Dso?

[cabindown]

Backstory: In Vermont. Divorce agreement allowed me sole use of the marital home until a specific date. I am on the title with him but only he is on the mortgage note. I have sole custody of all 4 children. He has no visitation and no contact. He makes substantially more money than I do. He was also ordered to repay my lawyers fees (they are paid off by my parents but I am in debt to them for that amount) and to pay for my rental costs until the same date if the kids and I moved to a new location. The exact wording on that section says: "If Defendant moves from the marital residence prior to X Date, Plaintiff shall continue to pay $amount for Defendant's housing expenses through X Date, which shall not be considered spousal maintenance."

He has now allowed the house to go into foreclosure. I am getting zero information on it since I am not on the mortgage note. I am looking for another place to live so that I can have a solid residence for my children.
I don't believe he can file Chapter 7 because of his income, although he does have quite a few expenses and I don't know if that matters. I know very little about bankruptcy, despite trying to read up on it. Whichever chapter he files, I am under the impression none of his child support or alimony payments, including the arrears, will be discharged.

However, will his payment to me of the fees I paid to the lawyer be discharged? What about the rental payments if the kids and I leave before the bank takes the house? Will those both be considered DSO?

ETA: I'm seeing now that perhaps this is the wrong section of the forum but I'm not really sure what would be the right section. My apologies.

[Drazil65]

Hi, you need to immediately see your attorney as it appears he is not abiding by the divorce decree by not paying the mortgage payments on the house if it is in foreclosure. How did you find out it is in FC? Plus, if he stopped paying the mortgage against the divorce stipulations you will probably have a hard time getting him to pay your rent if you move, see your attorney sooner rather than later. Good Luck!

[justbroke]

Definitely see your divorce lawyer. Some of that language, "not spousal maintenance", is interesting because that makes it not in the nature of support and could mean that it's dischargeable. Additionally, you may be a party to the foreclosure because at a minimum, you are a tenant -- at least in Florida, tenants are parties to a foreclosure lawsuit. Too many what ifs and while I have some experience with some of these issues, I don't know the impact in your State.

You do not mention what "X" date represents. Is it a year from now or 2 years from now or more? Judicial foreclosures in Vermont appear to take at least 14+ months. I don't know what the average foreclosure would represent. Additionally, they "may" have trouble evicting you anyhow because of the final decree in the divorce. This is why you need to speak with your divorce attorney and find out the impact of these specific things in Vermont.