Several years ago while we were married I helped buy a car for my wife because she had no credit. She begged for the car and promised up and down to make the payments (she was making nearly 80K). She was doing great until July 07, after we began divorce proceedings, when she just stopped. If the payments weren't made, my good credit, that I have spent my entire adult life building, would become damaged. She knew this, and took advantage of it. In Aug. an initial hearing stated that she would be granted the sole use of the car, but she would need to make payments, get her own insurance, and pay off the car in a reasonable amount of time. She didn't pay. We had another hearing at the end of Sept, where she was again ordered to pay for the car. Again she didn't pay. I filed a contempt charge in Nov. because she owed me over 3K for payments I was forced to make. The contempt hearing was scheduled for the end of Jan 08. We get to the hearing and the judge decided not to hear the contempt matter and only deal with custody issues.
I now have to wait until April for the next hearing. The ex now owes me 5K. My lawyer has been ineffectual and I am running out of money! I can't take the car back because I would be stuck with the bills, or my credit would be in jeopardy.

Is there anything else I can do to get this matter resolved? Can I file another contempt charge? Can I take this to another court?

My fear is that the ex is a very good con artist and has gotten out of many debts over the years I've know her. Couple this with a dirty hard-ball lawyer and there is no doubt of there being some kind of game played to get her out from this responsibility. The longer this goes on the more time there will be of her dreaming up a clever scheme.

What can I do?

Sue her the balance due on the car then repo it when she loses. Then sell it. If it sells for less than she owes, sue her for the difference and garnish her salary.

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Originally Posted by familyman2

Several years ago while we were married I helped buy a car for my wife because she had no credit. She begged for the car and promised up and down to make the payments (she was making nearly 80K). She was doing great until July 07, after we began divorce proceedings, when she just stopped.... In Aug. an initial hearing stated that she would be granted the sole use of the car, but she would need to make payments, get her own insurance, and pay off the car ...I filed a contempt charge in Nov. because she owed me over 3K for payments I was forced to make. The contempt hearing was scheduled for the end of Jan 08. We get to the hearing and the judge decided not to hear the contempt matter and only deal with custody issues.
I now have to wait until April for the next hearing. The ex now owes me 5K. My lawyer has been ineffectual and I am running out of money! I can't take the car back because I would be stuck with the bills, or my credit would be in jeopardy.

Is there anything else I can do to get this matter resolved? Can I file another contempt charge? Can I take this to another court?

My fear is that the ex is a very good con artist and has gotten out of many debts over the years I've know her. Couple this with a dirty hard-ball lawyer and there is no doubt of there being some kind of game played to get her out from this responsibility.

What can I do?

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Your lawyer is not representing your interests, obviously. An effective lawyer has to be able to influence the direction of a case, even when the judge is not interested in hearing the issues. The lawyer should make a record; this is done with a court reporter. If the judge makes errors, your attorney appeals. And it is not cheap. You have cause to be upset and you should calmly address your questions to your attorney, and have someone with you in the attorney's office when you make your concerns known. Are you certain the hearing wasn't 'postponed' or 'continued'? There should have been an 'Order' signed by the judge if a ruling was made on your contempt hearing, and you should have a copy. If there is an order, you will need another hearing on contempt and your lawyer should do it for no charge.

You might also explore with your lawyer about getting a lean placed on her accounts as you do have a judgement against her and she may have to release the funds if she wants the lean removed or she can wait for a judge to order it released.
You can use discovery to find out what accounts she currently has if you need to.

Thanks friends!

So, I have yet to receive a dime, but neither has her attorney. Seems as though she stiff her lawyer too. And now her attorney withdrew from the case. The ex keeps emailing me saying that she will have a loan soon to pay me back. She isn't aware that I know her atty fired her. I see the game she is playing: She is trying to buy time by keeping me hanging.
There is no loan. She is doing what she does best... deception.

So we have filed to expedite an emergency hearing to allow me to sell the car and have her repay all arrears, losses, atty fees, court fees related to this issue; or pay the consequences.

We'll see what happens next...

"So we have filed to expedite an emergency hearing to allow me to sell the car and have her repay all arrears, losses, atty fees, court fees related to this issue; or pay the consequences." That is what I call influencing the direction of a case; good luck.

Thank you all for your input. Take care...

Shucks; I was hoping you would report a happy ending and live happily ever after.