I had been a stay-at-home mom
since 02/25/94, while pursuing various entrepreneurial ventures that
met with very limited financial success. Due to marital problems, I
unsuccessfully began job seeking in August '02, a pursuit which
continues. My then husband walked out on us 11/04/02, taking all the
money with him and leaving me with all of the bills. Due to balance
transfers to secure low interest introductory offers, at the time of
his departure nearly all the credit card debt happened to be in my
name alone. My estranged spouse left us with no money whatsoever
for three weeks. I applied for public assistance and received some
assistance beginning the end of November '02 and concluding in
January '03 when I was disqualified due to the necessity of also
receiving financial assistance from my parents (which supposedly made
my "income" greater than their eligibility limits). During the four
months prior to this matter being heard in court, I only received a total
of $605.64 as child support from my estranged spouse, while my bills
and living expenses totaled around $3,000/month. Not until 02/28/03
was the matter of child support heard in court, the monthly amount
set at $797.00, while my manipulative ex-husband managed to weasel
out of paying almost all of the back child support (all but $210.00). My
divorce didn't become final until 02/05/04 and cost me $20,302.65 in
attorney's fees--nearly all of it charged on credit cards. The financial settlement in the divorce was far from
equitable - in exchange for me keeping the family home, I was strapped
with nearly all of the joint debt incurred during the marriage. Also, my
ex-husband requested and was awarded all of the living room tables
(two end tables and the coffee table) and my bedroom dresser (leaving
me only with a bed for bedroom furniture), thus adding additional
financial stress to replace these items. Further, although the
Judgment and Decree states my ex-husband was to assume financial
responsibility for our daughters' school tuition for the 2003-2004
school year, my ex-husband refuses to repay me the $1315.80 I had
already paid towards their tuition for '03-'04 prior to the issuance of
the Judgment and Decree. Other financial issues have been that a few
months before my ex-husband moved out, while we were taking out a
loan to purchase the '97 Taurus that is in my possession, he tagged
onto that loan the payoff of the loan on the '95 Dakota truck that is in
his possession--in the amount of $2,334.42. Thus, I am strapped with
paying off his truck for him. Further, my ex-husband caused damage
to the motor of my '88 Sunbird when he installed a radiator that was
too small to adequately cool its turbo-driven engine (this per the
mechanic at the dealership)--damage in the amount of $1,771.85,
which he refuses to accept any responsibility for. Further, although I
had several attorneys to tell me that having been a stay-at-home mom
the majority of the marriage, 10 of the 15 years, would entitle me to
permanent spousal maintenance, I was instead awarded only a measly
sum of $190/month for one year. In August, completely overburdened trying to make credit card payments, I filed for bankruptcy. The bankruptcy went before a court trustee in September, and she disqualified me for federal bankruptcy, instead forcing me to file under state bankruptcy. She claimed my exemptions were too high in her recommendations to the bankruptcy court, and the judge then ruled that I am now supposed to somehow magically pay c.$5,000 to the bankruptcy court to be distributed among my debtors. The bankruptcy was the result of being repeatedly financially screwed both by my ex-husband and by the judge?s settlement of my divorce, in addition to unforeseen difficulty reentering the work force to secure adequate income to meet my financial needs, and then I get further financially screwed by the bankruptcy!
In addition, I lost custody of my
daughters in the divorce and quit receiving child support as of
02/05/04. The custody appeal was heard in court in September, and we are currently awaiting the court's decisions.
