Divorce settlement problems

Doobh

So, I have a friend that recently got through a nasty divorce. The judge ordered that he get half the value of their car, plus a computer (as well as other stuff, but that's not important).

Well, the ex didn't pay or arrange a payment plan for the car, or delivered the whole unaltered computer (she basically ripped out the good parts and threw in cheap crap instead). My friend's lawyer has refused to pursue any further action because the win in court was just a "paper victory."

He is going to file a writ of garnishment, but is there anything else he can do to get his stuff back sooner, and avoid hours of driving and legal stuff?

(@ceres is it rude to @at the couple of lawyers I know of around here?)

ceres

I think it should be okay as long as they haven't explicitly asked you not to or something.

Xaquin

If I could pop in one sec and say that if you know lawyers on here maybe PM them instead so they don't get a ton of legal questions?

of course if they've publicly said they're lawyers then never mind!

just figured I'd throw that out there

Assuran

IANAL, but I do deal with Writs of Execution and Writs of Replevin in Ohio for a Sheriff's Office in Ohio, which is similar to the writ of garnishment (the difference being that garnishment goes after pay, Executions and Replevin's go after physical goods).

The garnishment will probably work for the payment plan, but I'd be surprised if the court grants it for the parts of the computer. They'd probably issue a Writ of Replevin for that stuff, unless the defendant claims the material is already sold.

Assuming the court signs off on the order, your friend will want to be extremely specific in what he's looking to repossess. Ideally, you'll have serial numbers. If you don't have serial numbers it really complicates things because the Sheriff's Office can't prove that it is the product is the same as requested in the order I can not take it into possession. Lacking serial numbers, describing the product to the best of your ability might be enough, but because this is computer equipment, it might not be the case.

Also note that if the defendant refuses to cooperate, in general it takes a lock order to enter the home. We can't just enter the home looking for the missing items unless specifically granted that permission by the court.

CelestialBadger

Let the computer go, because any extra hours of lawyer time could buy a whole new computer. Even gaming laptops or high-end Apple products are cheap compared to lawyers.

DisruptedCapitalist

Exactly my thought. The court would be reluctant to grant anything regarding the computer unless you can get very specific. Even then it would be hard to prove that those items even existed in the computer in the first place and so it would be totally up to the judge if they buy your story or not.

(I am a lawyer, though not currently practicing. My experience in post-judgment proceedings here in Massachusetts is that the judges have a lot of discretion, so it's often hit or miss what the judge would approve.)

Anyway, long story short, it's probably too much of a pain to try to get anything for the computer.

EDIT: Also bear in mind that judges are also very suspicious of any post-judgment divorce proceedings because they know full well plenty of people use it as a way to harass their ex.

Unless the car was worth crazy $$$, I'd agree with your friend's lawyer and say it's really not worth spending any more time on it.

CelestialBadger

The issue with the car might be if it is not paid for, the OP's friend might get bad credit for not making car payments. So his aim in that case should be to get the car in his ex's name as fast as possible and wash his hands of it. He should also figure out if he is responsible for paying for the insurance. Either way, the aim should be to get everything in the ex's name as fast as possible (gift-wrapped if necessary.)

[edit] unless the car is very valuable