- Jul 2, 2003
- 6,001
- 1,027
The lawyer for the Brother should have known this. Filed a hardship or asked that he make payments. He should not have been sent to jail.
If you don't know your rights you will be violated every-time.
If you don't know your rights you will be violated every-time.
Re: Ordered to pay my ex wife 350 for her attorney fees
That is incorrect. You cannot be jailed for failing to pay. It is a civil judgment and not a criminal one.
If you can show cause that it would be a hardship for you to pay the fees, you may ask the court to waive it.
She can sue you if she wants to, but considering the money she'll spend in suing you, it will be more expensive than winning the judgment.
Your wages will not be garnished. The worst that can happen is she takes you to court over the amount, which, again, will cost more than what she'd be suing you for.
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Re: Ordered to pay my ex wife 350 for her attorney fees
It sounds like you know how this works having been taken to court for this several times. You can file for hardship and ask the court to vacate the original order. The court must have been satisfied that you were responsible for the costs 6 years ago and could pay at that time. The question becomes why didn't you not why you can't pay now.
I had a judge order me to pay $10,000 in costs that I could not afford at the time but my ex's lawyer convinced the court that the matter could have been handled out of court and it was decided in her favor. Where I live if a matter goes to court the winning party is awarded costs and at that time you can make a claim for hardship. They lawyer did some shady things and I was not able to file my reply so the court made it's ruling for full costs.
Yes, they can garnish you for the cost, they can file a writ of seizure and sale against you and they can apply for a federal or state garnishment to get your tax money. You can't go to jail in any state for failure to pay a debt (non child support) that I'm aware of but they have a right to get their money. Everything they take you to court and the court favors them and supports the original ruling they have a right to ask for the costs for that court appearance as well, including and prep work.
If I was you I would file your current financial statement with the court showing your situation and offer a payment schedule that you can afford. Even if it's $20 a month till it's paid off, this will stop the repeated court appearances and additional fines. $20 a month is 2 trips to McDonald's or a coffee every other day. This is reasonable and affordable for most families. There is no getting out of it so find something reasonable and make the offer. It will also look better on you in court.
