July 14, 2022 by Natalie Cochran
Violent Domestic Abuse – Woman Forced to Live in a Women’s Shelter Until Seeking Legal Aid
During exactly four years of marriage, Tiffany endured tragic physical, financial, and emotional abuse. It started on their honeymoon cruise when her husband Aaron smashed her head into the sink of their cabin. She encountered another night where Eric beat her up so badly, dragged her by her hair out in the yard, and left her on the street throughout the night where she had to flag down someone for help. Surprisingly, Aaron was able to put on a façade and create this image that he was a successful at a construction and engineering firm meanwhile being an abusive husband at home.
Tiffany had worked so hard for many years in accounting and kept long-term jobs with local and state government entities. Due to the abuse and becoming diagnosed with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), Tiffany found that she was unable to continue working and ended up losing her job. Before she lost her job, she told Attorney Robertson that Aaron followed her to work one day after separation when she was staying in a women’s shelter. Shortly after, she fled to Oklahoma where her children lived.
Lone Star Legal Aid Staff Attorney, Cheranda Robertson helped Tiffany file for divorce. Robertson discovered Aaron had access to three properties; the marital residence, a rental home, and some acreage in Oklahoma, but refused to let Tiffany have access to any of them for a place to live. Therefore, Tiffany originally had no choice but to live in a woman’s shelter and then with her children. Upon separation, she tried to move into Aaron’s Oklahoma property, but Aaron had his son living there who assaulted Tiffany with a firearm when she tried to enter the property. Tiffany ended up getting a protective order against Aaron’s son from an Oklahoma judge, and because the Oklahoma property was ordered to be listed and sold in the divorce, she even had to have Aaron’s son evicted from the property to get it listed and sold.
During the divorce, it came out that there was over $40,000 in credit card debt that Aaron had racked up on credit cards in his name. Tiffany had no idea that Aaron had been so irresponsible and that he even had a court case against him for one of the credit cards. During the divorce, Aaron did not even respond in that court case regarding the credit card, and a default judgment for $15,000 that was taken out against him. Tiffany was distraught about all this debt because Aaron was trying to stick her with half of it in the divorce. At trial, Aaron tried to blame Tiffany for racking up the debt, accusing her of a gambling addiction, drug use, and alcoholism. Tiffany asserted that Aaron financially abused her by not allowing her access to funds, not disclosing the couple’s finances, and not even having a credit card in her name except for a brief period of a few months before he took her off the account.
After trial, the judge granted Tiffany her portion of the proceeds from the sale of the Oklahoma property, a refund from Aaron for the costs of having to evict his son from the property, and her portion of community property income rental money that Aaron had collected and kept from her. The judge did order Tiffany to pay for a small amount of the debt that she had been aware of and acknowledged she did have a part in, but the judge ordered Aaron to pay for most of the debt. Tiffany walked away with $34,000, whereas Aaron walked away with only about $7,000.
Attorney Robertson was able to get Tiffany a life-changing amount of money that will buy Tiffany a property in Oklahoma near her children, so she will have a place to call her own.
“The money was not the best part of the judgment. The best part was when I got to call Tiffany and tell her that the judge granted the divorce on grounds of cruelty. For so many survivors of domestic violence and abuse, that validation means more than anything. Her resolve and newly found independence has transformed her from a victim into a survivor, and that is why we do what we do,” Attorney Robertson said.
Tiffany has expressed multiple times how incredibly grateful she is for Lone Star Legal Aid and our hard work, and she wants to update us in the future once she has established her new home.
“Finally, someone believes me. I truly feel like justice has been served,” Tiffany said.
*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the client.
