Ask Me Help Desk - Written response to a civil judgement

Help! I've recently been served with a summons for a judgement and need to provide a "written answer... Chapter 802 of the Wisconsin Statutes... to the Complaint. I absolutely cannot afford an attorney as that I'm a single mother of three, attending college full time, and broke! My case is complicated because I'm basically being sued for something I had no part of. A few months before my divorce my husband at the time received a check in the mail addressed in my name only. It came from HSBC bank for $7000 and it was the type of check that if you signed the back it meant that you agreed to the terms of the loan. My ex to it to Bank One (at the time) and tried to cash it with a rubber stamp endorsement we had for our business at the time. The bank would not take it and told him they need a written signature because of the amount of the check. He went out to the bank parking lot, signed MY signature (in his handwriting), went back into the bank and the bank cashed it for him without any ID (it's a small town.) Needless to say I never had any knowledge of the check and didn't find out about it until 2 months after it was cashed. A couple months after that is when I filed for divorce and in our divorce decree he was to assume full responsibility for that debt because of the nature of the debt. For two years now he made no payment and now they are coming after me for it. Every one I've talked to seems to feel this is a case of forgery and bank fraud but my ex is insisting that he could sign my name to the check because we were married. Is this true for Wisconsin marriage? Now I have to respond to the courts and don't know how and not sure what to do! I

Did you report this as fraud to the authorities - the Police, then bank - when you found out about it?

I see the Judgment being taken against you and you then suing your ex-husband for that amount plus your expenses. Have you taken him back to the Court that issued your Divorce Decree for failure to comply with the terms of the Divorce (concerning paying this debt)?

No. I tried handling it through my divorce attorney which is why he was made responsible for it in the final divorce decree. I can't begin to tell you how upset I am. I feel like if I report this I was worried about him facing federal charges and time in jail. Personally I don't care if he's in jail but I'm worried about how it would affect my kids. This does not stop here. He is in contempt of almost all orders put in place including failure to pay ordered child support (he's in arrears for $39,000) that we are currently in court for. He's also in contempt for an order that he's suppose to repay me $10,000 because he failed to make mortgage payments during the temporary order, the house went into foreclosure, and I had to borrow the money to get it out. I just have not had the money to bring this back into court.

I did, however, report this to HSBC when they kept calling me for money. I told them I had nothing to do with this check, had never even seen the check, and that they better contact the bank to get to the bottom of it. Do you know if he had the right to sign my name because we were married?

Quote:

Originally Posted by boxwalsh

No. I tried handling it through my divorce attorney which is why he was made responsible for it in the final divorce decree. I can't begin to tell you how upset I am. I feel like if I report this I was worried about him facing federal charges and time in jail. Personally I don't care if hes in jail but I'm worried about how it would affect my kids. This does not stop here. He is in contempt of almost all orders put in place including failure to pay ordered child support (he's in arrears for $39,000) that we are currently in court for. He's also in contempt for an order that he's suppose to repay me $10,000 because he failed to make mortgage payments during the temporary order, the house went into foreclosure, and I had to borrow the money to get it out. I just have not had the money to bring this back into court.

You don't need an Attorney to hold him in violation of a Court Order. You can file the papers yourself.

If you didn't report it to the Police at the time you became aware of it it's too late now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by boxwalsh

I did, however, report this to HSBC when they kept calling me for money. I told them I had nothing to do with this check, had never even seen the check, and that they better contact the bank to get to the bottom of it. Do you know if he had the right to sign my name because we were married?

No, he didn't have the right to sign your name BUT you didn't file a Police Report and have him charged within a reasonable time frame. Now it's too late.