We have a signed temporary order from Jan 2008. The court master issued a propsed order Sept 2008, but that has not been signed, and it may take a while since exceptions were fied. The proposed order has a modified schedule and a different CS amount and orders the Sept payment to go to me directly, and all subsequent paments to be paied through CSE via wage garnishment. This cannot happen without a signed order.

Before the temp order got signed, we implemented it anyway althouth it wasn't signed until 4 months later. Should we continue to operate from the current signed order?

In any case, my ex has not paid the sept CS at all. I sent him two reminders and still nothing. Should I file for contempt anyway.

Until an order is signed and approved by the court its not in effect. So you need to continue to go by the signed order.

Its up to you to decide how much to pursue him.

I sent him another reminder and he said he would give to me on the next exchange. I asked he mail it. I am also going gto tell him that we have to revert back to the signed order until the proposed order is signed, since come October, which is now, I won't recevie any support because he is not required to pay me directly. It must come via wage garnishment by CSE and I can't file with CSE until the proposed order is signed.

This is frustrating. So the only way I can continue receiving CS is to stick to the signed order. Its less CS and less visitation, but its more legal than a proposed order. I am sure he will be fine with not having to pay more CS for now, and I am hoping CSE will make the adjustments when the order is filed with them.

Right you go on the order that is in place (the signed one) if that means that he pays less but you get it directly then that's what it means. Do you know the date that the proposed order will go before the judge?

Yes, the current signed order is the one in force, that is all you have to work with legally

The date of the proposed order is September 5th. We would get a signed order after 10 days unless exceptions were filed. Well, exceptions were filed and I foresee this to take longer. a

I will send him an email about using the current order... I wonder how he will react. I think he will be please seeing that he will pay less CS until the order is signed.

I called CSE and they said once they get a signed order, he will go into arrears for the effective date if no CS has been paid. For isntance, if we don't get a signed order until January, he will be in arrears for October, through December, but I can file a notarized letter stating howmuch he has paid from the temp order and they will deduct that amount from the arrearages.

anyone have any idea how long this will drag out when exceptions are filed?

Does he have a lawyer that is filling these for him? There are usually a set number of days but I have heard of anywhere from 30 days to six months. That might depend on where you are located but then again you could get the judge to look at it and he/she decides not to sign it too.

I am hoping the judge just dismisses the thing and sign it because I am ready for this to be over. He doesn't have a lawyer. I believe he is strategically delaying things because he knows he wouldn't be requried to pay me directly, but since we have to revert back to the signed order, he has to pay me directly. Either way, he goes into arrears if he doesn't pay.

So what your really saying is your going to ask him to abide by an existing order and then when the new order is supposed to take effect you want him to abide by that one too. You can't have both. You really need to talk to a lawyer and get this straightened out. Also unless he is still in a listening to you mode its never a good idea to tell your " ex " how to do something when it runs in conflict with information your getting from your sources.

You have totally misinterpreted what I said. I have received legal advice from a lawyer yeserday and his answer is the same as Scott, Chuck, and stina: The current signed order is the only one that has legal binding. Now confirming that, I am not going to ask him or tell him what to do. I am going to tell him that I am abiding by the existing order until a newly signed order is issued. I don't want both. I am not telling him how to do things. But the schedule and the CS will abide by the current signed order. I never tell him what he has to do. I actually don't say anything to him unless its absolutely necessary. I just follow the order so that there are as little disputes as possible. And again, I got confirmation from a lawyer. The last time the master issued a "proposed order" it was four months before we actually got a signed order. Because third parties are involved, we can't fully implement this "proposed" order until it is signed. I talked to CSE, and they said if it takes 6 monhts for the order to get signed and it has to go back to October, ex would automatically be in arrears, I am sure he doesn't wantthat, and neither do I.

Here is where it gets messy: ( quote )
I sent him another reminder and he said he would give to me on the next exchange. I asked he mail it. I am also going gto tell him that we have to revert back to the signed order until the proposed order is signed
I will send him an email about using the current order... I wonder how he will react.
I think he will be please seeing that he will pay less CS until the order is signed.
( end quote )
And the after effect of him not following the spirit of the proposed order will lead him directly into trouble. And possible jail time as well depending on how its handled in your state.

( quote ) I called CSE and they said once they get a signed order, he will go into arrears for the effective date if no CS has been paid.
For isntance, if we don't get a signed order until January, he will be in arrears for October, through December, but I can file a notarized letter stating how much he has paid from the temp order and they will deduct that amount from the arrearages.
( end quote )

So what your being told by CSE is that the proposed order is going to be in effect on the dates shown whether its signed or not. That's going to be the new rate from the dates listed. To stay out of trouble that's what he should be paying ( not the old rate ).

