Dishonest Financial Evaluators in NY Divorce
One of the pitfalls of contested divorce in New York is the expensive and unregulated world of financial evaluators. Financial Evaluators, sometimes called forensic accountants make their living by handouts of court ordered fees. It's an entirely blind process to litigants, one day the evaluators appear and their power and fees are significant.
One of the dishonest ones that I came across was Gerald DeFeo of White Plains.
Hours after the appointment Mr. DeFeo raced to his fax machine to send over his demands and notify us that for $7,000 he'd take a cursory look at our records and issue a one page letter report, delivered verbally to the lawyers in the case only. Mr. DeFeo was effectively charging about $250 and hour and the Divorce Attorneys were charging about $350 an hour. So after forcibly paying $7,000 to Mr. DeFeo I was going to have pay about $1,500 in legal fees for the private screening of Mr. DeFeo's one page summary report but it was clear the court-ordered fee wasn't getting any type of forensic financial evaluation whatsoever.
Mr. DeFeo's work was innane and unsophisticated. He did some very cursory analysis of my business and rather than doing any real analysis he based his valuation on an expired acquisition offer. Mr. DeFeo informed us that if we wanted the full report, it would cost $25,000 paid in advance.
Gerry DeFeo hinted that he was a money grabber sitting around lazily for court ordered handouts, but when a trial commenced 2 years later Mr. DeFeo showed his true colors as a complete money hungry charlatan. While Mr. DeFeo had been hired as a 'Court Ordered Neutral' and a supposed expert in forensic accounting, Mr. DeFeo is able to instantly sell his services to the highest bidder once the court ordered report is done. Therefore, my ex, who was funded with off the books money, paid Mr. DeFeo a retainer to show up at trial and DeFeo and his old friend, my Ex's lawyer, and the Judge had a ball with me in trial as I struggled Pro Se.
Mr. DeFeo stood in the witness chair smirking and openly laughing at my attempts to ask him questions. He wouldn't admit that a small business that sees its revenue decline by over 70% to a point where it was no longer viable had lost value, there simply wasn't evidence of that. He wouldn't admit that the conditions of a business could change in 2 years and that cursory one page valuation of 2007 wouldn't be valid in 2009. Mr. DeFeo shed any inkling of neutrality and instead showed his true colors as a money-grabbing, dishonest cog in the grossly corrupt New York Divorce Industry.
All told Mr. DeFeo fleeced my family of over $20,000 to deliver the weakest forensic report imaginable and lie on the witness stand under oath. If there is any integrity to court-appointed-neutrality it is in a joke in the urinal in the Westchester County Supreme Court House, but certainly doesnt' exist in Mr. DeFeo or in the divorce industry. While Mr. DeFeo was happy to exploit his neutrality and turn his court appointment into a biased fee grab, he is only playing by the broken rules that New York State has established for the NY State Divorce Industry. Mr. DeFeo has no professional integrity but he's only exploiting a broken system
So If you come across Mr. DeFeo in courtappointed assignement be prepared to be fleeced, but if you can avoid creeps like DeFeo, you should do so at all costs. Save yourself the fleecing and go out an hire any accountant that will do the same job, only better, usually at a fraction of the costs.
Avoid the ripoff!
Cuomo’s Office of Public Integrity Ignores Judicial Corruption
The Office of Public Integrity set up by Andrew Cuomo is supposed to protect the integrity of elected government but as I learned from them recently they have no jurisdiction or interest in regulating elected judges. When you look at the divorce industry you see the perfect fraud as it is out of the jurisdiction of ANY outside regulation at every level. It's a free for all where middle class are the victims, poor are denied access and the rich have a state sponsored forum to pay ridiculous fees.
Elected judges are the linchpins of this fraudulent business ordering ridiculous legal fees and often times ordering more than five highly paid lawyers, guardians and experts in a case. With court backed penalties for non payment and huge leeway in who judges appoint as guardians and experts the conflicts of interest should be clear. Certainly when you see the carnage of the system in children ripped from parents, bankrupt families in need of many years of public assistance and savings accounts raided to pay court backed fees there's no question that something terrible is happening in the NY Divorce Industry.
Not only does the OPI have no jurisdiction over the Industry but neither does the NY State Attorneys Office, the Judicial Commission on Integrity, the NY Bar or the courts own administrative judges. The State provides free offices for the divorce industry while denying the poor access to the court. The state lets the industry use courtrooms and court facilities free of charge for days long 'trials' without juries for rich citizens. Pro Se kise everything in this system. Seems like common sense to me that if a divorce is costing over 200k in court ordered fees that at least the attorneys should have to pay some of the court costs that citizens shoulder now
Shame on you Andrew Cuomo. Take your head out of your ass and end the free ride for the Divorce Industry! The State should be so deeply in bed with this corrupt industry. Call me Andy, I'll tell you how to fix this mess with no new laws.
