Legal Question in Family Law in Iowa

Re: Enforcing a Divorce Decree

If your divorce decree states that you and your ex husband are to split the cost of college for your 3 children and he has not, then you should file a Motion for Contempt for the amount due and owing and further request that this amount and any future amounts be deducted from his pay. I suggest that you retain an attorney right away.

Re: Enforcing a Divorce Decree

My point of view differs from Ms. Johnson's. I agree with Ms. Martinez that you can move the court to enforce the decree, and probably get reimbursed through garnishment.

The first step, though, is to re-read your decree to make sure you have complied with the details (e.g., does daughter's course qualify, do you have to send written notification, do you have to provide photocopies of tuition statements, etc.).

Your question does not talk about the father-daughter relationship or how cooperative the co-parenting arrangemment hs been over the years. It's not relevant to this issue anyway. Whether dad sees daughter is a separate from whether he pays court-ordered support, and it should not enter into this matter. If dad was truly unable to meet his obligations but was nonetheless concerned about his obligations, he could have/should have discussed with you the possibility of an alternative arrangement or he should have moved the court to modify the decree.

Re: Enforcing a Divorce Decree

Do you realize just how mean-spirited your

inquiry sounds?

How do you know your ex-h would not have paid child support unless his wages were garnished?

Did you allow him to see the children for those

15 years or did you use visitation for control and punishment?

Have you asked or have you been concerned

whether he has had money for subsistence? Had you fostered a natural relationship between father and daughters,

I suspect he would have contributed to this

13-month course -- assuming that he even knows about it.

About the course: Is it one of those

how-to-be-a-masseuse or how-to-be-a-model

flim-flam courses? I ask because if you were

proud of the course, you would have said what it was!!!

I also assume your daughter wanted it, but you

really knew it was a ripoff and

didn't want to waste the money,

but you gave in and now need help paying for it.

So, since you're in a pickle now, why don't you just call him and explain your situation. Consideration will beget consideration. Common sense will beget common sense. Court involvement for a wage garnishment will just fooloshly waste the money which I suspect neither of you have much of.

You realiz, of course, that you brought most of this on upon yourself. Your few lines tell me the whole story.

And you know very well, you have to go into court for a garnishment. A letter from you dictating to his boss isn;'t gonig to do it. If you had used common sense, you would likely not be in the pickle you're in now.