contempt for not giving me my property

[sonic0627]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Indiana

During the divorce the items I am going after him for came up "stolen." The house was locked up and the only 2 people who can get inside were us. I came home from work (his day off) and the items were gone. I confronted him on taking these items and he denied having them. He supposibly filed a report with the police on the "stolen" items which, was a lie. The police has no record of him reporting anything stolen (not even a record of a call) and even so it would have been a civil issue and they wouldn't have done anything. There was no forced entry so I personally didn't report a break in. I suggested to him that if these items were truelly "stolen" that we needed to change the property settlement to show that neither one of us posessed these items however, him and his lawyer refused to make any changes. I was awarded these items in the divorce.

So I'm taking my ex to court for contempt since he is not giving me my property back. He has went over the allowed time to contact me and to make any arrangements. I have tried emailing him, facebooking him (which he has read my messages and never responded) contacting him through his lawyer, and his mother. I have all this documented. He has just ignored me the whole time. I also have driven over 8 hrs to where he now lives to try to meet up and just get my things and his neighbors tipped him off so he never showed.

So my questions are these:
Is he in direct or indirect violation of the divorce decree?
Will the judge give him more time to give me my property or is he looking at jail time?
If these items are MIA will he have to pay me the worth of the item?
Can I just request him to pay me the worth of all the items so I don't have to drive again to go get them?

 

[tranquility]

Is he in direct or indirect violation of the divorce decree?

Not if they were stolen.

Will the judge give him more time to give me my property or is he looking at jail time?

If the judge does not believe they were stolen, he would probably give more time.

If these items are MIA will he have to pay me the worth of the item?

If he was in possession of them and did not return them to the owner, it might depend on if he exercised reasonable effort in securing them. Or, in the alternative, the judge might revisit the order.

Can I just request him to pay me the worth of all the items so I don't have to drive again to go get them?

You may ask for whatever you want.

 

[sonic0627]

Not if they were stolen.

If the judge does not believe they were stolen, he would probably give more time.
If he was in possession of them and did not return them to the owner, it might depend on if he exercised reasonable effort in securing them. Or, in the alternative, the judge might revisit the order.

You may ask for whatever you want.

There is no proof that these items were stolen. He was the only person able to enter the house besides me. When I returned home the items were gone. There was no forced entry. The main item missing was a brand new 55" flat screen TV which was gone and replaced with our old tv. If someone stole the TV why would they move the old tv in its place ( which mind you is a hugh projector screen TV that in no way I can lift by myself) I emailed him right away about the issue and like I said his response was that he didn't have the items and that he filed a report with the cops once i told him which, wasn't true. He never filed a report.

 

[tranquility]

So, you can't prove they weren't stolen.

Look, you have suspicion and some logical deductions. Tell it to the judge. He might believe you. But, he might not as well.

Lying to an ex-spouse is not a crime. If it were, the jails would be bursting.

 

[sonic0627]

So, you can't prove they weren't stolen.

Look, you have suspicion and some logical deductions. Tell it to the judge. He might believe you. But, he might not as well.

Lying to an ex-spouse is not a crime. If it were, the jails would be bursting.

so he can cry wolf on saying he doesn't have the property and the judge can say o' well he doesn't have to give me anything even though in the seperation agreement he (my ex) listed that I could get these items (was signed by him) and was finalized and approved by the judge? The items were taken when we were going through the divorce by Indiana Law my ex isn't suppose to remove any items out of the marital home without the ok of me however, if I was to have called the police it would have done no good since it would have came down to a he said/ she said arguement. I also did not stop him from allowing him to have the things we agreed for him to keep or what he had before the marriage.

If thats the case what is the point of a seperation agreement in a divorce if people can just keep the items regardless?

 

[tranquility]

What if they were stolen? Should he replace the value of the items if they were taken and he did nothing wrong?

 

[sonic0627]

What if they were stolen? Should he replace the value of the items if they were taken and he did nothing wrong?

honestly i believe yes if they were really stolen he should have taken the chance to change the seperation agreement like i suggested! don't promise something and have it legally binding if you have no intention on abiding by it.

