Ex-wife Sued Me For Contempt Of Our Divorce Settlement. 15 Months Later I’m Still Dealing With It And Buried In Legal Fees. Do I Have Any Recourse?

Location: Georgia

Back in 2022 I filed for divorce in GA. No prenup. Honestly, I walked away from almost everything.

I moved into a Honda Element, sold off most of what I couldn’t carry, and told my ex she could keep the house, furniture, tools—basically everything we built together. I just wanted a clean break.

The settlement we signed was actually pretty favorable to her. One key part was that we’d wait a few years before splitting the home because of a 5-year down payment assistance program. Seemed mutually beneficial at the time.

The agreement didn’t explicitly spell out maintenance responsibilities, but she had full control and occupancy of the home, while I was only contributing to interest/escrow tied to the shared asset.

Where things start going sideways

In 2023, she asked me to split the cost of a roof replacement.

I declined, treating upkeep as her responsibility given she had full control of the home.

She never fixed the roof.

August 2024 — things get bad

She tells me she’s ready to refinance… but also that the house is basically falling apart:

• Mold
  
• Water damage
  
• Rotting floors
  
• Crawlspace flooding
  
• Bug infestations
  

At this point I don’t trust anything I’m being told.

We agree to get an appraisal.

She picks the appraiser.

The value comes back at $240k — only about $5k more than when we bought it in 2019.

Here’s the problem: - The home appraised at $281k in 2021
- The surrounding market went up significantly (~70%)

So somehow… the house lost value in a rising market.

That’s when alarm bells really started going off.

I call the appraiser and basically get “the software handles it.”

Comps don’t match. Nothing lines up.

I get my own numbers

Inspector: - $50k–$80k in damage

Post-repair valuation: - ~$350k

Now the picture looks completely different.

I send all of this to her.

Radio silence.

December 2 — the push

Out of nowhere:

“Here’s the loan. Sign the quitclaim. It expires in 2 weeks.”

I don’t say no outright. I say: - I need to talk to my lawyer
- I want a trusted family member to look at the property

She denies access.

My lawyer tells me not to sign.

I offer to work something out. Even extend the timeline.

20 days later → she sues me for contempt.

The legal process

This is where it really starts to get frustrating.

I go back to the same firm that wrote the settlement.

Instead of my original attorney, they assign me a contractor attorney within the firm.

Timeline: - ~6 months just to get to mediation
- Discovery: - We provide everything
- They deny almost everything

Right before mediation: - Her lawyer quits
- New lawyer shows up and stonewalls

Mediation goes nowhere.

What really threw me: During mediation, my own counsel downplayed the strength of the settlement and suggested it might not hold up—completely different from how they framed the case to me beforehand.

After that: - They remove the contractor attorney
- Tell me it’ll be “pro-bono” going forward
- Nothing formalized

Then another ~9 months pass before arbitration.

Meanwhile — I’m doing all the work

• I organize years of bank statements
  
• Months of text messages
  
• Build searchable timelines and summaries
  

They barely engage with any of it.

I end up reworking everything multiple times just to make it usable.

Day before arbitration

Opposing counsel finally produces their evidence.

And this is the part that blew my mind:

They never had a loan.

The entire case was based on a refinance that didn’t exist.

Arbitration result

The arbitrator calls the case:

“Without merit.”

And even says I have grounds for contempt against her.

I win.

But here’s the problem

I’m on the hook for: - ~$10k+ to get to mediation
- ~$10k+ to get to arbitration

And my lawyers: - Didn’t drive strategy
- Seemed unsure until the end
- Barely had to argue once the truth came out

Now I need to enforce the settlement moving forward.

Their response?

“Oh we can help draft something if you want.”

I'm getting the feeling that they want out.

My question

Do I have any realistic grounds for legal malpractice here?

Or at least leverage to push back on fees?

I’m not necessarily trying to sue them, but:

• ~15 months to resolution
  
• Minimal involvement in evidence
  
• Mixed messaging on case strength
  
• Significant cost for what became a very straightforward outcome
  

Feels off.

Curious what others think.