The Angry, Ex-husband, Vent Post

This post is mainly so I can vent. It is not a happy, cheerful post so you may want to skip over this one if you are looking for warm fuzzies.

I have recently (within the last 6 months) discovered that my ex-husband opened up credit cards in my name, maxxed them out, and then quit making payments on them. I found out about one back in April or May when they called and wanted me to pay "my" bill. I honestly had no idea what they were talking about. After a couple of months, my ex FINALLY took responsibility and started making minimum payments on it. It is still in my name (I did close the account) and my credit rating is lower than I thought was humanly possible.

Well, a couple of months ago, I got a call from a collection agency wanting me to pay for my credit card. I assured them that the payments were being taken automatically out of my ex's checking account every month. That was when I found out that there was ANOTHER credit card that he did the same thing with. He is not taking care of this one and we (the collection agency and I) have been going back and forth about this for a while. I told them to look at the signatures and they will see that NONE of them are mine. They don't really care. He opened the accounts when we were married (without my knowledge) and put me as the primary card holder. That makes me responsible. They told me that the only way I could get out of it is to file fraud charges against him and that he will serve time in prison for a felony. I actually already knew that from dealing with the other credit card company that he defaulted on.

I am so mad I just want to hit him! He does not seem concerned at all. I guess he doesn't need to be concerned. After all, HE isn't the one who will be sued and have to pay the credit cards off, attorney's fees for the company, and court costs. I don't know why he can't just get a loan from the bank for the $6000 for the two cards, pay them off, and then pay the loan off. It seems like a loan would have a lower interest rate. I suggested this, but he does not want to do that either.

I do not want to file fraud charges against him. In spite of everything he has done to me and the kids, he is still their father. I don't want to send their dad to prison, but I certainly do not think it is right for me to have to pay off debts that I did not incur. As it is, I am supposed to receive over $1000 a month for child support and I signed an agreement stating that I would take only $400 so he would not be financially decimated. Then he does this! $400 does not really cover that much considering that it is supposed to support six children. He does not pay for insurance for them. He doesn't pay for any of their medical expenses (even though he is supposed to pay half). He does not help pay for dental or anything (two of them have braces). He will not chip in for presents from Santa (although he does buy them a gift from himself). That really irritates me because my little kids will ask why daddy buys them a present, but I don't. Maybe because I am scraping every penny I have to try and make sure that they get something from Santa. I can't say that, though. Ugh!!! It is so frustrating!

He is leaving for China for an extended stay (1-2 months) on November 10th. I'm not quite clear on how he can afford another trip to China this year when he is not able to meet his current financial obligations.

Okay, there is my vent. I really don't know that it did much good. I still do not have any answers. The few people I have talked to about this say I should file fraud charges. If it only affected him, I probably would. I just don't want to do that to the kids. They love their dad regardless and they would just be angry with me if he went to prison.