Failure to pay Equalizer.

[Larry Long]

Jurisdiction

Minnesota

So our divorce is final and she owes me an equalizer payment that is due at the end of this month. She already told me she doesn't have the money. She gets the house outright after this is all said and done. The house is pay-off but possibly still in her parents name. What action(s) can I take if she fails to pay?

 

[adjusterjack]

A divorce decree is the equivalent of a judgment. If she doesn't pay by the deadline date specified in the decree you should be able to file for wage garnishment (if she's working) or levy her bank account.

Or you can file for contempt and see how that goes.

Nothing you can do with the house if she doesn't own it. Probably nothing you can do with the house if she does own it because MN has a homestead exemption from judgment of $390,000.

You are probably going to be very limited in your ability to collect if she doesn't have the money.

Talk to your lawyer but be careful about potentially spending thousands to chase an empty pot.

 

[Larry Long]

If she tries to get a mortgage and I have a judgement against her, she has to pay the judgement first, right?

 

[army judge]

If she tries to get a mortgage and I have a judgement against her, she has to pay the judgement first, right?

No.

A judgment debtor doesn't have to do anything, much less pay the judgment creditor.

The judgment holder, that would you, must endeavor to collect the judgment.

Let's say your deadbeat finds a briefcase full of $100 bills totaling 500,000 (US Dollars).

The deadbeat buys a house for $400,000 using cash.

You'd have to discover the transaction and slap a lien against the house.

You still don't have one US Dollar from the deadbeat.

Deadbeat judgment debtors can live for decades escaping the grasp of the judgment creditor.

I'm sure you recall the $30,000,000 judgment against OJ Simpson, right?

To date only about $400-500K has been collected against that 30 mill.

That Wily Coyote never touched that clever roadrunner, did he, mate?

She might get a mortgage, many slicksters obtain same in the name of a close relative, friend, sucker, or lover.

If she does but not in her name, all you can do is curse under your breath.

 

[adjusterjack]

If she tries to get a mortgage and I have a judgement against her, she has to pay the judgement first, right?

No. Not voluntarily, anyway. A mortgage company, having knowledge of the debt/lien could require her to pay it before granting her a mortgage.

Unfortunately, just having a decree isn't enough to notify the mortgage company that there is a debt.

Read the following article:

Lien In: The Use and Abuse of Marital Liens « Bench and Bar of Minnesota

Talk to your attorney about getting the lien recorded as public record so it comes up in a title search.