how do I collect temporary support from exspouse who lives in Oregon? He was ordered to begin paying in Oct. 2011 ...

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Question: 

how do I collect temporary support from exspouse who lives in Oregon? He was ordered to begin paying in Oct. 2011. Even though he agreed to the support in mediation, he claims he will not pay me a penny.

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DakotaLegal's picture

You’re going to treat the

You’re going to treat the support order just as you (or any other person owed money) would, after winning any other court judgment. Though what he agreed to in mediation may be important for one reason, what’s most important is when you say he was “ordered.” This implies that along with a decree of divorce, you also received a final, enforceable judgment for temporary support. Now, just so you won’t be surprised, we’ll talk about enforcing this final Judgment and Order as a ‘foreign’ order….all that means is that it’s from another state (not another foreign country). It is important, because states go through their own process of giving credit to a ‘foreign’ order.
 
But generally, especially in the area of support orders, courts almost always enforce the order as much as possible. There’s a big reason for this right. The full faith and credit clause of the U.S. Constitution says a state must recognize the “public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state.” http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution /articleiv.
 
 


  • What Does The Order Say?

 
You might need some legal help to see exactly what the Order says. You may be eligible for some low-cost but quality legal help from several places: http://www.legalservice salabama.org/ or Pro Bono Alabama bar project…here are all the income-based programs in Alabama: http://apps.americanbar.org/legalservices/ probono/ directory/alabama.html.
 

  • The Process Of Enforcing Your Order: Recording The Judgment

 
As with any judgment, once it’s reduced, by recording it, it can usually be enforced in any US state. This can seem to be more complicated than it is, since you are in two states with very different points of view on temporary support. It’s not said, in your question, which state you lived in together, or even if Alabama or Oregon is the state with the court order. So we’ll talk about states A and B. At any rate, it’s not that bad to get the order recognized by a court.
 
To begin the process yourself, you’ll need to record the State A judgment in a State B court. You will ask for a Certificate of Judgment from the Clerk. An Alabama Certificate of Judgment has to follow very specific requirements (ALA CODE § 6-9-210): http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/alcode/6/9/9/6-9-210. In Oregon, here is how an Alabama judgment would be recorded: http://www.oregonlaws. org/ors/24.115. You don’t have to physically go to Oregon to record your judgment. You can have a collection agency or a lawyer there in Oregon enforce the judgment.
 
After you get the Certificate, you can alos use it to file in any county in Alabama where your ex might still have assets.
 
Here are forms you can use to get the process started over again, if you for some reason you decide to (or have to) seek any new support orders: http://www.alabamalegalhelp. org/issues/families-and-children/child-support?channel=self-help-legal-information&category=do-it-yourself-instructions-forms.
 

  • Can You “Lose” The Judgment?

 
In Alabama, the recorded judgment is good for ten years. There are some things he can do, to make it harder for you to enforce the judgment, but the single biggest risk is that you simply fail to seek enforcement through the debt collection process. If he files for bankruptcy, you can probably still have it enforced. But be careful, because if there were any problems with how he was served or if he had any defense to the original Order, he may raise those issues again in State A or the bankruptcy. The law says your Judgment is subject to the same procedures, defenses and proceedings for reopening, vacating or staying as a judgment of the circuit court in which the foreign judgment is filed.”
 

  • What Does He Own Or Do For A Living?

 
You can try to collect an enforceable judgment in several ways. In Alabama, you can seek a levy against his personal property. One trick for many people is finding out what someone owns, and then being sure they aren’t hiding or transferring  assets to avoid paying judgment. You can compel him (by asking for a court order from Alabama) to tell you what he owns. This is why I would advise someone to do some quiet investigative work before recording the judgment, so as to avoid giving any warning to the judgment debtor.

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DakotaLegal's picture

You’re going to treat the

You’re going to treat the support order just as you (or any other person owed money) would, after winning any other court judgment. Though what he agreed to in mediation may be important for one reason, what’s most important is when you say he was “ordered.” This implies that along with a decree of divorce, you also received a final, enforceable judgment for temporary support. Now, just so you won’t be surprised, we’ll talk about enforcing this final Judgment and Order as a ‘foreign’ order….all that means is that it’s from another state (not another foreign country). It is important, because states go through their own process of giving credit to a ‘foreign’ order.
 
But generally, especially in the area of support orders, courts almost always enforce the order as much as possible. There’s a big reason for this right. The full faith and credit clause of the U.S. Constitution says a state must recognize the “public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state.” http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution /articleiv.
 
 


  • What Does The Order Say?

 
You might need some legal help to see exactly what the Order says. You may be eligible for some low-cost but quality legal help from several places: http://www.legalservice salabama.org/ or Pro Bono Alabama bar project…here are all the income-based programs in Alabama: http://apps.americanbar.org/legalservices/ probono/ directory/alabama.html.
 

  • The Process Of Enforcing Your Order: Recording The Judgment

 
As with any judgment, once it’s reduced, by recording it, it can usually be enforced in any US state. This can seem to be more complicated than it is, since you are in two states with very different points of view on temporary support. It’s not said, in your question, which state you lived in together, or even if Alabama or Oregon is the state with the court order. So we’ll talk about states A and B. At any rate, it’s not that bad to get the order recognized by a court.
 
To begin the process yourself, you’ll need to record the State A judgment in a State B court. You will ask for a Certificate of Judgment from the Clerk. An Alabama Certificate of Judgment has to follow very specific requirements (ALA CODE § 6-9-210): http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/alcode/6/9/9/6-9-210. In Oregon, here is how an Alabama judgment would be recorded: http://www.oregonlaws. org/ors/24.115. You don’t have to physically go to Oregon to record your judgment. You can have a collection agency or a lawyer there in Oregon enforce the judgment.
 
After you get the Certificate, you can alos use it to file in any county in Alabama where your ex might still have assets.
 
Here are forms you can use to get the process started over again, if you for some reason you decide to (or have to) seek any new support orders: http://www.alabamalegalhelp. org/issues/families-and-children/child-support?channel=self-help-legal-information&category=do-it-yourself-instructions-forms.
 

  • Can You “Lose” The Judgment?

 
In Alabama, the recorded judgment is good for ten years. There are some things he can do, to make it harder for you to enforce the judgment, but the single biggest risk is that you simply fail to seek enforcement through the debt collection process. If he files for bankruptcy, you can probably still have it enforced. But be careful, because if there were any problems with how he was served or if he had any defense to the original Order, he may raise those issues again in State A or the bankruptcy. The law says your Judgment is subject to the same procedures, defenses and proceedings for reopening, vacating or staying as a judgment of the circuit court in which the foreign judgment is filed.”
 

  • What Does He Own Or Do For A Living?

 
You can try to collect an enforceable judgment in several ways. In Alabama, you can seek a levy against his personal property. One trick for many people is finding out what someone owns, and then being sure they aren’t hiding or transferring  assets to avoid paying judgment. You can compel him (by asking for a court order from Alabama) to tell you what he owns. This is why I would advise someone to do some quiet investigative work before recording the judgment, so as to avoid giving any warning to the judgment debtor.