Who can I go to in Basel from abroad- I'm in California to get him to pay his alimony before I get too much more underwater.
Thank you for your help
My husband and I have been separated for several years now. He has up until a few months ago paid alimony to me on his own but I still have a court order for a higher amount than he pays. We both agreed that he will pay me half of the court ordered amount because that's all I really needed. Now since a few months, he isn't even paying that, so I'm now between a rock and a hard place scrambling to live.
Did you actually asked him why he isnt paying anymore?
He doesn't answer me. I have tried. I'm really close to contacting family and friends there to see what's going on. He last we spoke said he wasn't doing well but then I get some women in Thailand trolling and making comments on my Facebook page. I don't care what he does but we were married a long time, i sacrificed alot for him and he's supposed to pay me my half.
Use some common sense. The guy is obviously screwing you around, making excuses and behaving worse with the Thai ladies. Hire or call a lawyer (in order to get definitive advice) and get what you are fully legally entitled to and that the courts decided was a fair amount in the first place. It's your life and finances he's playing around with, so the time for treading softly and letting emotion cloud your judgement has passed, and it sounds like you have already been too soft, caved in and been accepting less than you were entitled to. You don't need this forum to tell you what to do in this instance, it should be clear. Get this fixed and move on with your life.
As for your Facebook page, fix your security settings so no-one who isn't on your friends list can post on it or tag you.
Contact the Amt für Alimentenbevorschussung or similar. You probably no longer are among their responsibilities as you're living abroad now, but they can definitely guide you further, inform you about your legal situation, etc.
A lawyer may not be needed as long as you simply want the court order enforced. But if you go that road you may have no other option than to have it fulfilled completely, not just 50%, so perhaps ask in advance. However, your description sounds very much like he's still using you so he doesn't earn that "bonus" any longer, not even morally.
You are 1000% correct here. Thank you for being so frank, just what I needed. I am now seeking to do exactly that.
Very much appreciate this. I lived in Basel for a long time but I had no idea where to begin to get things started, I guess how would I know that.
Don't get upset by his behaviour, get a little angry instead, let it steel your resolve and don't let him think you're a pushover. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
I can't unfortunately offer any help, but I wanted to chime in and say that I recall and appreciated your contributions to the forum when you were in Switzerland, and I am sorry that this is happening to you. Plus, I remember you are from San Diego which is where I went to grad school - Go Tritons!
From your posting history, it didn't seem like he'd be the kind of guy who is not paying out of hardship (unless his circumstances have changed, and even then...) so I agree with Richdog, he's taking you for a ride.
Contact the suggested links and sue his a$$. By the way, I am not an expert, but if you originally got married in the USA, would it be be an option to send after him a U.S.-based lawyer, in lieu or in addition to a Swiss one? I can recommend a couple of particularly mean ones in SoCal, if ever needed (not from direct experience, but from friends I know who have used their services in nasty/difficult divorces).
Good luck, sincerely.
I think calls for lawyers at this point are WAY too US-American, and might actually hurt the OP more than she will benefit from them.
And I doubt very much that a US lawyer could do her any good. Apart from taking her money. No matter where they married.
If her ex-husband is located in Switzerland, she needs to get into contact with Swiss authorities. Those were already mentioned. She apparently does have a title on how much alimony is due. That will be easy to "vollstrecken" (enforce) then. If he doesn't pay up, then a court can order it from him, and possibly even directly charging parts of his payment. That's something he wants to avoid (basically, the employer gets notified in the process, since parts of the income will go a different way directly from the employer to the creditor)
So.. if he does have a Swiss address and is registered in Switzerland, AND he actually does have the funds to pay for it, then it will be easy and relatively straightforward. Sure, a Swiss lawyer could help in the process, but even trying to get those costs back will be tricky if not outright impossible, since all he will be asked to due is to support her with the paperwork of letting the authorities know that her ex-husband isn't paying the alimony, and to let them know that she wants it enforced.
Now, if he was smart enough to not hold a Swiss address anymore, things will get tricky. She can still do the same, and possibly deny him from coming back to Switzerland via a Swiss airport. But that's about as far as she can go.
If he's in Thailand, and coming back to Switzerland from time to time but without an official address, and being smart enough to fly into Milano (preferably, since the Italians hardly ever scan the passport), then good luck on actually catching him by the authorities.
Oh, and good luck on enforcing a Swiss alimony order in Thailand.. not sure if that's technically possible (Could be..) - but enforcing it, if technically possible, is a completely different matter.
So, in short, if he's not totally stupid, and just don't feel like paying anymore, and actually prepared for the whole thing, you'll not get anywhere, and eventually even be stuck on your lawyer costs.
Thus, I'd suggest, contact Swiss authorities as already provided by other posters, let them do the "search and rescue.. errrr.. "hunt and payup", and give it a moment.
I know that for people having the right for alimony in Switzerland, when the debtor isn't paying up, the state will actually jump in (in some cases) and pay it, but I doubt very much that Switzerland will be keen on sending money abroad in such case. It's called "Alimentenbevorschussung", and you might also want to inquire about that with Swiss authorities if there are any possibilities.
Your case - you've moved abroad, he is possible abroad in a far-away country and suddenly stopped paying - is tricky to say at least.
You probably could make his life a misery if you really hunt him down with Swiss authorities, to the point where he couldn't even get a passport renewal abroad on an embassy, but then if he just "lay low", it's entirely possible he'll get away with it. I don't want to be the guy pointing out that this isn't going to be a walk in a park, but I do
Richdog isn't exactly American. And while we Europeans don't sue for fun like you guys do... we do have a legal system for important things. This is an important matter.
And you are of course right: No point getting an US lawyer if the husband is Swiss and lives in Basel. Get a local one who knows how to get the husbands money.
Nobody sues for fun. It's a lot of money (to the lawyers) and pain (to the OP), however this is a serious matter, as you pointed out.
I guess I was thinking that, if the separation agreement was agreed to in the US, that's the divorce law that would apply regardless of where the husband lives. Involving local CH lawyers is still a great idea, but if the court order/whatever was made in the US...I don't know. You'd be surprised how far they can go, especially if the lawyer is specialized in complex/nasty divorces where the parties are from/live in different countries.
Thank you for the nice words and the encouragement. That's a nice thing on all of this is I am back home in Encinitas, the ocean helps to clear my head on those stressful days.
Thanks everyone for your input and advice, I very much appreciate it! And I will keep you posted.
Well obviously yes, she needs a Swiss lawyer who understands Swiss alimony laws, yes. Self explanatory. As for this BS stereotype about US persons are the only ones who would call a lawyer at this point, I would say it's way past time she sought legal advice, she has been fooled around for ages and now just needs factual, no nonsense advice from an expert on how to secure what she is legally entitled to in the quickest and most efficient way possible.
I wasnt the one coming up with a US lawyer idea, I tried to say this wasnt a smart idea..
Also, in my opinion NO, its not lawyer time (yet). Others have suggested as well to contact authorities first. This is what need to be done. Lawyer would only be a step I would take if necessary afterwards. But since she basically has a court order I would try to figure out the exact conditions she is in first (is HE living in Switzerland. Does he actually have money etc) - all that doesnt need a lawyer yet but first contact with Swiss authorities.
You don't need a lawyer to get sound legal advice. Nor do you need one to get alimony due, provided you have residence in Switzerland. This is where it gets tricky, but on this point as well OP's first stop should be what would otherwise be the responsible agency.
If you've read her posts you're aware she's not exactly flush with cash. One can of course engage a lawyer, but a professional will also first assess the situation. Cheaper to do it by yourself. Besides, there may actually be professional legal help available for free - a bit unlikely given that OP lives abroad but asking if there is costs nothing.
Of course she can call herself, it costs nothing to try, but an experienced family lawyer can provide sound advice on the quickest and most efficient way to proceed... a short consultation would be money well spent imo, saves time and takes out a lot of the guesswork.
Can you guys help me, what does this mean?
Sehr geehrte Frau XXX
Wir kommen zurück auf Ihre gestrige E-Mail betr. Unterhaltszahlungen Ihres Ehemannes, welcher zurzeit in der Schweiz wohnhaft ist.
Für die Geltendmachung Ihrer Unterhaltsbeiträge in der Schweiz gemäss Abkommen zwischen dem Schweizerischen Bundesrat und der Regierung der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika über die Durchsetzung von Unterhaltsverpflichtungen, abgeschlossen am 31. August 2004, in Kraft getreten am 30. September 2004, haben Sie die Möglichkeit, sich an die dafür zuständige Amtsstelle in Ihrem Land oder direkt an einen Anwalt in der Schweiz zu wenden.
Freundliche Grüsse
Birgitte Wittlin
Alimentenfachperson
Departement für Wirtschaft, Soziales und Umwelt des Kantons Basel-Stadt
Amt für Sozialbeiträge, Alimentenhilfe
Grenzacherstrasse 62, CH-4005 Basel
Telefon: +41 61 267 56 52, Fax: +41 61 267 86 44, E-Mail: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
Either contact US authorities or a Swiss lawyer.