Help - sued by my dead fiance's ex-wife

A

aidacloutier

Guest
Jurisdiction
Nevada
I will try to make this as brief as possible.

My fiance unexpectedly passed away on January 13, 2016. We lived together for three years. After his death, his ex-wife (they divorced years before I ever met him and I did not know her) showed up at my home, demanding his possessions for his teenage children, things they could remember him by, etc.. She attempted to force her way into my home and I called the police. Afterwards, she sued me for $7,500.00 in Small Claims Court. Here is where it gets complicated and I need to address three separate issues.

First, she sued me and my older brother who, for a very brief period of time (about 6 months), was a co-signer on my apartment. However, he does not live in this state nor in this city and has never lived here in this state or city. He has never even spent the night in my apartment. He did not know my fiance, had never met nor even spoken to him. Is he liable for any judgement when he is out of state and shouldn't even be involved in this case?

Second, my fiancé had sold off most of his possessions to pay legal fees for his divorce and child custody case. In the years afterwards, anything of value that remained had been pawned, given away or stolen. When I met him, he was virtually indigent, had only two sets of clothing & had been living in his vehicle for months. He had been out of work for a couple of years when I met him and never worked while we were together. I supported him, bought him food & clothing, supplied basic necessities when I could. I'm disabled and live on SSDI, so we lived very frugally. The only things that belonged to my fiance that are in my possession are probably not worth much: an old exercise bike and TV...neither ever worked...a pair of black, cheap bookshelves from Walmart, an old lamp, a pillow and a blanket or two, a $3 Plastic chess set with price tag still attached, a small frame with a few photos, a few tools in a bucket, any empty backpack and a few pieces of clothing. I have already offered to give the ex-wife all of these things, but it seems she prefers cash. So much for the kids "memories." The ex-wife insists that she saw "all kinds of his stuff everywhere" when she tried to get into my apartment. What she actually saw were piles of unmarked boxes filled with my own possessions that I store in my dining room because i could no longer afford to pay for a storage unit. Doesn't she have to prove that I have other possrssions belonging to her ex? Can she simply assume that these boxes are filled things that belonged to her ex without proving it?

Finally, in the weeks following my fiance's death and leading up to the case being heard, I became extremely ill. I was suffering deathly abdominal pain and ćouldn't stand or walk. My doctor put me on bed rest and very strong opiate painkillers until specialists could determine the problem, which turned out to be several subacute hernias. My doctor wrote a letter to the court stating it would be impossible for me to present my case in my condition. A continuance was denied and the judge ruled in the plaintiff's favor by default. I filed a Motion to Set Aside Default Judgement which was granted. I was scheduled for surgery April 25th. A new hearing was scheduled for May 11th. I voiced concern about the lack of recovery time I'd have and asked for a later date, but the plaintiff was beligerant & insistant and the date stood. After my surgery, I became violently and deathly ill. My blood pressure dropped drastically, I developed aspiration pneumonia, and I went into acute kidney and liver failure; the doctors said it was a close one and at one point they didn't think I'd make it. I woke up a week later, unable to sit, stand, talk, walk or eat solid food. I was ultimately transferred to a fulltime skilled nursing facility where I struggled with physical difficulties, speech problems, cognitive issues and memory loss. I was hospitalized from May 2nd to May 24th. The Small Claims Hearing was on May 11th and the judge granted a default judgement to the ex in the amount of $5,400.00!!! This is almost half my annual disability and about 18 times more than the value of everything that my fiancé personally owned! Am I going to be stuck with this because I happened to be deathly ill at the time? Any advice, suggestions, words of encouragement?

Thank you for your time.
 
The judgment can't be enforced against your disability income.
Forget about financial matters and focus on getting over your health problems.
If you're dead NOTHING else will matter.
Live your life.
Forget about stuff, compared to any human life, stuff is just junk.
 
Is he liable for any judgement when he is out of state and shouldn't even be involved in this case?

Yes. Any judgment issued by the court in favor of the plaintiff that has his name on it as a defendant will be enforceable against him.

My doctor wrote a letter to the court stating it would be impossible for me to present my case in my condition. A continuance was denied and the judge ruled in the plaintiff's favor by default.

Predictable. You should have had a lawyer a long time ago.

The Small Claims Hearing was on May 11th and the judge granted a default judgement to the ex in the amount of $5,400.00!!!

I'm sympathetic to your medical position but the judge got it right as you failed to properly address the issues preventing your appearance.

This is almost half my annual disability and about 18 times more than the value of everything that my fiancé personally owned! Am I going to be stuck with this because I happened to be deathly ill at the time? Any advice, suggestions, words of encouragement?

I agree that your disability is exempt from judgment but other assets might not be. And if your brother's name remained as defendant she can go after him for payment if she can't get it from you.

The two of you are not out of the woods yet. I strongly suggest you consult an attorney and see if there is a way out from under this. Your brother may have more to lose than you do so hit him up for lawyer fees if you have to.
 
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