Schuetz

Whassup? What does it mean?

I cannot remember how many single moms came to us after the divorce and were totally devastated because they didnt know what was ahead. Lets put ourselves in a courtroom during a divorce hearing. We have basically (2) or (3) potential blooming idiots getting ready to prove their stupidity. You guess who these stars of the show are. Well, lets quit the smokescreen and I will tell you.

Sometimes it is (1) attorney, sometimes it is (2) attorneys and sometimes it involves the Judge. In this particular case, here is poor little Linda getting a divorce from Outdoor Bob. Prior to their marriage, Linda had perfect credit and Outdoor Bob, being a rascal, had ziltch for credit. Linda was told by Mom and Dad, dont marry that bum. Well, love prevailed and they got married.

Outdoor Bob, needed a truck to go to work. Linda went with Bob to the local Ford dealer and bought a new Ford pickup. Linda had the credit so the loan was in her name. About six months later, Bob started to stop off on Friday at the local saloon to cash his paycheck. Sure enough, there was a dart board there and a few of the guys started tossing darts for beers. Bob was pretty good and they invited him to be on the local dart team.

This meant practice on Tuesday and Thursday night with tournaments on Fridays. Well, Linda got fed up with this malarkey and arguments started. Soon a divorce was the only solution. Lindas parents were the old fashioned I told you so type of folks. They did not get into the middle of the squabble.

When they went to court, the lawyers agreed that Linda would get the kids and Bob needed the truck to get to work so he could pay Linda. Sounds logical, but dangerous. The Judge NEVER instructed anyone to find out who was on the loan but simply awarded the truck to Outdoor Bob. As long as he kept his carpenters job, he could make the payments. Everyone was satisfied.

Linda moved to Florida and got a job as a, school teacher, here in the area. She wanted to buy a house so that the kids could have a home. Lo and behold! She gets a notice that Ford Motor Credit is suing her for the deficiency balance on the Ford truck that they repossessed from Outdoor Bob. The deficiency was over $5,500.00 Even though the Judge instructed Bob to make the payments, he didnt. The judge never thought to check with Ford Motor Credit to see if they would accept Outdoor Bob as the new guarantor on the loan. They of course wouldnt have done it anyway. After all, Bobs credit was terrible.

The end of the story is we were able to get the lawyer for Ford Motor Credit to accept a much lesser amount because he was trying to get a default judgment on his fees. That was illegal here in Florida, so with his hands in the cookie jar, he just wanted to get it over rather than have his name placed in front of the Florida Bar Assn.

Thats the importance of knowing what to do in a divorce situation. This could have been averted IF the Judge had stipulated that Outdoor Bob would get the truck IF he qualified under the credit requirements of the lender.

Divorced folks really do not have any place to go for guidance. Sure a good friend offers a shoulder to cry on, but the tragedy of having personal credit destroyed from a broken marriage is serious. In another article we deal with authorized users of a credit card. This is important after a divorce also.

Thanks