Victim #84: Indentured Servitude in Massachusetts

I am an alimony victim. My own alimony order is, in my view, among the more unjustified. I will give a brief summary and you can judge for yourselves.

My state is Massachusetts.

I met my ex-wife in 1980 when we were 30 and 27 yo respectively. A year later we began dating and did so on and off until 1990. During the dating period she broke it off twice, I was ambivalent.

She had a young son and was getting child support from the ex-husband/father. Summer of 1990 she was in desperate financial straights and about to lose her house. Against my own best judgment I offered to move in and pay rent to her so as to stave off foreclosure.

During the next 4 years we got along pretty well except for a few rocky spots but she began to need health care and escalated her use of my work-provided health plan. I had given her the OK to use its low-level benefits as my "spouse" but I became concerned when she made more extensive use of the plan. Since she needed more health care, and since we were getting along pretty well, I suggested marriage and she agreed; December 1994.

The first couple of years were fine but things went downhill steadily after that. The year 2000 was made a living hell for me by her alcohol abuse which had not previously been evident. She walked away from booze after that year but the damage had been done.

I was resigned to living in a now-loveless marriage because I saw no other way out. She needed continued health care coverage and did not work due to poor health. I thought it might be best for all concerned if we just got along as best we could. She evidently did not feel that way about it.

After years of empty threats of divorce she sought counsel (unknown to me) in the summer of 2004 and wanted to file but her lawyer put it off until January 2005 because that makes it, in the eyes of my state's probate courts, a "long-term marriage" (10 years or more).

Now, during the marriage I had refinanced the mortgage on the house, lowering the monthly payments in the process, and reduced the amount owed on it by about $30,000. Those facts, plus being legally married, made me feel like I had a legitimate claim to partial ownership of the house though it was originally hers and the deed remained in her name.

I was more than willing to walk away from any claim of partial house ownership in return for a clean break but that was not in the cards; they wanted alimony.

Now, it is important to point out here that I owed my ex-wife NOTHING! She made me no loans, she did not do anything to support my job (a job I had before, during, and after our relationship), she did not help me go to school, she did not do my laundry, she did not go shopping for me, she did not prepare bag lunches for me to take to work, and she did not cook for me with any regularity (when we shared meals she did virtually all of the cooking but I paid for virtually all of the ingredients). It can not be said that she ever did anything for me for which alimony could be seen as a remedy as means of repayment.

Anything she may have done for me can easily be balanced by those things I did for her so it was all a wash. On the other hand, it is a simple matter to argue that it was she who was in debt to me. As a result of our relationship her monthly mortgage payments were now at least 10% lower and the total amount owed on the mortgage was almost 50% lower.

At the original hearing a standard deal was struck: she keeps all of the house, I keep all of my pension, and I pay alimony ($150. per week, almost 25% of my take-home pay). My lawyer was to construct the final document for her signature. She balked at some of the language in the final agreement, got pissed actually, because it stated that if she married another man 'or woman' then the alimony would cease. She went ballistic at the mention of 'another woman' because she thought she was being accused of being a lesbian. I tried to explain to her that it only reflected the new boilerplate required in Massachusetts since gay marriage here is now legal but she was not mollified.

They now demanded the alimony be doubled to $300. Well, that was unacceptable. I simply was unable to pay that much so I refused, and that forced a trial which greatly increased my legal bills (while she was getting free legal counsel). The judge also warned ominously that she felt the new alimony demand was reasonable and that I might be wasting my time and money going to trial. At the trial I made the case that the marriage s****d and was basically over after only 5 years. I also was able to convince the court I was unable to pay $300. per week due to my own cost of living which includes very large credit card debt caused by the marriage.

After hearing the full details from my side the judge gave me a partial break: alimony was increased to "only" $200. per week instead of $300. and I would only have to keep her on my current job-provided health plan and NOT have to continue supplying health coverage for her once that plan is lost.

As earlier agreed to she gets all of the house and I keep all of my pension. Left unexplained are two points: 1) why should she have any claim on my pension in the first place since I did all the work and she did not, in ANY way, help me do that work nor did she "give up" anything so that I could do that work, and 2) how the hell am I supposed to continue paying alimony after I retire if: a) all of my pension is mine and b) all of my money comes from my pension every month (which will be the case)? If I must continue paying alimony after retirement then those payments must come from my pension checks since I am left with only debts and no savings. Go figure.

