financial insanity

[antonin]

My divorce decree stipulated as follows concerning my ex's credit card debts:

"It is further ordered and adjudged that whenever this judgment requires Defendant to assume and pay a debt on which Plaintiff may be liable, including any individual and/or joint debt (assumed debt) Defendant, who is primarily responsible to pay the Assumed debt, shall arrange for plaintiff to receive copies of all regular statements and all notices of default relating to that debt,

If Defendant fails to make any payment when due, Plaintiff, at her option, to protect her own credit rating, may make the required payment and seek an Order for spousal support as provided in this judgment of divorce."

"If defendant fails to pay any individual and/or joint debt assumed by him and plaintiff and plaintiff pays or is found liable to pay that debt, by court order or otherwise, then this Court shall order Defendant to pay spousal support to Plaintiff in an amount not less not more than the amount that Plaintiff is liable to pay on the debts."

Also a lien was placed on my house: I had to pay off ex's credit card debts to sell house.
My decree gave me 18 months from Jan. 02 to move within 20 miles of ex to commence 50/50 custody. In Aug of 2003 I signed a purchase contract to sell my house.

I placed a deposit on an apartment and was scheduled to begin living there Sept. 22. I packed up and was ready to move. Closing was set for end of Sept., but things went bad.  The purchaser's mortgage company would give us no information on the loan and kept stringing my real estate agent along.

I moved to the apartment. I was determined not to miss another year of daughter's school. I was still confident the deal would close. I found out at the END OF OCTOBER that the purchaser's loan was not approved. I put the house back on the market, although it was slipping into foreclosure.

 I just could not afford to make an apartment payment and a mortgage payment, pay the ex 2600.00 a month, absorb the added cost of gas commuting 130 mi RT to work each day and added cost of being with daughter 50% of time.  I stopped paying my ex's credit cards and my own. The house was foreclosed.

I am presently filing bankruptcy. There is a 6 mo. Redemption period in my state.  I placed the house on the market at 20,000.00 below market value. A buyer appeared. The problem was, there would not be enough money from house to pay off ex's debts and hence transfer title.

My bankruptcy attorney prepared a release of lien that my ex signed. The money left over from the sale was placed in his escrow account along with a stipulation that he would use the funds to negotiate with ex's creditors in an attempt to settle her debts as per decree.

My decree calls for a 20% reduction (big deal) in CS once I move. I have been doing 50/50 since Oct., but have not filed for this yet, because I am waiting for the attorney to settle ex's debt.


1. If the attorney can settle ex's debts, can she asked the court to award her some type of punitive financial damages because I wrecked her credit? I am afraid she will do this (if she can) when I file for the CS reduction.