How Do I File Motion to Impose Jail? Willl my ex actually be put in jail?

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courtreporterscopist

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Part of my original divorce agreement in 2004 stated that my ex had to pay an outstanding IRS debt from his OWN company that the IRS assessed us with. The IRS assessed me because I was the one who brought them all the tax filings and checkbook register when it came time to speak to a revenue officer.

This is truly NOT my debt in any way & the IRS is not trying to "collect" it from me, they have me showing as "uncollectable" in their files because I showed them my divorce as well as the Articles Of Inc. for his company showing I have NO link to the IRS Employee Withholding Taxes that my ex failed to pay.

Fast forward to May 2010 - I took my ex to court because this judgment lien on my credit is an ugly blemish especially when I am starting a new career. The Judgment Entry dated on this day reads:

"Plaintiff (my ex) acknowledges that he is in contempt of the court's November 2007 Judgment Entry."

"Plaintiff is adjudged guilty of contempt of court and is sentenced to 15 days in jail, sentence is suspended provided Plaintiff purge the contempt by paying to Defendant back her IRS refund which was seized by the IRS. As a further purge condition, Plaintiff shall contact the IRS and make payment arrangements with the Agency so Defendant's future tax refund checks will not be intercepted. He shall show proof of this on or before July 1, 2010."

Due to how volatile our divorce has been, and for the sake of peace around our child, I didn't force my hand on July 1, 2010 when he failed to show proof of contacting the IRS. Yes, he did pay me back my seized refund during a 10 month period. However, I have contacted the IRS every single month to find out if there have been any changes, payments, POA for lawyers, or any activity on the balance owed. Due to the fact that I was assessed, the IRS can give me only that information, but that's all the information I need. I also asked for quarterly statements which finally sent me over the edge with this most recent statement.

Now the IRS Penalties & Interest have surpassed the amount of the tax liability & what used to be a $9,960 tax debt is now over $22K.

On July 1, 2011 (yes this year) I filed a motion to show cause because I thought that since he already purged this and plead guilty that the Magistrate would haul him back to court. Much to my surprise the Magistrate called me and told me to do the following: File a Motion to Dismiss Show Cause AND file a Motion To Impose Jail Sentence.

She also said it has to go before "real" judge at this point because she doesn't have the legal capacity as a Magistrate to sign a warrant for his arrest.

I am afraid that if I file the Motion to Dismiss that the court will view this as the "debt is settled" and then I am supposed to file a Motion To Impose Jail Sentence right behind the one I am dismissing. Why does the court ask you to file a Motion to Dismiss even though you are going to turn right around and ask them to Impose Jail?

If the judge signs this, does this mean that he will have a warrant out for his arrest or that the police will go directly to his house and arrest him? I have very deep scars and pain from this divorce yet, (yes I go to counseling weekly) I still have tons of compassion and concerns about my small child seeing daddy put in handcuffs at home and then taken away in a police car. My child has been through enough and I want to do this with some grace.

Can anyone please explain the first Motion to me and guide me to a website that shows examples of these types of Motions?[/B] I can and will file this on my own, and I am more than prepared to go before the judge with more than enough proof to show that he has NOT contacted the IRS.

This will be the first time that I have taken him this far in court for things in our divorce and I know for a fact that if a police officer shows up at his door that he will resist arrest. My son has seen such ugliness brought against me by my ex and his new wife and I am trying to minimize his exposure to this as well.

I am asking anyone who has experience with a Motion to Impose in NE Ohio whether or not they execute the warrant and go pick him up or if they send him a letter to inform him there is a warrant. Any suggestions on websites that show examples of the proper verbiage for both motions would be GREATLY appreciated. Once I get over that hurdle I am fine doing the rest of this pro-se for this day in court. Unfortunately, there are more days in court for other things and I will post in the proper forums.

The forms are always a nightmare and I don't want anything coming back to me in the mail because I didn't word the Motions correctly. I know how to do my affidavits, Instructions for Service as well as all the other forms that go with court filings. I would be grateful if someone could guide me to a small slice of heaven that has tons of examples from prior filings in every area of the court.

I can't get an attorney as this divorce and the harassment that has followed over the past 5 years have left me broke, I truly have to do this one on my own plus, it's a slam dunk once the judge sees the legwork I have done and the IRS documents I have amassed. He has nothing to deny at this point, so he has to face this one so I can get it off my credit.

Thank you for your responses. Please redirect me if I posted in the wrong section.
 
You are fighting the good fight. Many people fight the good fight, to no avail. Bums like the deadbeat you divorced don't care about paying taxes, going to jail, paying their debts, or behaving responsibly.

All motions aside, here's the bad news, that deadbeat will never see one hour in jail (less alone 10 days) because he owes a debt.

The magistrate overstepped her bounds. I suspect the jail provision was to force this deadbeat's commence with her order. The deadbeat, being wise to the system, called her bluff.

