Should I file contempt for assets without an attorney?

[ItsWorthIt]

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[BartSimpson]

Engineers make the worst lawyers. They expect too much reason and logic.

Such as if pictures are so valuable and irreplaceable, the Court will see to it you get them.

The topic of pictures doesn't come up much anymore, due to the digital age. When it did come up weekly here, the best advice was to reach out to family and get copies from them. The point is to seek work-arounds to these issues so that you don't deal with the ex.

I must admit I got a real laugh out of the whole "portraits are protected by copyright" thing. That's another example of an engineering code compliance, right? You will find that sometimes you need to accept the lessor of two evils.

[ItsWorthIt]

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[BartSimpson]

For an Engineer, you really didn't take appropriate steps to back up your data, did you? No off-site copy? No second drive? Nothing in the cloud? You could be in the same position if the hard drive crashed (which is what she will say happened when it's all said and done) .

The Judge isn't going to go over to your Ex's house and dupe the hard drive, and of all the matters the Judge deals with that day, I'm sure the lack of pictures of your kid's isn't going to rank as anything more than a nuisance. No matter what happens in court, you are still dependent on you ex to give you the pictures in some format.

For discussion sake, why don't you drop by the house when she is gone and take what is yours? Cops will tell her it's a civil matter.

Like an engineer, you want probability - but that's not how legal matters work. What have you done to document her non-compliance? How good is your evidence that you have sought compliance with the Courts order.

[ItsWorthIt]

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[BartSimpson]

I really think its viable to go get the stuff - exclusive use ain't the same as a restraining order, and you have a court order for the items. It would be a civil matter and nobody would go to jail. Didn't you smell smoke when you were outside the residence?

But *meow*, if you are really afraid of going to jail *meow*, I guess you can ask the judge to slap her hand *meow*, and hope she complies *meow*. That hearing ought to be about 6 to 8 months from now, just in time for New Years.

Go get you stuff, or accept you are never going to see it.

[ItsWorthIt]

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[Fatheroffour]

If not, don't I have any chance of a judge simply saying "This is rediculous, give him his stuff and let's move on."

After your efforts to get in front of a judge, that is certainly a possibility.The likely result is she might give you a box of pictures of the neighbors dog and some trees. Then what are you going to do? Go back to court and tell the judge those are not the right pictures and you remember others?

If Nj was going to give you the pictures she already would have. All the judges in the world are no guarantee you'll get what you're looking for so judge how much time and effort you're willing to put in for what will likely be a negative payoff.

I also went through the picture deal in my divorce. I eventually realized I never looked at them anyway.

Go make new memories. Awesome memories with kiddos that will last forever. Take a bunch of pictures if you want.

[CCR]

When my daughter was 12, she asked me why I didn't have any pictures of her when she was a little kid. I told her I forgot to get pictures when I got divorced, when actually my ex refused to give me any. A few days later, she brought them all to my house so I scanned them. She then asked me which were my favorites, and I went through each one and told the story behind them, and their were over 100 that were my favorites.

She put them in my hand and said: "these are now yours dad," and returned the rest.

What a priceless memory....from a smart kid.

[Fatheroffour]

That's awesome.