Finally free but at a great cost-
. I picked a really bad lawyer while he paid for a shark.
He cheated, walked out on me and our child. He supported his GFs while I tried to maintain what I could while working with a vindictive supervisor. My employment is what kept us covered with health/dental/vision til I was fired for not meeting performance measurements.
When he filed, he and his lawyer came up with whacked visitation schedule where he had our child bouncing between residences every other day. We had court date regarding parenting plan but never went before judge-I now find out that not contesting it (my lawyer had another appointment and didn't ask for continuance) laid groundwork for equal custody. (he chose to move in with OW #1 who resided over an hour away and finally moved back closer to home once he filed to give pretense of being closer/involved with our child).
He only made 1st/2nd mortgage payments and if I wouldn't agree to his demands, he'd put the responsibility of our child onto me. Once I was fired, tried to get temporary support but bc he had all his expenses and due to paying 1st/2nd mortgage-judge couldn't make him pay more than he already was without putting him in hardship.
Meanwhile his lawyer nitpicks responses, my lawyer doesn't make issue of his recreational drug use,His BFF getting busted for being caught in process of manufacturing meth, intimidation tactics, while he and his lawyer smear me in court to point that judge became biased against me. I finally settled because if I continued to fight and had gone in front of the judge to let him decide on our case, I may have lost custody or less than equal time.
(These last 3 years have been hell) He kept his debt, I got our joint debt, his lawyer made it sound like I was earning big bucks and just sitting back and trying to get him to pay on top of my earnings. When I have found employment it has been short term and I have been fortunate to make enough to cover necessities.
Judge ordered us to switch residences and I couldn't even afford rent on the place/still can't. My credit continues to sink because I can't make payment on unsecured debt and just manage to make car/rent/ins payments. Day of our settlement agreement, he bought a car-month later he moves OW2/GF into house and our paperwork hadn't even been submitted to court bc his lawyer took another look at what was agreed to and did what could to renege/drag out-so STBX is getting mad that I and new lawyer dragging out and "he's moved on"
Yet he plead poverty and asked that for possession of the house so that it could be sold because he couldn't afford to make mortgage and rent payments. I wanted to fight due to his moving GF and having DD in house at same time-but don't have money and also didn't want to run risk of going in front of biased judge and being worse off with "fair settlement agreement".
So Divorce is now final and he continues to try to circumvent visitation and undermine my parental authority. He actually brought GF to DD pediatrician appointment. He is such a JA-smirked bc he knew I wanted to address but wouldn't in front of DD-GF was the one that spoke up to the doctor when now EX was the one that made the appointment! I wouldn't have known if the email hadn't gone to me originally
I despise him and that I have to deal with someone who continues to disrespect and disregard me. I shudder inwardly when DD has said "she wants to marry daddy" and pray that she doesn't meet up with someone like him when she starts dating/looking to marry.