How much should a NY Divorce cost?
The maximum legal fees for a NY divorce for families with assets below 2 mil and 2 reasonable people should be $10,000. Why?
The only reason for a lawyer in divorce is to formalize and file your agreement that you make. You don't need charlatan mediators or collaborative crooks, you need a spreadsheet and a therapist to get the job done and a lawyer to consult and file.
Here are the easy steps to getting divorced without a lawyer.
1) list all assets and debts, both parties must obtain and submit credit reports to each other.
2) divide post-marital assets as close to 50/50 as possible. Look up the ny state value of any licenses obtained in marriage.
3) decide on a plan of action for living arrangements. Don't be afraid to do unconventional things like living separately in the same house.
4) work out a regular schedule for the children. Children need regularity and there is no one size fits all for time sharing. Don't let anyone tell to what works for your family. Some switch weeks, some days, some weekends, whatever works agree on it and formalize it.
5) agree on a path to resolve differences, a therapist is a great idea for this role.
6) if you have joint custody agree on final decision making for education an healthcare and a method to voice concerns to ensure that both parties are heard in critical decisions
7) look up ny state child support obligation rates on the Internet and agree to lay these numbers and re-evaluate every 3 years.
spousal maintenance should be a lump sum or at least 2 years. Most judges will order this so don't be stingy about it.
9) Submit your terms to a lawyer to review. After review have a lawyer finalize and file.
10) go on a nice vacation with all the money you just saved.
Poor Divorce, Rich Divorce – Social Inequities
If there is any doubt that the New York Divorce Industry rips off tax payers the doubt should be settled when looking at the dual-track contested divorce system for rich and poor. The Divorce Industry has set up the perfect system where poor New Yorkers who can't pay their fees are denied access to the Supreme Court System and sent to tax payer funded agencies. In the meantime, those who have assets to pilfer, the targets of the Divorce Industry, are stuck in the corrupt Supreme Court System of New York.
The Supreme Court System of New York supports the Divorce Industry by doling out lucrative and poorly supervised court-ordered services with outrageous costs that litigants are forced to pay. The Supreme Court System acts as the employment agency for the Divorce Industry and those who can't afford the fees of the Industry suffer tremendously. Meanwhile, the tax payers of New York are left to pick up the tab in local Police services, Family Court and Child Protective Services for poor families who can't afford access to the Supreme Court.
The source of these inequities stem from the New York Constitution. The Family Court has the same powers as the Supreme Court so long as the Supreme Court doesn't want to deal with a case as shown in the NY Constitution. This sets up the fraud because one system is primarily at the tax payers expense, Family Court, and the other is at both the tax payer and the litigants expense, the Supreme Court. Here's the quote from the constitution:
13.c. The family court shall also have jurisdiction to determine, with the same powers possessed by the supreme court, the following matters when referred to the family court from the supreme court: habeas corpus proceedings for the determination of the custody of minors; and in actions and proceedings for marital separation, divorce, annulment of marriage and dissolution of marriage, applications to fix temporary or permanent support and custody, or applications to enforce judgments and orders of support and of custody, or applications to modify judgments and orders of support and of custody which may be granted only upon the showing to the family court that there has been a subsequent change of circumstances and that modification is required.
If a divorcing couple can't come to an amicable agreement and doesn't have $20,000 in combined attorney retainer fees they can't access the Supreme Court System. If they go it alone as pro se they will face certain failure in an insiders game bereft of supervision of day-to-day operations, devoid of due process and free of outside monitoring by the US or NY State authorities. There are no free legal services to navigate Supreme Court so the only option is to wait until a bad situation gets so bad that you go to family court. Even if there were free legal services for access to the Supreme Court lawyers are only part of the Divorce Industry and there is no free access to custody or financial evaluators in Supreme Court. So with no way to gain access to the Supreme Court couples must duke it out with the Police, Child Protective Services, Family Court and some litigant paid services.
