Q: Per decree indemnity clause am I entitled to be reimbursed legal & receivers fees paid to collect judgement ($200K)?
I was awarded 70% of marital estate. Ex sold the asset (our business) while under standing orders for purported zero dollars even though I was awarded value of $2m. I have paid over $200k to attorneys and receiver to try to collect. Ex has been sent to jail twice for contempt. One receiver even quit. Ex still has money and the company hidden somewhere. I have a new receiver that wants a heavy fee- 20% paid by ex on what receiver collects from ex & 20% paid on what I collect from ex. Can I demand that my ex pay all fees and my legal costs incurred? Isn't this what the indemnity clause reads as?
A:
Attorney fees are typically recoverable in a suit to enforce an indemnity obligation just as they are in any other suit on a written or oral contractor.
A receiver's fee is typically paid from the money recovered by the receiver "off the top." Whatever proceeds remain and pass through to you are what is credited against the judgment your ex owes to you. So, for example, you say your ex owes you $2M. If the receiver were to locate non-exempt property of your ex and sell it, the cost of the sale is deducted from the gross proceeds leaving net proceeds of $100,000, the receiver gets $20,000 and you get $80,000 toward the $2M judgment owed by your ex, leaving him with a balance owed of $1,920,000.
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