Divorce decree time limit ignored, so can I take my ex back to court?

[asandness]

Hi. I'm in Colorado. My divorce decree dated 9/15/2011 states that my ex husband is awarded our marital home along with any equity in it. It says that it's worth somewhere around $200,000, but at the time the divorce was finalized, there was no equity due to the housing market conditions, which is why I agreed to these terms. Also, I couldn't afford any more legal fees, so I had to fold on this. This refinance was ordered to take place within 90 days, which means I should have been off the home loan 12/15/11. My ex was not able to refinance due to bad housing market conditions and lack of equity in the home. I am still on the house, and my credit has been affected because I only make about $15,000 a year (I'm also a full time student), so my debt to income ratio is way off. Even my insurance rates have gone up. I have not been able to refinance my car, which I could have done through my credit union at 3% interest had he gotten the house refinanced in the time allowed. Now he finds someone to refinance the house, but I'm wondering if the terms of the divorce decree are void now due to his neglect of the 90 day time period. He affected my credit for over a year while waiting for the market to turn around, leaving me unable to purchase my own property at a lower cost, causing me to spend more money than I had in rent costs, depleting my savings leaving me unable to put a down payment on a home for me and my children. Since the market had turned around, the house across the street, which is the same model as ours, just sold for $210,000. The amount owed on the home is $171,000. My question is, am I entitled to half the equity now, since he breached the contract?
Also, I was supposed to receive half of his 401k, which was only valued at $5,208.36 at the time the divorce was final. He only had 60 days to get that to me, and I am still waiting. This happened to a friend of mine and she was given half of what was in there at the time he finally got around to splitting it up. That's it in a nut shell. I could use some help, please. Thank you.

[Disagreeable]

Re: Divorce decree time limit ignored, so can I take my ex back to court?

Short answer, No. Your only recourse would have been to take him back to court for contempt. His defense would have been market conditions and you would have wasted money.

[Friend In Court]

Re: Divorce decree time limit ignored, so can I take my ex back to court?

Hi. I'm in Colorado. My divorce decree dated 9/15/2011 states that my ex husband is awarded our marital home along with any equity in it. It says that it's worth somewhere around $200,000, but at the time the divorce was finalized, there was no equity due to the housing market conditions, which is why I agreed to these terms. Also, I couldn't afford any more legal fees, so I had to fold on this. This refinance was ordered to take place within 90 days, which means I should have been off the home loan 12/15/11. My ex was not able to refinance due to bad housing market conditions and lack of equity in the home. I am still on the house, and my credit has been affected because I only make about $15,000 a year (I'm also a full time student), so my debt to income ratio is way off. Even my insurance rates have gone up. I have not been able to refinance my car, which I could have done through my credit union at 3% interest had he gotten the house refinanced in the time allowed. Now he finds someone to refinance the house, but I'm wondering if the terms of the divorce decree are void now due to his neglect of the 90 day time period. He affected my credit for over a year while waiting for the market to turn around, leaving me unable to purchase my own property at a lower cost, causing me to spend more money than I had in rent costs, depleting my savings leaving me unable to put a down payment on a home for me and my children. Since the market had turned around, the house across the street, which is the same model as ours, just sold for $210,000. The amount owed on the home is $171,000. My question is, am I entitled to half the equity now, since he breached the contract?
Also, I was supposed to receive half of his 401k, which was only valued at $5,208.36 at the time the divorce was final. He only had 60 days to get that to me, and I am still waiting. This happened to a friend of mine and she was given half of what was in there at the time he finally got around to splitting it up. That's it in a nut shell. I could use some help, please. Thank you.

As to the house refinance, not a prayer on that because despite the order, market conditions made complying with the order an impossibility. That deals with the time lag. However, since market conditions have changed now -- equities up, lenders prodded by new federal programs to refinance, if he does not make attempt then he is foolish.

As to the 401K, however, since he has not complied with the terms of the decree, paid you within 60 days, you can take him back to court for that, contempt. Timing on that would be far better since the market is back to 2007 levels, hovering near 14,000. You just may end up with more than you would have if he had split it in 2011.

[Disagreeable]

Re: Divorce decree time limit ignored, so can I take my ex back to court?

Good point FIC. I missed the 401k issue. OP will likely make some money due to his delay.