So if your going to advise him in any capacity then you just need to tell him to get a lawyer. Otherwise he could be facing the full force of an out of control system. If it were as simple as just following an existing order until the new one is signed then there would be no arrears. You must be very careful with this.

I was told all through my divorce that once a judge has ruled on a matter then that is what you should go by, the signed order will follow be it later that day or 6mts from then. The judge still ruled and you have to follow it.

My ex got in a lot of trouble because he was to pay more support, the judge ruled it, but the papers had to be typed and then they got held up by the court so he didn't do it because he didn't have papers stating he had to. We took him back before the papers were signed by the judge for non payment of support. He was fined $200 and had to pay the difference of the Support he paid and what she ordered right then or he could go to jail until he could get the money. He paid it. The judge signed the papers and told us both that whenever a judge states something it goes into effect right then unless the judge states otherwise.

I will say this... You have to go by what your attorney says. Plain and simple. They know all the facts of your case better than anyone here. But I wouldn't tell your ex anything, be it about a past court order or the one that was just ruled on. I wouldn't remind him anymore of anything. Let him deal with it. Hopefully he has an attorney too. If he does he will go by what they say. Now If he doesn't pay support then have your attorney file papers -- he should be paying something even if it's the old amount to show good faith, but I believe that a judge will see it as contempt if he doesn’t pay what was ordered.

This whole thing was assuming a judge ruled on it and not that it was agreed upon and you are waiting for the judge to agree too. If that’s the case then forget everything above because you do have to go by the current order until you have papers signed by the judge.

[QUOTE=cjonline;1303681]

Must vary State by State - I had a ruling from the bench and it did not take effect until it was approved by both Attorneys and filed with the Court AND a copy was served on either my ex-husband or his Attorney.

There is actual case law where a divorce was heard, wife got the marital residence in lieu of any spousal support, husband filed for bankruptcy prior to the filing of the Judgment (which is basically the written version of the Judge's ruling from the bench), residence became part of the bankruptcy package - even though the Judge had ruled it belonged solely to the wife.

That is the problem. A JUDGE did not rule on this matter. It was a court master. Masters make recommendations and issue it in a proposed order. The proposed order is routed to a judge who, if she or he agrees, will sign it. If exceptions are filed, then it will take a while longer for any approvals unless its denied.


Again, this wasn't a judge. And if we go by the proposed, unsigned order, I won't get any support because he is going to say that if CSE doesn't take it out of his check as stated in the order, he doesn't have to pay it to me directly.



Are you saying, even though he doesn't have to pay me directly per the proposed order, he should pay anyway until they start wage garnishment. I dotn believe he would pay it directly because he is already crying about paying the lesser amount.

Your right, but now that its been appealed, it could take months before we get a signed final order. The current signed order is just for a plain EOW schedule, and child support, there are not other details, no holidays, no midweek visitation.

If your talking about the spirit of the "proposed order" it was meant for me to get more child support based on the fact he now has a job where he didn't before, and also, he gets more visitation. If we go by the "signed order" He gets less visitaiton and I get less child support. Because the recommendation was appealed to change the visitation schedule and the support, I don't see why we should go by a proposed order that will change. I don't want him to get in trouble, nor do I, but I would rather go by something that is solid, if that means getting less CS, oh well.

That is correct, because that's when it was recommended based on the merits of the case. I can tell him, if he payse me directly, we can go by the current order and I will sign somehtng every month saying I received said amount, that way he isn't penalized by CSE. But I know how greedy CSE can be.

You are right.

Yes, when the signed order is filed with CSE.

"That is teh problem. A JUDGE did not rule on this matter. It was a court master. Masters make reccomendations and issue it in a proposed order. The proposed order is routed to a judge who, if she or he agrees, will sign it. If exceptions are filed, then it will take a while longer for any approvals unless its denied."

You are correct. Which is why you have been advised to just go by the current signed order and not to tell your ex how to do anything let his lawyer advice him. Also, I'm glad that you noted the possibility of it being denied because that is always a possibility.

[QUOTE=JudyKayTee;1303693]Wow, that's a great example. So with that said, he not only owes me for September child support, he now owes me for October

Well, I did tell him. I didn't want himto show up on the next visit and then accuse me of denying him visitation. He doesn't have a lawyer. I am sure in time he will get one if not sooner. I filed this pro se because I knew it would mostly be cut and dry, and for the most part it was in addition to the stress. I just keep things simple, and simple to me, is just going by the signed order.