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Ok custodial parents, let's make a deal...

We NCPs (I'm one of those unwilling ones whose child was outright stolen) won't complain about HOW MUCH we are order to pay each month if YOU agree to 1) that the court order also specify how much of your own income will go to the child each month, 2) you agree to be subject to INCARCERATION for contempt if you don't pay it (even when you lose your job), and 3) a change of custody to the NCP, along with the same amount of support, should you interfere in the NCPs court-order time with his child.

The court order states that we shall each pay 1/2 of our child's health insurance premiums and uncovered medical expenses. As non-custodial parent, I include my half each month with child support.

I have recently found out on my own that the mother has not been paying the insurance premiums and that it has lapsed. Yet I have never been informed of any change in premium amounts and have continued to pay 1/2 of the last known premium amount. In other words, she's pocketing money intended to fulfill the order.

Obviously, fraud has occurred, as she is taking money intended for insurance premiums and using it for other purposes. However, is there contempt here too? That is to say, she is required to pay 1/2 of premiums, as well. And although I have, she has not.  Note that she did not, herself, cancel the insurance, but rather it was canceled after three months of non-payment.

Any other ideas?

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

This is a fairly large court system in a major metropolitan area. There is, indeed, a close-knit community of lawyers and judges, but it is also being challenged by newcomers who are wanting to end the corruption. There are, four example, four full-time superior court justices, and until recently almost never ran for office opposed. The county (in the deep south) has gone from majority white to majority black in under a decade, and it just elected their first black superior court judge (who also just happens to be a woman). She ran specifically on a platform of "justice for all", and clearly as an outsider to the system.

As I mentioned before, this latest malfeasance is only the latest in a long string of transgressions against both me, my child, and the constitution. I've got nowhere to go with this but up.

I think I'll be filing a motion to recuse with the evidence I have, as well as submitting this to the appropriate oversight authorities.

Thank you again

Thank you for your reply. I was unsure of who judges the judges. Based on your reply, I was able to find the Georgia Code of Judicial Conduct which explicitly prohibits this sort of thing, showing that his his conduct was a breech of several of its canons.

Am I making too much of this? That is to say, will I be PERCEIVED as making too much of this because it is common behavior, or is it really as reprehensible to the members of the profession as it seems to me?

Around here, the standard answer for legal questions is "hire an attorney". So, last week, I attempted to do just that. My goal was to get a judge recused for what I believe are actions and remarks demonstrating a clear and partial bias against me and in favor of the ex.

I went to three different attorneys and explained the case in detail to each of them. In the end, the cost was simply going to be too great to bear on top of what I'm already paying in support just to stay out of jail. (Yes, my ex is one of those who LOVES to file contempt charges when, for example, medical payments are not strictly paid in 30 days.)

Well, I just found out yesterday that one of these attorneys contacted the judge personally following our consultation and gave him a "heads up" about the impending effort to recuse. The judge in question not only accepted this information but solicited the attorney to provide him with a copy of my proposed motion.

It is my understanding that anything said by me to the attorney is privileged, even if he was not ultimately hired. If correct, than this attorney has made a serious breech of ethical standards. But what of the judge? Who is this to be reported to? What are the ramifications? What is the oversight for judges to which I may turn?

And yes, I do have evidence, but for prudence sake please let us not get into that issue at all right here for now.

Thanks

The reason that I thought a motion to vacate was appropriate is because such motions address orders which are invalid on their face. In this case, the order finds me in contempt for non-payment of attorney fees for which their had never been an order of which to be in contempt for non-payment in the first place.

In other words, the order is non-amendable. The defect is on its face, and not merely a matter for reconsideration.

Is everyone here referring to how it takes for an order to be signed? Or how it takes a SIGNED order to be received?

I know it can take a while sometime for an order to actually be drawn up and signed. But it is my understanding that, at least in the state of GA, once an order is signed, it MUST be served upon both parties within 30 days. In fact, if I read it correctly, the GA statute says that a failure of the judge to serve the losing party within 30 days constitutes an "impeachable act". Presumably, this is because notice of appeals must be filed within 30 days of the entry of the order, and failure of the judge to serve upon the losing party the final order jeapeordizes that party's opportunity for justice.

Anyone?

Dear Socrateaser

State of GA.

It has become routine for ex to accuse me of not paying support even though I send it every month without fail. A co-worker who is familiar with the matter volunteered to address and stamp each envelop and deliver it to the post office directly on my behalf. We even began recording this on video when it appeared that the checks were not being cashed after several months with the idea that, should she raise yet another contempt complaint, I might show that she was, in fact, lying to the court, and possibly put an end to this rubbish behavior.

