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Bankruptcy, then Divorce, and then Contempt

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  • 01-09-2012, 12:27 PM
    rdrunner29
    Bankruptcy, then Divorce, and then Contempt
    My question involves bankruptcy in the state of: Maryland

    I filed for a Chapter 7 at the end of 2009, and due to inclement weather in the area, I did not have the 341 meeting until later, and it was successfully discharged in March of 2010.
    I also was in the process of divorce and had run out of funds to pay a divorce attorney so I was pro se, and the divorce was taking place in another state, and I had already used all of my vacation time by the time the hearing rolled around in November of 2010.
    Long story short, my ex-wife drove out of state with the vehicle which the payments had been discharged in the Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
    Well, due to me not having an attorney and being pro se from Maryland, her attorney would not even tell me what they were asking for. If I had known that she wanted to keep the vehicle, I would have protested then that those payments had been discharged more than a half a year before the divorce hearing, which she was well aware of the fact that I had filed for a Chapter 7.
    The family court judge awarded her the vehicle and me the payments, which I am not able to make. I did ask my bankruptcy attorney, and he said he does not understand how in the world a family court is ordering not only that I pay the discharged debt but also make up all late payments! He added that no one can order me to pay debts that were discharged debts!
    Now, her and her attorney are trying to hold me in contempt for not paying those payment. I have retained a family law attorney in GA, where the divorce was, and he is totally perplexed by the situation.
    My thinking is that I should challenge the jurisdiction since my bankruptcy was held in the state where I am a resident, Maryland.
    Please, anyone with advice or real world examples, your responses would be appreciated!
  • 01-09-2012, 12:56 PM
    Disagreeable
    Re: Bankruptcy, then Divorce, and then Contempt
    The burden you have to overcome, is you agreed to the terms of the divorce. To do so, required you reaffirmed the discharged debt and make all payments. You failed to do so and thus are in contempt.
  • 01-10-2012, 10:34 PM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Bankruptcy, then Divorce, and then Contempt
    Are you stating that the court ordered you to pay this money to the original creditor?

    If this is money payable to your ex-spouse as part of the division of the marital estate in the judgment of divorce, that's not the same debt as the one that was discharged.

    From what you say you appeared in the divorce action pro se, so it's exceptionally unlikely that you made or preserved any objection to the court's exercise of jurisdiction over you or the marital estate. We otherwise have no facts relating to where the divorce was file,d why it was filed in that state, or why you contend that the state lacks jurisdiction over the divorce.
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