Echoes of the Past

In 1999 I divorced a man I had know for ten years and been married to for five. The old saying about not knowing someone until you live with them had proven abundantly true, and escaping such a psychologically abusive relationship was tough.

Last year I received a notice in the mail that our former condo was up for auction due to nonpayment of back taxes, which made no sense. I keep track of the dangerous men in my past, and I knew my ex was working in a very high paying position make well into a 6-figure income. The taxes were about $5,000 and I had signed away my share of that home a long time ago. Indeed, the whole time we were married he kept insisting it was my house and that if anything happened between us, the condo would be mine. When we divorced it was the only thing he wanted. Of course. Turns out, I discovered after calling the court house, my ex had stopped paying the taxes when he moved out, deciding it was easier to let it go than to sell it. He's just like that.

So last week I received a notice in the mail from the IRS with my name and address but someone else's social security number. It took me a week to work up the courage, but I finally called. The lady on the other end wasn't volunteering information, but as I am explaining the notice in my hand, it hit me. "Is the name associated with this social security number S..... M.....?" It was. The bastard.

We filed taxes in 1997, over paying by $360. We both received a notice about four years ago that we had money coming but had to claim it together. That's not happening. I refuse to speak to him. So I thought the money had continued to just sit there. Turns out, he UNDERPAID his taxes by $360 in 2006 so the IRS would apply the funds to his tax debt. They finally did so this year.

I'm doing gratitude today. What an affirmation of the devious bastard he was and a confirmation that I was right to leave, right to not touch that money, right to find a new life in another state.