@BelknapPoint My fault, I mistyped as I had a lot I wanted to say. I meant that firms may give them pro bono or the lawyers could work and earn as a commission only if they win.
She’s not even a former spouse… they were never married.
It’s called working on contingency, and I’m not sure how much there is to “win” here. What are OP’s damages? It’s not clear.
You may have signed an agreement, but courts don’t just ‘sign’ papers and make them ‘court orders.’
Just stop paying. Your ex can’t enforce the ‘court order’. Just tell your daughter you are done paying and make the next move hers. Does she want you involved? Then she needs to provide all the financial papers you’ve asked for, the cost of her tuition, the amount she expects you to pay, the amount she is paying, the amount ex is paying.
The part im confused about is if his ex used his info wouldnt he have been receiving info to his address since the daughter said she was living with him I guess?
And is D going to a FL state school, and OP doesn’t live in FL? It seems silly to claim him as NCP if you risk getting OOS tuition…
Really?
Then this whole story doesn’t make a lot of sense. Didn’t he say divorce someplace?
Good point @mommdc about not trying to sign into the FAFSA now. I didn’t think about that if he’s going to have someone look at the IP address now.
Also, I would not tell the daughter that I suspected fraud at this point @aelizabeth217. Definitely not until after I spoke with an attorney and got some advice on how to proceed! It will just tip off the daughter and ex and undoubtedly complicate everything. I agreed with the suggestion earlier about no more contact regarding financial aid because it will just give the ex more ammo on the harassment issue. There’s some good suggestions in this thread and I sincerely wish you the best.
He said there was no divorce decree because they were never married. That was where divorce was mentioned.
We all lived in the same state up north D took off to college in another state, her mother & husband followed her and I left for FL.
Yeah I already logged into fafsa was able to have security answers “show” printed the page (she even created the security question and answers as if it were me making them by putting my familys info on it!! ) I change the questions, answers and password so she cant use my info again…
I may have already kind of tipped my daughter off, I wasnt thinking and was in the moment and hoping that she would respond and talk to me about this…
If you were able to log on to the FAFSA and make these changes so easily…what makes you think she can’t do,the same thing?
You should definitely see a lawyer but I can’t imagine even if that court order is real that it is enforceable. She certainly isn’t going to want to go to court against you if she has been committing fraud. You should let your daughter know what you can comfortably give her towards college and if her Mom isn’t pleased by that she should call you and you can discuss all the issues (after you have had legal advice).
Let her sue and try to prove that agreement is legally binding.
Please talk to an atty. She would be risking a lot if she tried to sue you. You have evidence of identity fraud and federal aid fraud. She would be facing worse penalties than you.
There are at least 2 attorneys posting in this thread. I’d like to ask them…Since the ex has “dirty hands,” would a court even let her bring suit?
I would look and see if she’s taken out any Plus Loans in your name. She obviously didn’t want to pay her share, so I wouldn’t be the least bit shocked to find out that there are now Plus Loans in YOUR name.
I’m curious about this paper she brought to a judge. Did you sign that with a notary? If not, why would a judge believe that YOU had actually signed it?
A note to those reading/posting… Remember the article about the young man who didn’t realize that he was signing cosigned loans in the school office, and now he has huge 6 figure debt? That person was age 18-22 when his parents bamboozled him (grandma was the cosigner). Many here weren’t sympathetic, even though he was a young adult when he was tricked.
As an old boss used to say “Anyone with $25 and the address of the court house can sue ya.” (now it might be more like $100). Doesn’t mean the law suit will go anywhere or that any money will change hands.
But really, sue on what, and where? There is no divorce but there could be an old support order from the state where they all lived many moons ago, but where no one lives now. There might just be an informal agreement but even informal agreements can be enforced. If the ex wants to sue OP, she’d have to find a jurisdiction to do so. She could sue for support in Florida and it would be easiest to enforce an order there, but I don’t think any Florida court is going to order support for a 21 year old. If Ex now lives in NJ, the land of child support for college students, she’d have to show some connection for OP to be subject to NJ law. OP would of course prove that he’s been supporting the child all along and out would come all the FAFSA and other documents. Ex doesn’t want that, right?
Lots of threats with no meat to them.
Just stop paying.
I used the wrong words when I said, “let her bring suit.”
What I should have said that once her atty became aware of the hanky-panky with FAFSA, wouldn’t he advise her to shut up and go home before she ended up needing a defense atty.
I agree with “stop paying”.
BTW…how much has the ex actually paid towards DD’s college? It sounds like your money, Pell, scholarships, WS, and loans have been paying.
PLEASE check to see if she took out any Parent Plus Loans using your info.
Folks…how can he check to see if Plus loans were taken out in his name??
Wouldn’t a credit check reveal them? I don’t know because I’ve never had student loans but every other credit account shows up.
I think if he requests a [credit report](Review your credit report - Annual Credit Report.com.), loans in his name will be listed on it. And here are [url=<a href=“https://usucard.usu.edu/htm/identitytheft/victim%5Dsuggestions%5B/url”>https://usucard.usu.edu/htm/identitytheft/victim]suggestions[/url] for the steps to take when your identity has been stolen (how to freeze accounts, put a fraud alert on your credit report, etc.)
The student loans/parent plus loans should be on a credit report, but if they aren’t in a repayment status they may not be. It is up to lenders to report credit history to the reporting companies. They don’t have to, and what they report may not be current.
If they show up, sure, you can tell someone took out loans in your name. If they do not show up, that same certainty isn’t there.