(Photo not that of the actual client.)
A native of Thailand, “Angelica” was brought to the United States by her American husband nearly 10 years ago. The couple, who had no children, was going through a bitter divorce that included a criminal no contact order, and Angelica sought help from JALA.
Her husband, who is retired, was claiming he couldn’t provide Angelica any financial support after the divorce. JALA was able to refute that claim with tax return and annuity documents, and during mediation Angelica’s husband agreed to pay her $175 a month for three years. Another matter of dispute involved the house boat where they’d lived, which Angelica’s husband had kicked her out of, leaving her homeless. Although the house boat belonged to her husband before they were married, the couple had taken out a $10,0000 line of credit in both of their names to improve the home, creating the potential for Angelica to make a claim to it.
Representing Angelica during the mediation, JALA convinced her husband to agree to take full responsibility for the line of credit in exchange for Angelica not making a claim on the house boat, thereby ensuring she’d be free of the debt. Likewise, the husband assumed full responsibility for their $15,000 in credit card debt. He also agreed to keep Angelica on the couple’s cell phone plan for a period of time while she struggled to get on her feet.
Meanwhile, Angelica found a housekeeping job at a hotel in Jacksonville Beach and was living with friends and planning to get her own housing after receiving a few paychecks. With JALA’s help, Angelica came out of the divorce in a position to support herself and avoid homelessness.
