Dear John: I refiled for divorce in Somerset County (NJ) Court in September 2011, having originally filed in Pennsylvania in January 2004.
In the past five years and five months, I have had seven judges, four trial dates that never happened, three judgment hearings that also never happened, and all of this cost me and members of my family well over $100,000.
Additionally, all of my assets have been frozen for almost four years. I have had three Social Security checks frozen and one US Army pension check still frozen!
I still cannot get into my personal safe-deposit box, even though the contents were inventoried by the opposition more than two years ago. They won’t even let me get my military DD214 form out of there.
My IRAs are still frozen, as are my checking accounts. I live off my Social Security check and my small Army pension.
The divorce issue was supposedly resolved in 2004, and then it wasn’t. I have begged for a trial date in writing numerous times, but my present attorney is useless.
Thanking you in advance for your interest. A.W.
Dear A.W.: Wow! I’m guessing Valentine’s Day isn’t a favorite of yours.
Anyway, I called the court in Somerset County and got nowhere even though you gave them permission to talk with me. The court clerk did send me an e-mail saying that it was waiting for you to get back to them with some information.
You, in turn, told me that the information they wanted had to do with the estate of your mother, who died while you were waiting to be a free — um, divorced — man.
I’m sure there is a whole lot I don’t know about this case. But if your dates are accurate, 13-plus years does seem to be a long time to wait for a divorce, even in a state as disorganized as Jersey.
Get on with it!
So, this is what I do in instances like this. The assignment judge is Yolanda Ciccone. Adriana Calderon is the trial court administrator. And Somerset County is the jurisdiction.
I suggest that anyone thinking of moving to Jersey avoid this area, lest they fall under the thumb of this court.
If the court wants to call me and tell me more about this case, I will update you.
Dear John: I follow your column frequently, and read many articles on the Census Bureau.
Since the last census was six years ago, I might have missed if you ever wrote an article about the long-form census that some people received.
I found the long form to be quite intrusive, and I refused to fill in anything but the required information regarding the number of people living here, ages, marital status, etc. J.S.
Dear J.S.: The US Constitution says the government must do a census every 10 years.
I’m pretty sure the founders of this country didn’t want to know how many bathrooms your house had and what time you left for work — mainly because they didn’t have bathrooms back then, and most people worked on the farm outside their door.
I understand your frustration. I don’t think I ever got a census form.
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