That is pretty much my whole story. The judge as much as admitted that if "I" did not help support my ex-wife then the state would wind up helping to support her since she is, technically, disabled due to poor health. Now, I don't want to sound insensitive, but once I was divorced from her, and once all debts between us were settled, what the hell is the argument for ordering me to contribute to her support indefinitely? I mean, they might as well pick some poor schmuck out of the phone book at random, select some poor needy woman off the welfare rolls at random, and order the man to start sending her checks.

IMHO, my case is a clear violation of............................

13th. Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a
punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted,
shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their
jurisdiction.

Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.

Sorry this ran so long but it felt good to pour it all out.

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Victim #83: How The Slaves Are Treated In Court

I am a victim of a Domestic Dispute. I cannot afford an Attorney and I am concerned that as a result my Ex-Wife's jealousy, anger, and malice that I will be put in jail for failure to pay my court ordered alimony and child support. I do not know where to turn because my Ex-Wife has not only sabotaged my vehicle but also my job as well. I am concerned that since I cannot afford an Attorney that she will get away with this and only get braver and continue to wreak havoc on my life.

My Ex-Wife was entitled to a free Legal Aid Attorney and I could not afford an Attorney so as a result I got stuck paying substantial and unfair amount of Child Support as well as Alimony. It was not enough that my Ex-Wife got over half of my paycheck and I was forced to work overtime in order to survive but she has also managed to alienate my children from me in the process.

I was hoping to be able to work enough overtime so that I could someday afford an Attorney to help me reduce my child support and alimony payments and possibly help me stop my Ex-Wife from further turning my children against me. I dreamed of the day that I could visit with my children again and speak with them on the phone without the interference and harassment from my Ex-Wife.

Then I started having trouble with my car. I found out that sugar was dumped into the gas tank of my car. I suspected that my Ex-Wife might have something to do with it but at that point I had no way of proving it. So then I had to use any overtime or extra money to try and fix my car. Fortunately, I was able to keep my job because I was able to catch rides to work with my Co-Workers.

At this point when I thought that things were bad enough with the car trouble and disintegrating relationship with my children then things went from bad to worse. It seems that my Ex-Wife is never satisfied. Every time I think that things are as bad as they can possibly get my Ex-Wife comes along and causes more hate and discontent.

We have been divorced for over six months now and reside in separate states and I still cannot manage to get rid or her. I hope that maybe if I share my ordeal with you that maybe you can possibly point me in the right direction or refer me to someone who can help me. I feel that I am at my ropes end.

I was employed at a correctional facility for over two years in Tennessee. It appears that My Ex-Wife has created an Online Internet profile using my personal and private information and taken a nude photo of me that I was unaware existed since our divorce and has been using it against me to seek revenge.

I have attempted to report such to my local authorities as well as the FBI to no avail. When I called my local Sherif's Dept. to report what my Ex-Wife is doing to me they told me that it was a case for the FBI because not only was it out of the jurisdiction but also because they are not equip to handle Internet Crimes. When I called the FBI they referred me back to my local authorities. No one wants to assist me and I cannot afford an Attorney at this time. I feel that I should not be denied my right to justice due to the fact that I cannot afford an attorney. Below, I will attempt to explain the details of my ordeal.

While at my residence during my off duty time, I received a phone call requesting that I report to the warden's office at the facility immediately. I arrived at the facility and proceeded directly to the Warden's office as instructed where I met the him and the chief of security.

After being seated, the warden brought a photo up on the monitor of his computer. The
picture was of me wearing a hat, an unbuttoned shirt, with my penis exposed. He then asked me if I recognized the picture and if it was of me. I answered yes to both questions while adding that the picture was old. The warden then read some information off to me, which seemed to be from an online profile, my name, age, location, etc. This information included the fact that I worked for a corrections facility in which I would never include in an online profile. At this point, the warden eformed me that I was terminated effective immediately without allowing me any opportunity to say much less explain anything.

The warden then went on to further state that a concerned parent of a 15 year old girl had filed a complaint with the corporate office stating that I had emailed this photo to her daughter and that she had filed a police report on the matter. He then told me that the Sheriff's office would be looking for me as a result of the matter. I then signed the paperwork that he presented to me as well as surrendering my employee ID. I then departed his office as well as the facility. The whole entire process took less than 5 minutes.