We don't send people to jail for non-payment of private debts. No little Ohio magistrate can enforce and enjoin federal (IRS) collections.

You're stuck between a rock and a proverbial hard place, in my legal view. Who knows, someone else may have something more useful and promising for you. Don't get your hopes up, the deadbeat hosed you again!!!
 
Response to Judge's post

Thank you for your quick response. Do you ever sleep? You are all over this site! I love it, and the valuable information you provide. Now as far as him going to jail, why would ANY court threat this if they weren't going to do it? They put men in jail for non-payment of child support in this state.

There is more meat & potatoes to why he may just go to jail this time. First, this tax debt is part of our divorce agreement. It was born out of his first company for non-payment of employee withholding taxes. That was in 1999.

Then I incorporated MY own company in 2000 and I ran the books squeaky clean & when he started the same crap he did in the past: stealing from construction sites, filing false insurance claims that someone stole his tools from the jobsite over the long weekend, Worker's Comp. lies, & just way too many "cash" jobs for my comfort level. Too much to try and explain away at a later date so I started to wind the company down in Ohio.

I suggested we go out West and that I had a great job offer, so he stayed behind & ran MY company so I could fulfill prior projects without leaving people in the lurch. We commuted back & forth with our 1 yr old child so that we could see each other every 4 weeks.

In Jan. 2004 I noticed HUGE changes in his appearance when he came home for a visit out West. My radar was up and it took not 1 but 4 times until I had solid evidence of an affair. I obtained this info. on Feb. 12 and presented it to him on Feb. 14 when he was back in Ohio. I said "I'm done, your out, and you need to move in with your new "girlfriend!"

That night he tried to kill himself. Wasn't til our divorce out West that I find out from his hospital records in court that this was his 4th suicide attempt. Stupid me - he literally found yet another new girlfriend on at a bar on May 13, 2004 the same year as his suicide attempt - say 120 days after the suicide attempt and I'm not lying when I say she let him move right in!!! Oh my goodness, and she is loaded!!! Huge long & short term savings plan at her job, 2 acre property w/a very nice house & she foots the bill for his legal battle out West to the tune of about $120K when it was all done and said.

Back to his great business ethics - during divorce proceedings he proudly ranted on the stand in front of the judge that he owns his own construction company. Makes a fool of himself by saying "I bought it with $13,000 worth of debt from the prior owner" He thought this was a great thing to do. Soooooo here is where he tripped on his ummm you know what.

New GF steps in and buys him a $54,000 work truck & rents him a small industrial office for God knows what. In this business of building homes, you put your tools in your work trailer and it goes home with you. I knew exactly what this little office was for and by the 3rd month of him being w/her he was already cheating!!

So, he has NOTHING in his name except this construction company and ALL employees are given a 1099 at the end of the year. This helps him avoid his child support payment of $623/month for about 2 years.

I did nothing but pay attention to what he would brag about and then it hit me - he's signing blank corporate checks to his wife and SHE fills them out for everything from kids swim lessons, to plasma TVs, over 8 game consoles in her home, CRAZY gift giving during the holidays to the children and alas we have embezzlement.

But, this meant she could see the business' bank statements and he needed a slush fund to cheat so what does he do? He opens a checking account using the first initial of each childs name as a second corporate account. He did NOT use his Fed Id# to open this second account so when he was in a bragging mood again, I listened and found out that he used one of this children's SS#s to open that second business account.

So he funnels at least $100K to his wife with blank, signed company checks which she doesn't claim on her tax return. He doesn't file a corporate tax return, but he does file a personal return and for the last 3 years he has owed the state of Ohio and the IRS so he gets NO refund and Ohio has 3 judgment liens in our town at our courthouse for the last 3 years of unpaid STATE taxes.

The IRS cannot and will not go after his current checking account with his "new" company because they said that's not permitted by their rules. So, I hope that when I present my motion to the judge that he signs it and puts him in jail.

I realize you are from Texas, and a Judge, but I hope that the presiding Judge here sees the trail of: fraud, embezzlement, and illegal activities he and his wife are committing and sign a warrant for his arrest. Even if he goes to jail for 1 day, I guarantee that his big mouth will get him into trouble for resisting arrest, assaulting a police officer as well as a small menu of other things he is bound to be charged with. He has done it in the past.

He was arrested 10 years ago and even when he was in handcuffs, his mouth made the police officer SO mad that he maced him while in cuffs just to shut him up.

I'm fighting the hard fight so if you have any info. on where I can find decent examples of "Motions to Impose Jail Sentence" PLEASE pass them along to me.

Grateful and appreciative!!!
 
Very little of that is actually relevant.

I agree with AJ - the magistrate SERIOUSLY overstepped her bounds there.

Try calling an Ohio attorney first thing in the morning. But I think you should honestly accept the likely reality that he won't be going anywhere any time soon.

If you have proof of illegal wrongdoings (and I'm not talking about support issues now), contact the DA. The DA's office will determine whether or not they'll press criminal charges.

