not file any petition for arrears, however, his ex wrote about 25 letters to the judge asking for arrears, and filed a last minute (1 day before hearing) ex-parte "counter-petition" never serving my husband. Payment of arrears was not ordered at either hearing.

In June 2002 a hearing was held on a motion my husband filed on other issues. The judge ordered him to pay $50 per week arrears payments, although my husband's net weekly income, (after $54.60 on-going support) was only $150.00. When my husband tried to tell the judge that the payment of arrears was not the issue before the court the judge told him to be quiet and ended the hearing. (The judge retired the next day)
The day after the hearing my husband was served with the summons and petition for payment on arrears- the same petition that the judge ruled on the day before!

My husband filed a motion for rehearing on the basis of due process, motion granted order was entitled "Order Granting Rehearing of Petition for Payment On Arrears"

The judge that was supposed to hear the rehearing refused to allow my husband to speak and told him that his due process rights had not been violated. The "Order on Rehearingof Petition" states- "The Order Granting Rehearing of Petition for Payment On Arrears is hereby SET ASIDE" .

We did not have the $600 it would cost to file an appeal, so we are stuck with what I believe was, and still is, an order that was issued without notice, without making a finding of ability to pay, and without my husband being allowed to be heard. I'd appreciate any opinions/advise on this mess.
Oh, I forgot, there was a different judge for each hearing.

 

[BL]

Ok since no one has replied I'll give you my opinion .

Even though proper service was not done , subsequently there was a hearing, both parties were there .

The Judge made a ruling and decision . Weather laws were fallowed or not .

The Law provides relief for this in the form of appeals , as well as other avenues for relief . The Law gives you X amount of time to File your appeals.
Ignorance of the Laws ( that means if you do not know the laws , and how to apply them ) is no excuse . If you couldn't afford an attorney , you should have looked into legal assistance programs , sliding scale attorney firms , Pro Bono representation , and if you weren't eligible at least consult an attorney and research the Laws on how to appeal.

One MUST fallow the Time limits and procedures or lose those rights .

Having said that If you think the Judge committed misconduct you could file a complaint w/ the State , but it won't get the Order changed .

 

[Gracie3787]

Thank you for reply

After the order was issued in June 2002 he did not appeal for 2 reasons: !- we did not have the money to file appeal (thanks to the order we were living on $100 per week) 2- The most important reason: what would the appeals court do?- They would have remanded for rehearing! So, filing motion for rehearing was the proper least expensive and best thing to do.
Mtion for rehearing was GRANTED on the basis that my husband's due process rights were violated and he was prevented from producing evidence relevent( such as his $250.00 month medication costs, which by the way, he has had to do without most of the time since June 2002, culminating in a massive heart attack).
The judge that heard that motion agreed and issued an order stating that a hearing on the merits of petition must be held. Plain and simple- the next judge refused to obey the court order!
As I stated, after that hearing we did not have the money to file an appeal, we live in a small town-
Legal Assistance Programs? None available. Local legal aid does not handle CS cases.
Sliding Scale Attorney Firms? None available.
Pro Bono? Husband wrote letters to evry family law attorney in county, all answered, said sorry you have been treated so badly, but cannot take on any pro bono cases.
Consult Attorney and research laws? Did all, but knowing the laws and being prepared does no good when the judge will not allow you to speak. (Judge threatened him with contempt when he tried to speak in 4 minute hearing)
Other remedies? Yes- modification of order- filed, hearing set, husband had massive heart attack on morn of hearing. Now he cannot physically go into court without attorney.
It is very sad that a serial murderer cannot be convicted without proper process, but a NCP can be deprived of needed medications- without notice.
Thanks for your reply.