I then proceeded directly to the Sheriffs office and checked to see if they were in fact looking for me. A captain Investigations Dept. stated that they were not looking for me. I then left my name and phone number with them and headed home. To this date, I have not received any phone calls from the Sheriffs Dept. I also went as far as to check with the County Sheriffs dept. where I reside as well just in case and they are not looking for me either.

I cannot help but to wonder if anyone cared if the accusations were in fact the truth or not because no one took into consideration that I no longer reside in Florida like the alleged profile had stated, not to mention the fact that if I did send that picture, why would I set myself up to be caught by providing the victim with information that would get me caught?

The warden would not give me any information as to who filed the complaint or the alleged email address that I had allegedly sent this photo from. I feel that the lack of information hindered me from clearing my name and proving my innocence.

To my knowledge, there was no investigation conducted by anyone at correctional facility prior to terminating my employment. I feel that this was very unfair not to mention unprofessional. I believe that I was considered guilty without an opportunity to prove otherwise. Even the Inmates are given a hearing and an opportunity to prove themselves innocent prior to having disciplinary action taken against them. I feel that as an employee of the facility that I should have been given at least equal treatment and consideration as the Inmates if not more.

The reason that I believe that my ex-wife is the one that either sent or had this email sent to to correctional facility is because on earlier she emailed my new Wife with the photo and threatened to call the warden as well as correctional facility about it. Not to mention all of the times that she threatened my job as well as my Wife's job on numerous occasions via telephone and emails. In addition to this my daughter threatened our jobs as well via E-mails, Instant
Messages, as well as the telephone. My daughter threatened to have my Wife and I sent to jail in her last E-mail to us.

No one took into consideration the fact that I had filed a Report in reference to threats and harassment by my Ex-Wife. I also discussed the ongoing harassment by my Ex-Wife. On numerous occasions she called my Wife and I at the facility as well as at home not to mention the emails threatening our jobs, etc.

During third shift while I was off duty, my Ex-Wife showed up at the facility looking for me and made threats against me to the officers who was assigned to post that night. He informed me that she threatened me bodily harm and that she was at the facility looking for me when I returned to work. Therefore it was not like the Supervisors as well as the Administration at the facility were unaware of the threats and ongoing harassment by my Ex-Wife.

After my divorce was final, the harassing and threatening phone calls began in the next month after my Ex-Wife found out that I was seeing my now Wife who was working. My Ex-Wife called and discussed my personal relationship with the Warden and Assistant Warden. I could not help but to notice that after my Ex-Wife talked with my Supervisors as well as the Wardens that my job environment changed drastically in many ways.

I am now not only without a job but also without a car as well. I started having car trouble shortly after my Ex-Wife found out about Andrea. Upon having my car looked at by a mechanic sugar was discovered in the gas tank of my car. I have had my car in the garage for repairs on at least three occasions since and spent at least $1100 trying to have it repaired and it is still not running. Now, I am without a job and as a result have no funds to have it repaired nor can I afford to purchase another vehicle.

In January, my daughter sent my Wife an Instant Message saying that she knew what happened to my car but when my Wife questioned her she logged off. This confirms my suspicion that My Ex-Wife put sugar in the gas tank of my car in hopes that I would have no transportation to work and lose my job as a result.

Now since her sabotaging my vehicle not cause me to lose my job now she sent the nude photo of me pretending to be the a concerned parent saying that I sent the nude photo of myself to a minor in order to get me fired for ethics and morality violations. My Ex-Wife has told me on numerous occasions that she wanted very badly to see me to go to jail for failure to pay child support as well as Alimony. I feel that she is trying to make that happen while hiding behind a screename in cyberspace. Without a job and my car it makes it very difficult for me to pay my court ordered child support and alimony.

I have since filed a grievance with the corrections facility explaining what I believed happened in hopes of getting my job back. I am very concerned that if my job is not reinstated that it will make it very difficult for me to find another job. I am already hearing about slanderous rumors that are circulating in reference to why I lost my job. I am very concerned that my Ex-Wife has succeeded in damaging my reputation to the point that I will never work in the Corrections or Law Enforcement field again.