Why are the elected Judges of the Supreme Court serving as employment agents for the Divorce Industry? Why do tax payers pay for court rooms and staff to house the Supreme Court when it is helping a private industry bill out over a billion in fees a year? Shouldn't the industry be paying for some of the costs of the system since the Divorce Industry players are the primary beneficiaries of the current system? Why are tax payers the sole funders of the attorney and judicial discipline for the Supreme Court? NY is the last state besides CT that doesn't make bar associations pay some portion of attorney discipline, why are the tax payers footing the bill for this billion dollar industry? Why do pro se lose so much in Supreme Court without the protections of due process? Why are the poor forced to over-taxed and under-funded agencies while the State of New York will foot the bill for days of senseless trials in Supreme Court that defy common sense and only benefit the Divorce Industry? With so many court funding problems why is NY giving so much to the Divorce Industry and in the meantime harming countless families and innocent children with gross violations of civil rights?
Perhaps the biggest question is why do we all say that's just the way it is?
Its time for a change but the first step is serious scrutiny of this unconstitutional system. Where is Preet Bharara? NY Can't get the job done cleaning up this Industry, we need outsiders to fix this mess.
How much can governments take from victims of the Divorce Industry?
Wow, this sounds paranoid but it's a serious question. When NY garnishes 65% of net wages it becomes impossible to pay other obligations. In my case that has led to losing my apartment and living primarily on charity though I make a good salary. But with such an onerous burden tax payments slip as do other necessities. The support collections actions is reported everywhere do kiss credit good bye.
So all this I've whined about on the blog but now I've found a new tool of the government to get paid - the Levy. So after a seriously depleted paycheck and impassioned letters to the government agencies I owe including the IRS, ny scu and ny state, all of which have liens and collection actions, I find my puny bank account levied. The take to NY was about 400, the fee to Chase was 125 and now I'm told ny state will keep trying to levy.
All of my problems with the government are divorce related so the answer to my initial question is 'more than everything.'. How much can NY take? More than everything you have in divorce. Since no divorce related debt can be discharged in any legal proceeding except appeal these debts stick.
There is no reason that NY should have the right to force unrepresented citizens into collusive courtrooms against insider attorneys. There is no constitutional right that gives a state absolute power to remove all the assets of a citizen without due process. But they do it. And once it's done there 's truly no way out Financial life becomes hell and the wear and tear on your psyche is huge, especially when your government cleans out your tiny assets a few days before Hanukah or Christmas.
Welcome to the Socialist Republic of New York. Democracy is just a marketing slogan here, it means nothing.
The Joy of Child Support Arrears in New York
Like many I saw my financial world deteriorate in late 2008 and continue its decline in 2009. Thankfully things took a turn for the better in 2010 and I'm digging out but the sting of child support arrears will linger for many years and seriously impact my life. Child support arrears reported to New York State result in a 65% wage garnishment, sight unseen, no facts accepted. All it takes is a short form filing and the garnishment comes until arrears are paid off. As New York takes your drivers license (I was able to avert this), passport renewals (couldn't stop) and sends frequent correspondence to you and your employer they also take a big crap on your credit report. Since having this on my credit I have been denied in every credit request. It's a black mark with serious implications that I must explain private matters to my employer, strangers at car dealers and others.
Of course the remedy is to pay down the arrears but in many cases this is simply impossible to do in a timely fashion. Especially under the punishment of a garnishment that doesn't meet the current obligation.
New York needs to understand that a lot of us with arrears have economic problems due to no fault of our own. We dont quit and hide, we find work. We couldn't maintain payments without income or with diminished income but when we return to work our success is punished. New York punishes parents who are honest and employed, trying to pay their responsibilities as best they can. If a wage garnishment of 65% isn't meeting the obligation why continue punishing hard working honest citizens? Many avoid child support and do all they can to hide income and evade responsibility but this isn't the case with me or many like me. Why are we judged in the same light as evaders when we are merely victims of a broken and corrupt system. This is government abuse of power and harassment of innocent citizens and it must be curbed.
Why are NY Judges the Divorce Industry Employment Agency?
The divorce industry has many players and the some source if employment for many is Judicial court order appointments. In a typical contested divorce the judge can order a financial evaluator, a custody evaluator, a legal guardian not to mention attorneys fees orders and court referees. Considering two lawyers in a contested divorce a judge can order 6 professionals. All of these professionals bill litigants hourly except referees who volunteer or get small court payments. This is a root cause of corruption in ny divorce and the appointment process and billings of these professionals must be evaluated as part of divorce reform. Currently Judges choose whomever the attorneys want and a few insiders take the majority of court appointed work. Nice work if you can get it because even 4 cases a year for a custody evaluator is about $90,000 in guaranteed money with court penalties for those who don't pay. Financial evaluators can make over $100,000 a year from the same 4 appointments and legal guardians about $50,000 for the same 4 appointments. This is a lot of power for a Judge and it's a root cause of the piss poor situation of the New York Divorce Industry.
