My ex divorced me in NC in 1995 or 1996. (I have the Separation Agreement, but it’s not handy.) During the divorce process, I had to sue him for breach of contract once re: the amount of money he owed me from estimated sale of marital house. (He, a narcissist, took matters into his own hands and made deductions from the stated amount in his check.) I easily won.
My question is whether there is a statute of limitations on the separation agreement? Somewhere on these forums I read that it was “forever;” though other sources have indicated that there is a statute of limitations. My problem is that my ex has refused to give me one of my personal (non-marital) items of furniture, an antique trunk that I’d acquired long before I met him-- in fact my first piece of furniture.
We were married 25 years – almost to the day; he divorced me because he “was in love with another woman” and was having an affair with her.
Anyway, I have had ptsd most of my adult life, stemming from childhood sexual and emotional abuse by my father. Trust and abandonment issues. The divorce exacerbated the problem, giving me flashbacks and nightmares (in which my father’s face and my ex’s are interchangeable). His refusal to give me my trunk adds to the sense of violation I’ve felt since the divorce. I was menopausal at the time, a dependent wife, and I have not remarried. (He’s on #3.)
Can I still sue him for Breach of Contract? If not, can I sue him for personal damage to get back my trunk and damages for the time he’s kept it from me?
I moved to New Mexico in 2003 and I’m now on early social security in order to subsist. Is there a way I can sue him without having to travel to NC?
I don’t WANT to sue him… I don’t want to ever even think about him again. I want emotional peace. But I do want my trunk back. If necessary, I WILL sue. Exactly what recourses might I have?
My emotional health has been steadily degenerating since the divorce. He made a verbal promise to continue to provide me with Health Insurance post-divorce, given that I was not very insurable due to chronic physical and emotional conditions, but I suppose a verbal promise doesn’t carry any weight.