Blindsided Money!!

When I last updated on court progress, I told you about the criminal court summons I received for truck tampering and that all charges were eventually dismissed when my Ex never showed up in court.

That all took place in May of 2009. For now, I have to backtrack a bit and talk about some other things that took place before that.

On February 6, 2009, I was served with an Order to Show Cause for nonpayment of child support. A motion had been filed in court. The Sheriff delivered the Show Cause Order and the Motion to me while I was at work.

Contempt Motion 2.6.2009

This motion outlines what I have already told you in that it states that I was ordered by the court to pay $1700.00 per month in child support as well as $100.00 per month in retroactive child support plus $300.00 per month in postseparation support along with another $100.00 per month in retroactive postseparation support for six months.

A grand total of $2200.00 per month.

The motion states that I had not paid anything at all in child support since the order was entered; however, I have a copy of a check that was given to my Ex for $300.00. I know, $300.00 is not much when you are ordered to pay $2200.00 per month, but it was all I could do.

During this time, I was spending at least 2 days a week, all day, in court. Most of the time it was more than that. Trying to run my business building and selling furniture was nearly impossible when I could never be there. I had customers that would actually call me and leave messages because they thought I had gone out of business because my door was closed so often. It was a true nightmare.

You also have to remember that I was starting from scratch. When my Ex left and abandoned the children, she cleaned out both the business and personal bank accounts, leaving me with NOTHING. Every dime I made between the time she left and the time she regained custody was spent trying to care for my children and keep a roof over their heads, as well as trying to keep my business doors open. So, when the initial order was entered for the $2200.00 a month that was supposed to pay, it was completely ridiculous. I know I've stated that before, but to this day it still boggles my mind.

On March 3, 2009, we went to court. I, once again, testified about how much money I actually made. I again provided even more bank statements showing my financial activity. I testified that I was going to lose my home and my vehicle, and at the rate everything was going, probably my business as well. I testified that I just could flat out not afford to pay $2200.00 a month. I felt like a broken record, which I would find out would happen over and over again.

In the end, the judge could have cared less. I was ordered to pay $1800.00 before Monday, March 9, 2009; an additional $200.00 before March 16, 2009; and finally $1800.00 before March 23, 2009. Basically, I had to come up with $3800.00 in the span of a couple of weeks.

If I didn't do this, a warrant would be issued for my arrest and I would be put in jail. I could almost see the drool dripping off my Ex's lawyer's chin as he practically begged the judge to have me taken away in handcuffs right then and there. I can still envision his almost purple face as he was yelling across the courtroom. I can remember wondering if he was going to actually burst a blood vessel at some point, all the while my attorney sat there scratching his temple. Useless.

I ended up coming up with the $3800.00 I needed in order to stay out of jail, but it was no easy task. When I testified in court that I had no money, I think that my Ex, her lawyer, AND the judge all believed I was lying and that I was just hiding money and not paying my child support out of spite.

The fact of the matter was that I honestly did not have that kind of money, and never had. When we were together, my Ex and I practically lived off credit cards. We were in debt up to our eyeballs with the huge mortgage for the huge house that she wanted. There just was no money; however, in the eyes of the judge, I was just a deadbeat dad who wasn't caring for his obligations. Actually, the judge had his mind made up about me from the very start. Regardless of what my Ex did to create the entire situation, I was the wrong party in the judge's eyes, and nothing I said or did made any difference.

I sit now looking at copies of checks and money orders that I received from family and friends to cover the $3800.00. Having to ask (beg) people for money might be easy for some people to do, but for me it was a horrible experience. I have thanked everyone who helped me a million times already, but I don't think that thank you will ever truly be enough.

After I was able to put that behind me, I really began to try to focus on my business. Things had definitely slowed to a dead crawl since I was rarely there due to court. I needed to get back on track and just put my head down and work. My wishes were short-lived though, when on April 3, 2009, a Sheriff's deputy showed up at my shop with this:

Distribution_4.3.20090001

That, my friends, is a list of all the stuff my Ex wanted out of the house in the form of "interim distribution".

A few weeks prior to my being served with this distribution order, my Ex and I had a conversation pertaining to what she wanted out of the house and what I wanted to keep. As a matter of fact, I still have the handwritten list that outlines what will be hers and what will be mine.

If you will notice, the distribution document I just showed you is an Order, not a Motion. There was never a motion filed and none of this was ever discussed in court. I do believe at some point that I relayed to my attorney what my Ex and I had discussed and agreed upon, but I can't really be certain.

All I know is that on April 3, 2009, a deputy walked into my shop and served me with this order. This deputy wanted me to leave my shop immediately and go to my home so that my Ex could retrieve what was on the list.

I had some real issues with this.

First of all, I had no knowledge that this order even existed. It was drawn up by my Ex's attorney and taken to court so the judge could sign off on it. I immediately called my attorney and told him what was going on and HE didn't even know that an order had been signed.

The second problem was that the list was extremely vague with terms such as "various" this and "one of" those and "half of" that. It was ridiculous. I wanted time to discuss all of this with my lawyer and figure it all out.

The third problem was that it was the middle of the workday and I was not going to drop everything and shut down business for the day when I was not even informed of any of this beforehand.

In the end, the deputy agreed that I could set a day and time that was convenient for me to go and take care of all of this. I was told by my attorney that I had to abide by the order and that anything she took that I felt she shouldn't would have to be taken back to court since there was already a signed order in place.

How sneaky and underhanded can you get?!?

In my next post, I will tell you all about the day my Ex shows up with the cavalry (seriously) to execute this order. I would tell you now, but it was such a debacle that I think it deserves a post all its own.

Please keep reading!

Until next time.....