In my opinion, it is not right that someone can get away with a crime because our Law enforcement agencies are still living in the dark ages. It is just not right that because my Ex-Wife used the Internet to seek revenge that I cannot receive any justice in this matter without an attorney. It is just not fair that my Ex-Wife can get away with getting me fired from this job because she used to Internet to disguise herself. Not to mention the fact that my Ex-Wife is entitled to a Legal Aid Attorney and I am not. I do not feel that it is right that I have always worked and she seldom did and she is entitled to free legal representation while I am not. I do not feel that is at all fair that I am denied of any justice because I cannot afford an Attorney and my free loading Ex-Wife sits at home and meditates all day long on how to wreak further havoc on my life and she gets free legal representation but I work hard in order to pay her alimony and child support and I have to suffer without any legal representation.

It angers me that someone can hide behind a screename and say or do anything without any consequences for their actions. Now I am in fear of going to jail for failure to pay child support and alimony thanks to my Ex-Wife. So now my Ex-Wife may get her wish that I go to jail because I cannot afford an Attorney to stop her. It is just not fair that because I have to give her over half of my salary that I cannot afford an Attorney and she is entitled to a Legal Aid Attorney. Not to mention that the fact that she cannot get away with harassing me and bleeding me dry and I cannot do anything about it because I cannot afford an Attorney.

I feel that just because I cannot afford an Attorney that I should not be denied of my rights or any justice in this matter.

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Victim #83: Trapped in America

My lawyer told me appeal was useless, turns out she was the judge's best friend! It probably was useless, though, and I was emotionally and physically exhausted. I have been told that I can go back now because she has a job, house paid off, etc....but I'm not holding my breath.

My situation was pretty classic: marriage a little over 10 years, profession, and their goal was very clear from the beginning... .to get 50% of my NET INCOME....alimony plus child support. My mistake was following the American illusion and doing exactly what I was supposed to do.....work hard, get an education, take care of your family. There is no need to take care of your family. With a single finger your wife can call a lawyer and the court will MAKE YOU DO IT.

I have paid alimony for over 10 years. I never dreamed I would be trapped in America. You can bet it will only get worse if the Democrat socialists get in full power. As far as I am concerned they have "thrown the book" at me and have gotten all they could get. Sounds like they have done the same to you. Good luck, but don't hold your breath. Welcome to America, brother!

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Victim #82: He Thought It Couldn't Happen To Him

I used to ignore people that were going through a divorce. I thought that the courts were fair and if people had something to complain about it was probably because they got something they deserve.

Not until I experienced the nightmare of divorcing my wife, who I recently found is bipolar, that I began to understand how unfair family court can really be and how much damage the system can inflict on someones life. As a matter fact they have the power to destroy your life.

This is my second time I am going through this. Back in 2005 my wife was involved in a fraudulent mortgage business and was make an insane amount of money. When I realize the risks she was taking and understood that eventually she was going to get caught and end up in jail leaving me to raise my two boys alone I begged her to stop. Instead of listening to my reasonable reasons she started to resent me and accuse me of being jealous.

In a matter of months she got me arrested for alleged domestic violence, got a falsified domestic violence injunction against me and kept me from seeing my kids for 28 days. She humiliated me for almost five months. All of the sudden she realized that she did not need me anymore, she kept me out of our business with the DVI and controlled everything. I had to drop my children at a friend's house and after she moved to a gated community I could not pass the gate to drop them off or to pick them up.

About three weeks after I was arrested and could not go back to my home, she filed for divorce and place an offer on a very expensive home about three blocks from where we used to live. She moved very quickly and a few more weeks she moved to into this new house.

Not long after she moved to her new home her mortgage business collapsed after the real estate bubble burst and her income was reduced to nothing. Our other business, the travel agency was in the hands of an employee who was helping himself to our money as well as my wife.

Something went wrong on the affair she was having with him and all of the sudden she began talking to me again. To make a long story short we end up getting back together. I was very naive in thinking she wanted me back and realized she made a mistake. I had no clue of what was going on and I just wanted to come back home to her and to my children.

As soon as I came back home I started to see the mess she got herself into. She overpaid for this house and she financed 100% of its value. Now we had some big problems, the mortgage payments were close to $5,000 per month and the house we used to live was vacant and the mortgage there was $2,700.00 per month. The travel agency was on the verge of bankruptcy. We started to borrow money from an equity line and got into some heavy debt.

