Order, Shmorder...

We don't abide by no f--kin orders...

The Playas

The usual suspects - defendant (me), pussy, bitch, hired bitch
Holder of assets - Brokerage, Bank
Creditors - Named as co-defendants

The Orders

Multiple orders, over 91 pages, addendums
QDRO, DOPO, division of property settlement
All connected under a Journal Entry (JE) of Divorce

The Game

As before, I am advised to follow orders under "threat and pain of the full force of the law and contempt of court sanctions".
Also as before, the hired bitch causes delays to induce stress and cause hardship with no penalty whatsoever as "an officer of the court acting on its behalf".
And my lawyer, well he's a pussy.
Of course the Asset Holders, as I do, are threatened to follow orders.
Enter a new Playa, who is bold and resistant to orders - the creditor.

And we roll the dice

The division of property states that I will execute a QDRO and release assets to my wife who will pay a share marital debt first. The order further states that I am no longer responsible for the debt. I have released the funds, but the hired bitch is sitting on the QDRO and the creditor is asking me to pay the debt.

I inform the creditor that there is an order that absolves me of the debt, that I have released funds to pay it, that the hired bitch is holding it up and how they can contact them.

We don't follow orders in divorce decrees, we believe our contract with you remains intact despite a court order to the contrary. We will hold you to that contract and litigate in another court jurisdiction.

Who the Fuck do they think they are? I am threatened with contempt, fines, and jail every time I turn around, and the hired bitch and now the creditor moon the judge with no consequences? How the fuck is anyone to take an order or a contempt threat seriously?

So I advice the creditors that may be typical boilerplate but in my particular case they were named as defendants and notified by the court. Well we show no record of receiving that and we have filed no answer to the court recognizing their jurisdiction over us in this matter. I continue that their professed ignorance of notification does not constitute a faulty notification and their choice not to respond does not prevent the court from exercising a default judgment against them.

The way it really is

Apparently creditors are given a courtesy immunity to not be involved. The issue remains between the primary parties.

• I release money.
  
• Her lawyer delays the receipt of the money.
  
• The creditor sues me for defaulting on a contract that has been superseded by a court order they refuse to recognize.
• I sue my ex for default on payment for funds she has not received because of her own lawyers actions.
• Her lawyer successfully defends my suit because my wife has not violated the order through any fault of her own, only through the fault of her own lawyer but that doesn't count as she is an officer of the court, treated with the same respect and exemptions as the court itself.
• I loose my lawsuit to the creditor and to my ex.
• Having little money to spare, I can take comfort in the 91 sheets of asswipe that are the divorce orders.

All because the creditor refuses to recognize the order to reallocate the debt (and even the assets to pay it) to the other party.

Options?

• Hope you don't get screwed. - Easiest, Riskiest
• Ask everyone to do the right thing. - Modest effort, Little hope
• Solve the problem by doing everyone else's job and then continuously monitor that the implementation is on track. - Most work, best hope

What did I do?

I did the first two and they failed. My wife ignored all suggestions because her trusty lawyer said (correctly) she didn't have to worry about it. Thanks to the big brass balls of the creditor she was off the hook for her obligation. So I negotiated a six month extension with payment plan with no interest and the promise of a balloon payment at the end. I twisted my ex's arm to provide a bank account from which they can draw the principal payments.

But what good is a plan without a backup plan. I maintain an online connection to the account to verify that the payments are made on time and I have set up a back up account with my own limited funds in it to prevent her from defaulting and it reverting to 32% interest plus a lawsuit.

So it's not a problem now, why am I whining? You want to sit on the edge of your seat with one lawsuit filed and another on the way. You want to spend the time calling these arrogant assholes and trying to get something done only to monitor it every week to be sure her check didn't bounce. Send me an email, I'll give you a stack a shit to try out for a while and you tell me how much fun it is. Mind you its not my burden I have an asswipe order that says so. I can send ya that too.

So is this theory or paranoia or snowball chance in hell? Nope, it has already happened with one of the creditors. My pretrial on that lawsuit is less than a month again. So a few more weeks to study that area of law and off I go into the court system for another year or two.

Lessons Learned

• Orders really don't have to be followed
• Contempt is just hot air
• Only you can protect yourself
• I could be wrong about all of the above

Note: This post (as all posts whether containing notice or not) is bound by the legal disclaimer addendum.