Do you want to hear the Good News first or the Good News first?

Yesterday morning Bill called up to tell me that he was at family court in NY and was very nervous as he waited for his attorney. His ex-wife was there and being her usual self. The two of them get along like oil and water.

Bill called me after I got home from the dog park to tell me that his lawyer was there and they needed to know how much his monthly support obligation was, so that they could correctly figure out how much he owed before they went before the facilitator (or whatever they're called in NY). Seems that was the one piece of paper he forgot to take with him.

It seemed like forever before he called again, but it was only about 2 hours. Then he finally called back and wanted to know if I wanted to hear the good news first or the good news first? I was almost speechless - Bill using the words good news in reference to his child support payments? I had never heard those words strung together like that in over 12 yrs.

Here's the shortest version I can give anyone (as verbose as I am). Bill's ex tried to say that she never agreed to a settlement, she only brought it up as a question to his TX lawyer in a phone call. Then Bill's NY lawyer produced the statement that his ex signed last November stating that she initiated and agreed to the settlement. That document was written on NY Family Court letterhead and notarized by an employee of family court. Then Bill's NY lawyer stated that his ex did not actually speak to Bill's TX lawyer, she spoke to the Assistant State Atty General who was handling his case for the state of TX, therefore she made an official request of the court, which was then accepted by Bill when he paid the $19k by the appointed date. So, her feet were held to the fire, and she had to accept the deal she made almost two years ago. The court ruled that the $19k had to be deducted from his current amount owed and that the interest on said monies for the past two years had to be deducted as well, and Bill's petition was approved by the court. This saved us about $24k in back owed child support. Bottom line, he owed $5600 after all was said and done. Bill had taken $3k in checks with him, so now he only owes $2600 by next month, and then he is free and clear of all child support obligations.

I know some of you would say that this was the kid's money and it should have been paid. However, I think of it as his ex-wife's penalty for not permitting Bill any contact with his children (to the point of returning anything we sent them back to us, shredded up) for 11 yrs. Well, now that is all water under the bridge and it will be up to the boys if they want to have any contact with their father.

The other good news is that his passport has been released by NY and the passport agency should have this information within the next two weeks. That means that if we expedite our request, we should have his passport sometime before the middle of August. Woo Hoo! Finally. Only a year and a half after we started this whole process.

Finally a light at the end of the tunnel. Now onto getting all of our paperwork done AGAIN so that it is current, etc. Lovely. Hope we don't have to do everything a third time right before we get submitted like some people that I've heard about.

Bill says he just can't wait for that 18 hr plane ride. What does he care? I'm gonna ask the doctor for a sedative for him so the rest of us can enjoy our ride in peace!!

Bill Off to NY

Bill is off to NY today for a hearing on his child support issue. He settled with his ex wife in August 2006, but NY did not properly record the settlement. Hence, his passport is being withheld due to non-payment of child support he doesn't owe! His hearing is scheduled for Friday. Hopefully they will be able to do it in the morning. I've been to those courts before and they are an absolute zoo. At least he has a lawyer this time. They always take the cases with lawyers first.

We could've saved a lot of time and cash if he'd just read the paperwork his lawyer sent him down to the fine print. He could've done his interview over the phone if he had contacted the state atty general's office down here and scheduled it with them. That not paying attention to detail will cost us about $700-$1,000 in gas and lodging fees, not to mention his lost time from work. Stuff like this makes me very thankful that I don't have testicles emitting lots of the stuff that occasionally clouds your brain function.

Gotta go back to work now. Feel like a mushroom - they keep me in the dark and feed me sh*t.
Natalie