I did some detective work and found the where abouts of closing papers of the house she bought when I was away. To my surprise I realized that my signature had been forged when she closed the purchase, the paper work was notarized and two of the Title Company's employees signed as witness of my presence at the closing. All this took place when we were separated and there was a domestic violence injunction against me. Off course my wife never mentioned anything to me until I confronted her.

The situation got worst in every aspect and it was no different in our relationship. I kept a very close eye on her every move, I did no trust her to begin with and now I just could not let my guard down.

One more time I decide to do the right thing. Try to fix the problem that is. I stayed and try to put the house on the market, nobody was going to pay what she owed the bank. We kept on borrowing to make the payments. We rented our former house and the negative cash flow was now $1,000 per month.

After all that happen I thought she had learned the lesson and would stop. A few months later she was doing it again, This time she was buying another home that used to belong to her brother which was being foreclosed on. Again, I tried to stop her but she never had any respect for me. I knew my marriage was over and few months later I moved out of my home for good. She filed for divorce two weeks after I moved out.

It's being six months since I moved out, she has made my life a living hell. The court granted her primary custody of my children and I only get to see them once every other week and I visit with them twice a week for a few hours. Prior to that court order, I shared 50-50 custody with my wife.

She controls our business and I got a job that is not even paying for my living expenses and the child support that takes about 30% of my net income. She kept all money we had in the bank accounts. I can not even afford my attorney, I am broke and running out of credit.

Four months ago, after I moved out she bought a smaller home. She knew she could not afford to make payment on the house any longer and again committed fraud to buy this other home. She told the bank it was an investment property and she was not going to live there. She signed an occupancy affidavit stating that, otherwise the bank would never grant her the loan knowing that she was going to abandon the large house after the closing.

As soon as she got the loan and purchased the new home she moved out of the large home and stopped making the payments on it. The bank initiated foreclosure procedures and the paper work was served to her and to me on October 14 , 2008. I just found out a few days ago when she dropped my copies at my house on November 23, 2008 when it was too late to do anything about it. I had twenty days to answer but forty days had passed.

I had no choice but to go to the police and tell everything that happens. An investigation will start soon I hope. Meanwhile the house was in the market and apparently the bank accepted a short sale. The house is now schedule to close on December 4, 2008.

I decide not to sign anything and without my signature she can not sell the house. Since I did not sign anything to buy it, it's better if I stay clear of this transaction. Incredibly enough she got her attorney to call for an emergency hearing to get to the court to force me to sign the papers on the closing day.

I heard from a few attorneys that I can not file suit against the title company and the notary because I had no financial loss. It's hard for me to understand since this law suit against me will damage my name. I need help and all the advise I can get. I need to go after this Title Company and the notary. I understand they have insurance for this kind of thing.

I can not understand how my wife is getting away with this so far but I need to go after the title company and the notary as soon as I can in Civil court as well as criminal court. One of my fears is that, with all of the financial fiasco she has created, she has put herself into a position where she earns less than me and will be seeking permanent alimony, since we were married for 17 years.

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Victim #81: No Hope For Justice In Tennessee

I don't have any illusions that I will even remotely find justice with the judge in my case. She is so bad that she has had almost 50% of her judgments overturned and has been censured for incompetence. I am planning on living in this indentured servitude prison for the rest of my life and have been looking at plans B and C. No-one but people in this group seem to understand and when I speak of any of this to someone in the general population they just don't believe it. I think that's how the legal eagles get away with it.

I have already had to pay everything since the divorce with the exception of HER legal fees from her expensive legal bastard (even though she tried like hell to have me pay). The sad thing is since I have to continue to pay alimony to her, I am unable to help my kids who are in college like I want to.....or my ailing parents...every time I think of it my blood pressure goes up. Right now I'm unemployed, but guess what? Yup, I still have to pay the bitch regular alimony and meanwhile, my kids don't understand and my father continues to need an expensive nursing home.

No revolution can occur without enough people knowing about it. I have been thinking about ways to start getting the truth out here in Tennessee. The problem is that nobody gives a rat's ass about alimony unless THEY have to pay it.

Also if you will notice there is no such entity as a SINGLE DAD. Even when I had custody of my 12 year old daughter, I was a DIVORCED DAD. Even the YMCA had a special discount program for SINGLE MOM'S which was the definition of my ex-wife who had custody of our good behaving daughter. The one I had was the bad behaving daughter who she just kicked out one night (and tried to keep getting child support for both in addition to alimony).

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