Sure enough, in May of 2007, she filed a complaint alleging that I had failed to send support "from December 2007 through May of 2007", seeking back support and attorney fees. (Yes, she said Dec '07 instead of '06.) A hearing was held in September. Prior to the hearing, I put a stop-payment on all of the original checks and sent a single large payment to her attorney, filing a photocopy of it with the court. The check had cleared before the hearing date.

Prior to the hearing, her original complaint was never corrected or amended. I carried proof of the cleared check with me, along with a sworn affidavit from the individual who had deposited all of the earlier checks in the mail on my behalf. Seemed open and shut and I wondered why she was still insisting on the date. (No requests to her attorney for negotiations have EVER been answered.)

At the hearing, her attorney stood and claimed that payments from June through September had not been received. He further stated that there were uncovered medical expenses which I had not paid per order totaling about $200. I responded by first insisting that I had never been served with any complaint about non-payment of June through September support to which to prepare a defense, and that her pleading also said nothing about uncovered medical expenses, and that I had never been otherwise informed about such expenses.

The judge said "Well, the child needs the support" and then just turned to her attorney and, without seeing any evidence whatsoever, began adding up numbers. He issued an order right there (already prepared by her attorney... convenient) finding me in contempt of court for non-payment of support and uncovered medical expenses, and ordering me incarcerated until the amount was paid. Furthermore, he ordered that I pay $1500 in attorney fees. The order specifically states that I could purge the contempt by payment of the arrearage "plus $1500 for the cost of this action".

1 - The ex presented not one single document or evidence at the hearing. No exhibits or affidavits... just the complaint. All of her claims were simply taken at word, while I offered documentation and affidavits. Does this fulfill the requirement of an "evidentiary hearing"?

2 - To speak in the vernacular, what's up with bringing a new laundry list of complaints to court without a chance to respond? I never heard a single word about uncovered medical expenses, and to this date don't even know what that money was for. No previous complaint. No proof of payment. Is this appropriate procedure? My protest in court over the matter was completely ignored.

3 - I may not be the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, but it seems to me that the simultaneous order to pay attorney fees and to be incarcerated until such fees are paid constitutes both an absence of due process and an imprisonment for a debt... both of which are unconstitutional. There was no previous order for attorney fees for me to be in contempt of, and no opportunity to pay the attorney fees until after being incarcerated. I realize that this makes things very fast and convenient for the attorney to collect his fees, because who wants to be in jail? But geez, since when did we suspend Constitutional right for the sake of expediency? Am I making too big of a deal about this, or was this a gross violation of constitutional rights? Does it make the order invalid on its face?

4 - Many weeks prior to trial, I had requested discovery from the ex for documents relevant to her complaint, in addition to financial information in response to her request for attorney fees. In Georgia, the law REQUIRES a judge to "consider the financial situations of both parties" when attorney fees are requested in domestic matters. The filed and served request was ignored. A week prior to trial, I filed and served a Motion to Compel. It was never answered. The order mentions nothing of these outstanding matters or motion. Was an award of attorney fees at the time of trial beyond the discretion of the judge at that time?

5 - As mentioned earlier, her attorney drew up the order in advance, leaving blanks beside dollar signs until the judge filled them in. It seems as if little, if anything, is correct or lawful about the order, and the defects within it, such as the imprisonment for a debt, are un-amendable. Do any of the things I have described justify the vacating of the order?

Many thanks

>
>Generally, a motion for a substantive ruling not previously
>briefed will be denied by the judge, and if not, then you can
>request a continuance on any new issue as unfair surprise, so
>that you can prepare to fairly meet the new issues and
>evidence.


Very helpful and a relief to know. Thank you.

>>1 - I know the wheels of justice move slowly, but does this
>>seem unusually long? And if so, is there anything I can do
>to
>>get things moving?
>
>File a rule nisi.


1 - Just a white bread rule nisi, asking that the other party appear in court to show cause why my prayers should not be granted?


2 - How will a rule nisi hearing affect the pending motion from the other party to dismiss?

3 - As mentioned earlier, her attorney did kind of poor job on the motion to dismiss. When we appear in court, what would stop the attorney from trying to make arguments not appearing in the original motion? Would seem awfully unfair to be able to argue legal points not raised in the written motion, thus denying me the opportunity to prepare the rebuttal.

Thank you