Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

Parent refusing to pay for share in house jointly owned..

In September of 2005 the custodial parent was awarded the opportunity to remain in the house that the couple owned jointly. She was given one year to pay half of the total amount owed to buy out the non-custodial parent's share ($40,000) at 0% interest, and was given five years to pay the other $40,000 at 2% interest. (The non-custodial parent was not represented by an attorney, and was denied a continuance when he requested time to obtain one.He had been in a substance abuse rehab program for 60 days prior to the court date. He was told he had to sign the papers agreeing to this arrangement. The father paid $ 800.00 a month child support from September '05 until June '06 when he ran out of money. In Sept '06, the mother gave him $ 20,000 instead of $ 40,000, knowing that he can't afford an attorney to help him collect the money. What recourse does he have?

Thank you very much.


Asked on 10/01/06, 3:56 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Christopher Steuart IT Forensics, Inc.

Re: Parent refusing to pay for share in house jointly owned..

I would be interested in who told you, you had to sign the decree. The decree could still be entered without your signature. Your time to file a motion to vacate has probably run, unless there are exceptional circumstances. As to what your rights are under the decree, the precise language of the decree will be controlling, but in general you can file a motion to compel performance of the terms of the decree. It would look like you have $20,000.00 (less than 1/4 of that would form a good retainer to hire an attorney to force the rest of the money out of your former spouse (and you would seek attorney's fees for the cost of forcing her to comply, and probably get all or a substantial portion of it). Another remedy available to you (independent of collecting the remaining amount due on the property) is to file a motion for modification of the child support (if your incomes would support a modification).

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Answered on 10/01/06, 5:48 pm


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