And I hate to say this - but given his history, I think you could be gravely underestimating your ex. He's obviously capable of keeping his mouth shut when it matters....
 
How did the Magistrate over HER boundaries? She merely had her assistant contact me after I filed a "Show Cause Motion" to tell me that I have already gone through those steps and that my next step is that I need to file the "Motion to Impose" but only our Judge on the second floor of the courthouse signs them.

She had the presence of mind to know that this was a part of this case that was out of her hands. She has been seeing me and my ex in court for the last 4 years for various things and she knows the case well. Shouldn't she be given credit for knowing what her legal limits are?

I always expect that my ex won't listen to any court order given to him BUT when the last motion was filed last year in 2010 he did pay back my IRS refund that was seized.

My ex doesn't run the courthouse nor does he write the rules of any court therefore, underestimating him just because he keeps his mouth shut doesn't discount the fact that the IRS still shows the debt and the court will put him in jail for contempt.

The Magistrate was kind enough to give me a courtesy call to let me know that only a Judge can sign a bench warrant and that I had filed the wrong forms in the wrong part of the courthouse.

There were several more questions in my original post that I could still use answers on with regard to the verbiage of the forms.

Is there ANY judge out there that says they sign bench warrants and then tell the police not to arrest the person who he signed a warrant for?

While I am going to file the form with the Judges name on it instead of the Magistrate, the most important thing I continue to ask in my posts is does anyone know of a good resource for examples of ALL Motions that can be filed in the court that contain a more professional setting in the body of the "Motion?" As I mentioned, I am able to do all of the other forms that have to be submitted with the "Motion to Impose" It would just be nice to see how other attorneys word their Motions.

And for further information, we live in a super small town, and they DO arrest people here all the time for stupid things. Our police force arrests minors on the spot if they are caught smoking cigarettes, the police have arrested people in my neighborhood for yelling or talking too loud when they are being questioned.

Can anyone point me in the direction of any libraries, courthouses that are all online or a website I can visit that has past and current court forms that are part of an ongoing case so I can read and learn the verbiage by good example?

My divorce outlined that my ex pay for my move back across country - as it was my idea to move back here so my son could be near both of his parents. The COURTS figured out how much the entire move would cost including paying for the deposit and 2 months rent on a new home for me and my child, as well as an amount of money for me to buy a used car and it came to $16,000 which he FAILED to pay. Once again I took him to court and he paid when threatened with jail time.

The State of Ohio does arrest people, so why are people posting that they won't act on an arrest warrant even after the fact that he purged his contempt and agreed to start paying back the IRS by July 2010 knowing that he would eventually go to jail? Are there any Ohio attorneys who can answer this question that are familiar with Geauga, Lake County Courts?

I actually still just need the correct terminology for the Motion to Impose Jail.

Thank You.
 
It IS actually possible to file such a motion in Ohio but it's difficult to get it approved pro se (from recent case law).

See that attorney first thing.[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure at what time it became difficult for ANY person to get a court document approved because they are representing themselves (pro-se) I DO know that all courts kind of cringe when someone does come into the courtroom as pro-se because you are expected to know ALL the same things that a lawyer knows as well as all court procedures. I have been playing ring around the rosy with my ex for 5 years and unfortunately, I have known which times to represent myself and which times I'm out of my league.

But, I do know that I have filed SEVERAL pro-se "Motions" against my ex in this town and I have been treated fairly, but I have also gone into the Magistrates chambers pitted against my ex's attorney and I have come out unscathed on each occasion.

The current "Motion" that I started a year ago has all been done pro-se and thus far, I have won 50% of the action I was bringing against my ex. Now it's time to hit a little heavier. Would any of you want someone elses $22K IRS debt sitting on your credit? I think not. So, he is liable for it and the IRS has a department in Fresno, CA that handles the illegal activities he is currently performing within his current company. I am working this from both the court's end as well as the fraud unit at the IRS.

My ultimate goal here isn't to continue twisting a knife in his back, my goal is to recover from this divorce financially, I have gone back to school full time, I have just completed Judicial Court Reporting courses over the past 2 years & I have just been accepted into the Medical Billing & Coding Program at my local college so I can provide a VERY stable future for my child. I know his dad isn't going to be there for him because dad has always said "I don't care how many people including the IRS I owe money to, I have no problem being a "cash" customer for whatever I need in life and my wife has good credit so I don't have to worry about paying taxes or charge offs"

Well his wife won't be around forever, she just battled some pretty bad cancer and everything she owns is already signed over to her sons in the event of her death. She has put him on nothing that she owns because she knows the IRS will seize her home, cars, property, and retirement if she has him on any of her documents. He truly is a leech and she knew this up front yet she wanted a husband and she found him 3 months after he tried to kill himself while she was out at the bar.

All in all, our courts can't turn away a pro-se client, but they do caution you to know the laws for your type of case which I do. I just want to view examples of "Motion to Impose Jail" so I put enough into the motion.

Thanks You
 
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