It was court ordered that my ex sign over the marital home to me as well as my car title. We settled out of court 3 months ago and he has YET to sign. Last week was when our divorce went to court and was finalized! I asked my ex today when he was going to sign the deed/title and he said whenever he gets his personal property back (some items he failed to list in our property agreement when we settled.These items were not his to begin with, but whose they were-is besides the point…he failed to list them). And it’s not as simple as giving these things back to him cause I had to sell them to help pay the mortgage and to support our daughter (which he never contributed a dime to in 14 months).
So what do I do now? As far as my attorney is concerned, he’s done his job. The way I see it…my ex is in CONTEMPT of court for not doing what was court ordered! How can I pursue this legally without hiring my attorney again? I am literally broke and cannot afford more attorney costs. You would THINK my EX would readily sign over the house so that I could refinance (and get his name off the loan)…cause as of right now, he’s still responsible for the mortgage if I default on the loan.
I wouldn’t be in such a hurry to get the home switched into my name if it weren’t due to financial reasons (I may have to sell the house & I cannot do so with his name being on it).
Please tell me the procedure on how to file a contempt motin to get these papers signed. And with it already being court ordered, would I NEED an attorney?
Thanks again for all your valuable information!
Your ex may be held in contempt, and you will need to file a motion for the same which outlines your allegations of how he violated the order. I suggest you do hire an attorney to help you with this process, and you may be able to recover your attorney’s from your ex.
Erin,
Before I could file a contempt motion against my ex, he has filed one on me saying I never gave him everything that was agreed upon in our property settlement. This is untrue as he is wanting stuff that was NOT on the list of things he asked for…and therefore was NOT court ordered. My attorney is wanting to charge me WAY too much money to go back to court, so it looks as if I will be “winging it” on my own. I am completely broke and have no other alternatives. My attorney said that he could REQUEST my ex pay my attorney fees, but that is RARELY awarded. So I can’t go that route.
Do you have any suggestions for me as to how to defend myself in court against his allegations…and should I bring all witnesses that I had with me when the “exchange” of property was made? I had a check-off list in which he signed of all the property he picked up, and he noted on the list that he was missing one item (yet on the contempt order, he has 6 missing items listed). I dont’ have the one item - he took it prior to him moving out. How do we prove this --it’s basically his word against mine? Also do I need to go ahead and file a contempt motion AGAINST him for not siging over the court-ordered deed? If so, how do I go about doing that?
And finally, since I am unable to afford an attorney, can I request that one be appointed for me? Would this be better than no attorney at all? IF so, do I request this at the court hearing (or prior to)? We go to court next Tuesday.
Thanks!
You will need to show the judge that you have complied with the Order, and may have witnesses to attest to what property they witnessed you turn over. The most important item to present will be the check list you had him sign. With regard to the missing item you cannot be held in contempt unless you are purposefully withholding the item. The judge will decided whose version of the story is more credible.
You motion will look much like his, but will describe his failure to sign over the deed. You cannot be appointed an attorney in order to pursue a contempt motion, and one will not be appointed to defend against his motion unless you risk jail time.