Originally Posted by RUMPLE56
I can add some further details to this I didn't post before. My ex and the kids left to live in Texas back in Aug of 2000. Saying she didn't like the school district or the community. We had just purchased a house in 1998. With her leaving and the BRAC going on around the country the housing market was flat. I continued to live and work here and she found a job and an apartment and lived in Texas. The kids went and finished high school there. I work civil service and have 30 years invested between military time and civil service so I really can't just quit my job and throw away my retirement. I continued to pay the house payment, car payments, insurance auto and medical, fuel and maintenace on vehicles and gave her and the kids any moneys I had left over. She always had a key to the house. But I never had a key to her apartment. I would always have to call ahead to make sure someone was home to let me in.
We continued this way for 5 years, she started to press for a divorce since we had grown further and further apart, but I didn't want to do that because of financial reasons, mainly child support and insurance. Instead I filed for legal separation. This way she was still covered for medical insurance, the child support was not a real big deal since at that point we had just the one son still in high shcool in his senior year. Plus the vehicles were paid for. The legal separation was signed by the same family court Judge that we went infront of for our divorce. In the separation I signed over two vehicles of her choice into her name. If the house sold she would receive half the proceeds. I continued to pay the insurance and made the monthly chld support payment as it was written. The house I lived in had become the storage unit for any thing and every thing they had no further use for. I was expected to hang on to it. Hers the kids and even her moms and sisters stuff.
After 6 years of being separated, living alone a person starts looking for companionship. So yes I found a girl friend after the legal separation was finalized. But my ex didn't like that idea, as most woman. So she filed for divorce at that point and with a vengance.
I had made numerous improvments to the house waiting for the economy to improve and the BRAC to be completed. Tile work, paint, laminate flooring etc. So it was ready to sell. Her or the kids never once helped me with fixing up the house. It was on the market and sold within 3 months. We split the proceeds. They never helped me move all that stuff out and put it in storage. So I moved it all and stored it all.
We went to court. Yes I had an attorney. He disputed their claims verbally, but they presented they claims in writing "aid to the court" or exhibits. I had completed my discovery in a timely manner and had all my reciepts to prove my expenses. Her discovery was a joke with the list of expenses she was claiming. But anyway the bottom line here, is her attorney knew, who she was up against from previous court cases. She knew what my lawyer would do or not do. So she knew piling on the paperwork for the Judge would out do my lawyers verbal rebutal. She also knew the Judge would look at the paperwork presented to him rather then listening or reading a transcript. The Judge even had the balls to throw out his own signed legal separation. So yes my lawyer sucked, her attorney was a smart lady, the judge was lazy and now between the lazy Judge, my ex wanting to drag this out as long as possible just to torture me. My ex is getting her $750 a month, I can't get a final decree, my lawyer don't give a damn. I've tried to secure another lawyer here in town to take my case and try to get things back on track. But in small town USA, they won't step on each others toes. The response I get is he was hired to do the job and he should see it through to the end.
thank you
rumple
