Good morning!

I've recently found out that Bab's (OW) has claimed on her financial disclosure that she pays ALL expenses for the "home" she and WH live in. She claims ALL of the rent, ALL of the utilities, etc.

She can prove this is so as she is the one who writes the checks out of her account. WH reimburses her.

I have called my attorney and will request a copy of WH financial affadavit to see what he claims.

Do you know how I can use this if he lies on his affadavit and claims ALL of the expenses also? Do I ask that he prove it? .....and call Bab's as a witness that SHE claims to pay everything?

Fox

It's a nice little tidbit that you and your attorney will have to strategize over.

Sometimes the best course of action is to wait and catch WH off-guard and on the witness stand. Lying in affidavit's is typical. It can be explained away as a mistake. Getting someone to lie on the witness stand and calling them on it right in front of the judge is golden.

However, most divorces don't actually go in front of a judge. The parties settle. So waiting may not behoove you. Get to the bottome of it. Get him to further document his lies and your attorney should best know how to exact the best punishment for such lie. If any.

This should be beneficial IF the states child support formula takes into consideration/adjusts for living expenses of the non custodial parent. Most states don't. Most states it's based upon income...period.

Mr. Wondering

Just thought of this...you MAY be able to give the impression that he is hiding money. If he lies in court the judge won't believe anything he says. He'll try to claim he's got no money to pay you a property settlement. He'll try to say there are no marital assets to divide. However, with no expenses and an income you can create the presumption that he's hiding assets and perhaps exact a bigger property settlement and/or get him to pay your attorney fees.

Speak with your attorney about this. I am not a litigator.

I can see him getting around this by saying that he "reimburses" her. If he does that by check and makes a notation on the check, then I think he really CAN claim those expenses.

I'm with Mr. W though, as to CS, the Court generally only looks at income-- they don't really care about what's going out.

As to property, I don't think his income/expenses would factor into that (other than his contributions to savings, IRAs, 401Ks, etc. during the marriage) because the property settlement is based on existing FMV on current assets. I might be wrong about this though. It's happened before. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

That's what I think, too. I'm holding a few cards close to my chest for that day.



Unless WH has a fast chang of heart, we are on our way to court. I need to submit my witness list ASAP. This is one more thing I can call Bab's for. Hopefully, she and WH will trip each other up.



Yep, I'm checking into this. On the surface it looks like straight income but you can tweak it a bit. My attorney told me to keep track of expenses for the horses, etc and that can be worked into "child" support.



Ah ha. I got it.

Thanks for the advice, Mr. W. I appreciate it very much, as always.

Fox

At the very least I can use it as a mark against his character. If he lies about that - what else will he lie about? It will at least help show a pattern of deceit.

I'm certain he reimburses her - I've seen her bank statements.

This may not effect child support, but could it possibly affect spousal support and my claim that he should reimburse me for attorney's fees?

Who knows - he may only claim his 1/2 of the expenses - if so, I'll leave it alone and Bab's BH can deal with Bab's on it. If she is going to claim she pays all the expenses so it looks like she is barely getting by, she should have to claim WH's payments to her as extra income.

Certainly something to think about.

Also.....why do they ask for financial affadivits if they are of no use? Are they only useful in situations where there is large marital property, etc?

Fox

In Texas they're called "Inventory and Appraisements" and basically it's both spouses laying all their cards out on the table (swearing under oath) as to financial matters (to expedite things).

They are SUPPOSED to be a tool from which the parties can negotiate a settlement of if not that, from which a Judge can decide a case. In high-stakes cases, an "expert" can be called in to examine and make recommendations (depending on who's paying him/her).

Your affidavits probably will affect spousal support and deciding on who pays attorneys fees. For SURE put Babs on your witness list so you can authenticate her affidavit if it comes down to it. I actually forgot about spousal support but even though we have that in Texas, it's very limited.

Thank you, pm. That helps clarify it for me a bit.

Spousal support is pretty limited here, too. Especially since he doesn't make all that much more than me.

If it will at least back up my case in getting him to pay my attorney's fees, I will be grateful.

Thank you both for your quick responses.

Fox

Received a call back from my attorney. He says to get a copy of the affadavit from Bab's BH and we can use whatever Bab's pays for as "income" to WH.

He compared it to "extras" that a business pays. If a business pays for your housing, car, a gas stipend, etc, you have to claim that as income. Having a "roommate" goes under the same premise. You aren't able to claim all the expenses when you don't actually pay them.

The attorney wasn't sure what WH claimed on his affidavit - he was going to check and get back to me.

We have a meeting on Thursday to go over a few things - and I'll see then if I am comfortable with him or whether I need to bite the bullet and find someone else.

Fox

Cool. Sounds like your attorney is starting to step up to the plate.

I sure hope so, pm. Way too much at stake here to trust it to a pansya$$.

Fox

LOL - you said that right. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

BTW, how did you get Bab's affidavit? Was it filed in her case? If so, then it is a public record. If not, and you got it from Bab's husband, then you may need to also include Bab's husband to testify as to its authenticity (if challenged) and to avoid any hearsay objections.

I don't have the affidavit in my hands yet. Bab's BH got a copy of it in his mail yesterday from his lawyer and called to see what WH claimed. He will give me a copy if I need it. He will also testify to it's authenticity.

How do I find out if has been officially filed in her case? I would rather get it through the court system if I can. Then it is something she submitted as true to the court and it isn't just paperwork going between attorneys, which has a tendency to fluctuate.

Because our original court date was so long ago, my attorney has asked me to update my affadavit, too. I know things have changed on mine.

Fox

Just call the district clerk (or county clerk depending on where it was filed) give them the case number and ask if it was filed. If it was then you can request a certified copy from the clerk (which authenticates it).

If you don't want to do it over the phone, you can go to the courthouse and request the file. In Texas, they'll hand the file over to you, you can look through it, make notes, and then hand it back when you're done. All without revealing your identity because it's public information (on file). That's how I got the low down on both OW in my situation. I even looked at OW#1 criminal case file.

Thanks, pm. I'll get that file number and go from there.

I think the district clerk has come to know my voice. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I called one day to see if Bab's had filed for D yet, as I knew her BH had not. The district clerk asked "who is this?". I said this is the wife of (Bab's real name)'s boyfriend.

She said "oh" - and looked up the information for me.

I said "thank you for the information and have a nice day".

Fox

LOL, that is too funny. At least you gave her something to talk about at lunch. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />