My husband appealed, now I have nowhere to go

Q. My ex had until Feb. 1 to move out of our house based on the divorce judgment we received in November. Once he moved out, I get to move back in, and I then have 90 days to try to buy him out. If I can’t, I can spend that time fixing it up to sell on the spring market. The problem is he didn’t move out. I haven’t been in the house in three years, so I really don’t know what condition it is in or whether I want to try to buy him out.  I am afraid he has done no maintenance, and I may have trouble getting a high enough appraisal to get the funding I need to buy out his interest.

Meanwhile, I keep asking him when I can move in – I gave up my lease and have been couch surfing since the end of January. He just told me he does not have to move out because his lawyer filed an appeal. I can’t believe my lawyer didn’t tell me this. I never would have given up my rental. Is there anything I can do?

A. The mere filing of an appeal does not stop the judgment from taking effect. Your ex is either misinformed or is intentionally trying to pull one over on you. The first thing you should do is look up the electronic docket for your case in the MassCourts.org system.  Check to see if he really filed an appeal and if he did so properly.  He had 30 days from the date the judgment was entered on the docket to file his notice of appeal.

If he did timely file his notice of appeal, he will eventually be instructed on how to move the appeal forward. If he didn’t file on time, you should move to dismiss his appeal. Either way, it still does not impact his need to vacate the house. If he didn’t want to move out, he needed to file a Motion to Stay the Judgment.  He would have to show a high likelihood of success on appeal for the judge to grant a stay.

Assuming he did not file for a stay, you should now file a complaint for contempt because he is willfully violating a clear and unequivocal court order. In the complaint ask that he be ordered to immediately move out of the house, that he be ordered to reimburse you for any storage costs and/or temporary housing you incur as a direct result of his failure to move, and ask that you be granted an extension on the window to buy him out to 90 days from the date he actually moves out.

Email questions to whickey@brickjones.com