Another pro se pitfall – unresponsive court reporters
So it took me 5 months to get one day of transcripts from a lazy court reporter. Hard to say if this was intentional or not but I seriously doubt that an attorney would wait for so long for transcripts.
The Friedlander Tragedy MUST be a Catalyst for NY Divorce Reform
As horrific as the Friedlander deaths were it is equally horrific that New York State is not reviewing the circumstances that led an ordinary man to such extraordinary actions. This family was suffering through the worst of the divorce industry. One of the attorneys is known as one of the biggest fee mongers in Westchester and no doubt they were under incredible financial duress from ridiculous bills. Broken New York laws kept the couple battling over the house long after custody was settled and no doubt such punishing bills made it impossible to move out. Surely the passive legal guardians that do nothing but bill were long since done with the children and with no social workers involved on the case there was no one to catch warning signs. Undoubtedly their case dragged on for over a year as the Judge ordered crazy bills and had no sense of urgency in his dealings, pushing the billing mill for his lawyer friends. Surely the parents were feuding stuck in the same house and both the lawyers and the court system did nothing to calm the situation but send more bills, adjourn more court dates and delay decisions.
We need a NY State or Federal commission to examine the circumstances that put the kids on such a dangerous situation. We need a 'Friedlander Law' that forces judges to make expedient rulings in contested divorces. The law needs to assign state funded social workers to contested cases and they need to have regular evaluations of the stress in a divorce. The law needs to limit divorce lawyer billing beyond 20% of net worth so piggish divorce lawyers can't show up to a house closing to take all the proceeds from a families sole asset. We need to abolish the practice of courts serving as employment agencies for divorce lawyers as unqualified legal guardians. NY forces families to pay 250 per hour or more for law guardians that are wholly unqualified to deal with the psychological issues of children in divorce. Lawyers have no training to deal with emotional issues in divorce yet in the backwards NY Divorce laws they are to be the emotional voice of children in divorce. The end result is tragedies as terrible as Friedlander and many more that aren't as horrid.
These children should not die in vain and NY state can't look the other way on the sorry state of the divorce industry.
It's time for change!
NY Divorce Courts Operate in the Stone Age of the Legal Industry – Court Reporters
One of the limiting factors in appeal is the ridiculous cost of court transcripts in New York Divorce Courts. After the sorry excuse of a court room that is New York Supreme Court Matrimony Part where due process is randomly ignored or followed, but generally pissed on, comes the archaic Appeals Court of New York. The Appeals Court is an intimidating place where you are arguing your measly divorce issues alongside Citibank, Goldman and other mega-clients. Whether you are challenging serious legal issues or being pillaged by divorce attorneys the same requirements apply - 9 PRINTED copies of the ENTIRE case record, which is WAY more than a transcript. Simply copying the complete case record 9 times can cost thousands of dollars and rest assured, no one probably reads it in its entirety, but the burden is on the one filing the appeal to produce the monstrosity.
The first step is to get the court transcript, however, and after seeing this dinosaur system it would be laughable, if it wasn't so damaging to families. Court reporters in NY are amongst the last in the nation to do things the old fashioned way with mysterious typing boxes that then must be transcribed into readable pages. My request to the court reporter for transcripts came back with a cost of $6 per page, and there were about 500 pages to transcribe, so about $3,000. I have sent only $500 to the court reporter back in March but now in October as the appeal window has closed, I still don't have one single page of transcript nor do I have my five hundred bucks. The chick took the money and did absolutely nothing, zippo nada. She moaned that she needs more money but grudgingly agreed to do the first day of my 'trial' play acting.
Even though I have run out of time for the appeal, largely due to this idiot court reporter not responding and charging exorbitant fees, I am demanding that she deliver at least one day of the trial or send the money back. Believe it or not, after sitting on her ass and doing nothing for 7 months, SHE STILL NEEDS TWO MORE WEEKS to type about 30 pages.
I'm sure if I had an attorney ask it would've been different but this is one case where I can't wait for automation to put her out of work. There is no reason that NY families and children should be paying for antiquated courtroom procedures when virtually every state in the US has done away with these arcane beasts. Imagine losing your kids and all your assets and then being trapped in an appeal processor waiting for this old maid to get out the selectric and bang out a few pages.
Un f'ing believable but welcome to NY Divorce!
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