Jail Becomes Home for Husband Stuck with Lifetime Alimony

[Channman 2]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-26/jail-becomes-home-for-husband-stuck-with-lifetime-alimony.html

I myself have been very blessed to be married to the girl I feel in love with more than 30 years ago. But I do have dear friends that have faced divorce. I have never heard of the Hell this man has been placed in, nor do I understand a legal system that is so designed to screw a man for the rest of his life like this case in New Jersey.

[normiss 873]

Florida is good in that area too.

Thrown in jail UNTIL you can pay arrears on child support and/or alimony.

[lawrocket 3]

So dude was making a million a year.
Ordered to pay support based upon a million a year.
Loses job.
Doesn't go to court and say, "I'm out of work and don't have the ability to pay this order."
Skips payments.
Goes to jail.
Still hasn't modified.
Keeps going back to jail.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[Andy9o8 2]

(first blush): I don't know NJ law, but the article seems to suggest that NJ is not very amenable (yet) to petitions to modify based on changed economic circumstances.

[NorrinRadd 0]

Is he able to move to a different state and avoid this constant jailing?

Why drive myself crazy trying to be normal, when I am already at crazy?

[Darius11 12]

I thought men and woman were equal why should he pay anything?
Child support yes, alimony no fucking way.

Everyone wants there cake and to eat it too.

I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not." - Kurt Cobain

[GeorgiaDon 379]

lawrocket

So dude was making a million a year.
Ordered to pay support based upon a million a year.
Loses job.
Doesn't go to court and say, "I'm out of work and don't have the ability to pay this order."
Skips payments.
Goes to jail.
Still hasn't modified.
Keeps going back to jail.

According to the article (in the section under the heading "Far-Reaching") legislation has been introduced in the New Jersey legislature that would allow alimony modification. The implication is that there is currently no legal mechanism to modify alimony payments in New Jersey.

Also towards the end of the article it describes how the guy was ordered by the court to obtain a $500,000 life insurance policy with his wife and kids as beneficiaries. He has tried to obtain such life insurance and the insurance companies have refused to issue such a policy. He is now going back to jail because the courts demanded that he purchase a policy that no-one is willing to sell to him. How can that be justified?

Don

_____________________________________
Tolerance is the cost we must pay for our adventure in liberty. (Dworkin, 1996)
“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” (Yeats)

[Andy9o8 2]

NorrinRadd

Is he able to move to a different state and avoid this constant jailing?

He may (or may not) be able to avoid jailing by moving about, but he probably can't avoid the judgment, since the general rule is that judgments can be transferred to other states. Re: family law-type judgments like alimony, the transferability/enforceability thereof might vary from one state to another. 50 states, 50 separate sets of laws.

[lawrocket 3]

Andy9o8

(first blush): I don't know NJ law, but the article seems to suggest that NJ is not very amenable (yet) to petitions to modify based on changed economic circumstances.

I don't know Jersey law, either. I think that under federal Constitutional standards, any proceeding re: contempt must show proof of an ability comply with the order. I HAVE seen agreements wherein the stipulated judgment is that the court lacks jurisdiction to modify a support judgment. If that happened, well...

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[Channman 2]

Andy9o8

***Is he able to move to a different state and avoid this constant jailing?

He may (or may not) be able to avoid jailing by moving about, but he probably can't avoid the judgment, since the general rule is that judgments can be transferred to other states. Re: family law-type judgments like alimony, the transferability/enforceability thereof might vary from one state to another. 50 states, 50 separate sets of laws.

What does this say about the Ex-Wife? Is she in a position legally to ask the court to amend and or cancel alimony payments? I don't recall if the article mentions any change in alimony if the former spouse is remarried or herself finds employment.

Laws such as these, may make a man/women reconsider marriage and maybe even children if they face a possible lifetime of legal hell if the marriage were to end in divorce.

[normiss 873]

Modifications are not handed out like popcorn.

Even when my salary went down by 40% the judge didn't give a fuck. You were making $100k when the child support order was entered, you ARE capable of making that amount Mr. Cochran.

Next case please.

[lawrocket 3]

Sorry, Mark. I've just had a decent track record of getting support reduced when circumstances change. . I gotta quit imputing my experience to that of others.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[normiss 873]

From what I've seen, Florida is pretty tough.

I always paid - except for 8 months of unemployment over 2 1/2 years. You'd think since I had a new job and was paying as well as an additional 20% to make up the delinquency they would be happy. Nope...subpoena my ass!
You have 30 days to pay $7600.
I don't make that much in 30 days.
Mr. Cochran be quiet or we will remove you from court.
But it is IMPOSSIBLE.
Mr. Cochran.
Can you tell me where to turn myself in in 30days?
Yea, they removed me. Cops were laughing.

So about 40 days later......I had a new $4000 credit card charge!
[/mad]
After 3 days in jail. Really? My wallet is somewhere in this building.
Of course it took them 18 months to refund my over payments.



Poor dude I shared a cell with?
Roofer. Poor black man.
His daughter was 26.
He was still going in and out of jail due to no work.
It's really just fucking stupid imo.


I have a coworker stuck with lifetime alimony who has been through the same thing a few times.
He took a transfer to Bumfuck, KS to keep his income.
I swear the company was trying to get him to quit.

[devildog 0]

I'd move out of the country for sure.

You stop breathing for a few minutes and everyone jumps to conclusions.

[NorrinRadd 0]

I... am never getting married! Damn....

Why drive myself crazy trying to be normal, when I am already at crazy?

[normiss 873]

Nothing on this planet is as expensive as pussy.

