Perhaps An Unethical Court System?

Does this really happen? The following story is being told because the truth is, it is unethical. The very County I have lived in approx 20yrs betrayed me and because of this the people deserve to know why.

The basis of my decision to publish this story is to get the truth out to protect other woman from being naive to think the system is working for them. What I am about to write is all factual; I have all the proof in a safe location. I will not be disclosing the true names of anyone involved as well as my location at this time. I am asking someone to please take my story seriously, to investigate and help ensure no one else has to go through this ever again. Making right all that was done wrong…..

This case involves my divorce from a marriage of 25yrs, several lawyers and a judge. Alcohol abuse and infidelity on the opposing side was the reason I sought divorce.

My income was a full one third that of my ex-husband when I filed for divorce. I was declared, by the court, a dependant spouse.

The divorce process began in Nov. 2003 when I hired Lawyer #1 and filed for divorce. From day one all I wanted was the divorce and to keep the marital home, nothing else. Lawyer #1 worked for me for approx 1-1/2yr to try and finalize everything. I spent $19, 544.17 for Lawyer #1’s services. The year is now 2005. After 12 continuances, the Court finally ordered to allow me to stay in the marital home and receive $500/month in spousal support until the final ED & Alimony orders were completed. My ex was finally forced to vacate the property!?! 2005?!

Being dissatisfied with the service given by Lawyer #1, I fired him and hired Lawyer #2. Lawyer #2 worked for me off and on from 2005-2009. I had originally hired Lawyer #2 to help me get through the ED & Alimony trial. At the time of the trial, Lawyer #2 was not present and I was left to go into this final trial by myself. I tried to obtain a public defender, but was told they were not available. The only thing I had available to pay him was the deed on the marital property, which was not of any interest to him at that time.

The final trial for the ED & Alimony happened in August 2006. The following was ordered:

My Debts: $46, 850 My Ex Debts (less the house) $31, 235
My Marital Assets: $30, 575 My Ex Marital Assets: $398, 605
Equals: -$16, 275 Equals: $367, 370

I was awarded a distributive award of $114, 312.60 from the home. It is important to note that the law in this state is 50/50 distribution of all assets & debts. There was no appraisal completed on the home prior to ED & Alimony trial. It was also against the law for my ex-husbands new wife’s name to be put on the home when the ED had not been satisfied. I received no alimony or retirement.

The 1st mortgage on the house at the time of separation was $69, 644.60. The second mortgage was $14, 860.83. None of the payments I made on the house came into play or even considered on the ED award. The total payments I made on the home from 2005-2008 were approx $54, 000.00.
It was bad enough the monetary division was horrible, but he was also awarded my beloved dog.

Lawyer #2 was paid $51, 750.00 for the services he provided me up through 2009. He prepared an Appeal on the ED & Alimony, and filed a Motion of Contempt for non-payment of the second half of the ED owed to me by my ex. The contempt Motion found my ex in contempt but the judge at that point only thought he should have to pay $1500 of the $4000 it cost to file the Motion. So many more details to hear and write….

It is important to note that the first one-half of the marriage I was a housewife. Since my ex had a more high profile job, I was the sole caregiver raising our two daughters. I maintained everything in and around the marital home by myself. By the time we separated and went to court the girls were older and there were no custody or support issues to establish. The girls were brought into the divorce by their father and requested to testify against me. This was out of character for the girls due to our exceptional relationship. I was left believing money does buy everything…

During the course of this divorce I saw a few areas of law that should be changed. As I stated before my ex involved our two grown girls and made them well aware of the details of dispute. After mediation, the girls sat at the table with me and the youngest made the comment, “dad said he offered you $70, 000 why didn’t you just take it and get out bitch!” Well due to the enormous stress of living with him for almost 2yrs after filing for divorce, I stood up and “popped” my daughters shoulder. It was not even 3 days later the police came to the house and served me with Simple Assault Charges. Of course the charges we’re dropped the day of the hearing. The aftermath is that even though I was not convicted it still became a part of my permanent record. I later had this expunged from my record. The fine print on the expunge paper reads: “information may be sold prior to expunge.”

I lost my job in January 2008 because I had borrowed money and it was taking so long to pay the employer back. I have made every attempt at finding employment and have been unsuccessful to obtain anything else to date.


My ex had the financial means to live comfortably during this historical divorce. Meanwhile, I was trying to fight in court someone who not only made 2x more money but had access to monies I didn’t prior to the actual separation in 2005. I was trying to fight and maintain the marital residence of which became a true struggle. I ended up falling behind in payments and even got close to foreclosure all due to just trying to get divorced!!


Outside of all of the material losses, I lost the very close relationship with my girls, my health suffered, my credit report is shot and I can’t get a job. I feel personally and professionally destroyed by this divorce and am praying to God someone out there takes the time to really read this letter and want to serve God by helping another human being.

In closing, I want to thank you for taking time to read this letter. This is only the beginning of this and the story must be told.

Kind Regards,

Ruth Queen; Email: [email protected]
cc: Jamie Hill; Email: [email protected]