 

[I'mTheFather]

How about an insurance claim?

 

[sonic0627]

How about an insurance claim?

no insurance claim either. The insurance was in his name and he had the papers.

 

[tranquility]

honestly i believe yes if they were really stolen he should have taken the chance to change the seperation agreement like i suggested! don't promise something and have it legally binding if you have no intention on abiding by it.

Again, you use "intention", what if no intent?

Your whole argument has to do with Ex doing this on purpose.

Prove it to the satisfaction of a judge.

 

[sonic0627]

Again, you use "intention", what if no intent?

Your whole argument has to do with Ex doing this on purpose.

Prove it to the satisfaction of a judge.

thats just it its basically impossible to prove either way.
if i called the cops at the time nothing would have been done it would have been a civil dispute. I can prove he never filed a report however.
I have tried to see if he had the property during the divorce, which he threatened to get me for traspassing. Now that he is ordered to give me these things he avoids me. The county cops wont go over there to help me retrieve my items unless there is a court order stating there has to be police involvement. I really believe he took these items, sold them, or is unwilling to give them up thinking I wouldn't have been awarded to me in the divorce. if he was truely innocent why the refusal of allowing me to check for the property, why not reporting the items stolen like he supposibly did, and why is he now avoiding me now. like i said this is documented. the landlord gave me permission to change the locks on the property. so not even the landlord could enter without me knowing. so the only person capable of entering would have been him through with remote for the garage (he didn't have a new key to the house) which whomever did this "theft" did come from the garage because the house door to the garage was left open yet, the main garage door was closed. The main house door was still locked and the gate to the backyard and the back door was still locked. All the windows were locked. so unless the person who stole the items was either casper the not so friendly ghost or a person with a remote programmed to our garage. when I called the cops asking if he filed a report they told me no and told me its really not theft if he took those items during that time because we were still married.

 

[tranquility]

Bring together your proof and tell it to the judge. Otherwise, buy a bottle of wine and tell your girlfriends. Otherwise, what do you seek?

No one here, or anywhere, has the secret password to have you win. The ex is not the insurer of your goods. I mentioned his legal responsibilities. The bottom line is there are two stories of what happened. In his, you are out of luck. ( Most probably.) In yours, you get your stuff (or the value thereof). Your tries or his lies is not that relevant. Sure, a fact finder can use that to determine credibility. Can, not must.

Put on your most sincere dress, tell the complete story and, maybe, give an extra wink to the judge. You might just get what you want.

 

[sonic0627]

Bring together your proof and tell it to the judge. Otherwise, buy a bottle of wine and tell your girlfriends. Otherwise, what do you seek?

No one here, or anywhere, has the secret password to have you win. The ex is not the insurer of your goods. I mentioned his legal responsibilities. The bottom line is there are two stories of what happened. In his, you are out of luck. ( Most probably.) In yours, you get your stuff (or the value thereof). Your tries or his lies is not that relevant. Sure, a fact finder can use that to determine credibility. Can, not must.

Put on your most sincere dress, tell the complete story and, maybe, give an extra wink to the judge. You might just get what you want.

heres the thing if anything happened to his items by law i would have been accountable for them. yet, that doesn't apply to me? i gotta say you sound highly sexist in your response too.

 

[I'mTheFather]

Wow. Tranquility has already told you to give it a shot in court. A few times.

He's also given your the pitfalls of your case. Trying to debate him will not change those problems.

Go back to court, and please, please take your attorney with you! You will not get far without one.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

heres the thing if anything happened to his items by law i would have been accountable for them. yet, that doesn't apply to me? i gotta say you sound highly sexist in your response too.

Put on your big girl panties and take him back to court for contempt. There is no other way to resolve this. Clear enough now? Trying to reason and rationalize with us, when coupled with a dollar can get you a cup off coffee. You must take the issue up with the divorce court.