[rushmc 23]

Years ago a friend of mine got divorced
His ex shacked up with a man who already had mulitiple judgements against him (which he was not pay)
He got her knocked up

So, my friends ex takes my friend back to court for child support for the bumbs kid
She admitted on the stand that the kid was not her ex's
The judge said that somebody needs to pay, and since the father already had mulitiple judgments against him and would not pay, forced the ex to pay child support for a kid that was not his

AND, these two continued to live together!!!

In Iowa
Go figure

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[Channman 2]

normiss

From what I've seen, Florida is pretty tough.

I always paid - except for 8 months of unemployment over 2 1/2 years. You'd think since I had a new job and was paying as well as an additional 20% to make up the delinquency they would be happy. Nope...subpoena my ass!
You have 30 days to pay $7600.
I don't make that much in 30 days.
Mr. Cochran be quiet or we will remove you from court.
But it is IMPOSSIBLE.
Mr. Cochran.
Can you tell me where to turn myself in in 30days?
Yea, they removed me. Cops were laughing.

So about 40 days later......I had a new $4000 credit card charge!
[/mad]
After 3 days in jail. Really? My wallet is somewhere in this building.
Of course it took them 18 months to refund my over payments.



Poor dude I shared a cell with?
Roofer. Poor black man.
His daughter was 26.
He was still going in and out of jail due to no work.
It's really just fucking stupid imo.


I have a coworker stuck with lifetime alimony who has been through the same thing a few times.
He took a transfer to Bumfuck, KS to keep his income.
I swear the company was trying to get him to quit.

New Jersey, Florida....???? what other states have similar laws in effect? I wonder if you had been married in Texas as an example, but moved to Florida with your wife due to a job transfer and say 15 years later went through a divorce. Would the Laws of Texas apply or would you be in Florida family court with a Judge lubing up a bat getting ready to shove it up your ass as he/she delivers your judgment.

[devildog 0]

normiss

Nothing on this planet is as expensive as losing pussy.

ftfy

You stop breathing for a few minutes and everyone jumps to conclusions.

[GeorgiaDon 379]

NorrinRadd

I... am never getting married! Damn....

I believe in Canada after a relatively short time (2 years? Not sure of the exact number) of just living together you are considered to be in a "common-law" marriage, and all the rules apply the same as if you walked down the aisle. I don't think alimony-for-life applies, though. Just don't fool yourself into thinking that not signing on the dotted line will get you off the hook.

Don

_____________________________________
Tolerance is the cost we must pay for our adventure in liberty. (Dworkin, 1996)
“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” (Yeats)

[GeorgiaDon 379]

normiss

Modifications are not handed out like popcorn.

Even when my salary went down by 40% the judge didn't give a fuck. You were making $100k when the child support order was entered, you ARE capable of making that amount Mr. Cochran.

Next case please.

That really does suck. Bear in mind, though, that the level of animosity is sometimes so high that the alimony payer will quit their job, or take a job with much lower pay, just to avoid having to pay anything to their ex. The court has to (or should have to) try to distinguish between the cases where someone's circumstances have changed due to events they can't control, and cases of maliciousness. Often, though, it seems they don't even try.

Don

_____________________________________
Tolerance is the cost we must pay for our adventure in liberty. (Dworkin, 1996)
“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” (Yeats)

[normiss 873]

My original settlement for divorce was in Tennessee when I worked at a research facility there.
Once I was back in Florida for 12 months, as a resident of the state, the state and all their magical power takes over all legalities of every aspect of life apparently.

All she had to do was make a phone call.


I understand the intent of the laws the way they are.
There ARE a ton of guys that do their best to forget their kids.
I never did.
I was terrified in court once when I was asked "Mr. Cochran do you own an engineering firm?"

ummmm.....no.

Face it folks. You will be held responsible.
SIU and take it like a man.
We should be held accountable for what we do - yet the state has no right to rape us in the process.

[champu 1]

rushmc

Years ago a friend of mine got divorced
His ex shacked up with a man who already had mulitiple judgements against him (which he was not pay)
He got her knocked up

So, my friends ex takes my friend back to court for child support for the bumbs kid
She admitted on the stand that the kid was not her ex's
The judge said that somebody needs to pay, and since the father already had mulitiple judgments against him and would not pay, forced the ex to pay child support for a kid that was not his

AND, these two continued to live together!!!

In Iowa
Go figure

Maybe I'm not getting a clear picture of the timeline, but if she got pregnant after the divorce and after she moved out of your friend's place, and at no point while they were still together did your friend even mistakenly resemble the child's father, and paternity tests confirm that he is not the father, then this sounds like one hell of a precedent being set.

If all that's true you should be glad the judge didn't order you to support the kid.

[JerryBaumchen 1,451]

Hi rocket,

Quote

I've just had a decent track record of getting support reduced when circumstances change.

In '93 I got hit with $xxx per month of permanent spousal support ( that is what Oregon calls 'alimony' ). A few years later they changed the law so that after a 10-yr period the spousal support could be re-visited.

In '03 I took her back into court; at that time she was getting the spousal support & 26% of my retirement, which meant she was getting more money out of me than I was getting.

To this day, I will never forget the judge saying, "Mrs. Baumchen permanent does not mean forever.'

And here I thought I understood the English language.

He ended the spousal support then and there.

Move to Oregon; there is hope here,



JerryBaumchen

PS) And yes, the most expensive sex there is is the sex you get while married. Many years ago a good friend was going to divorce this B**** that he was married to. He added it all up and decided that being married to her was better than what it was going to cost him without her.

[swisschris62 0]

Yeah , it's the old saying..." It's cheaper to keep-her"