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Quadriplegic Father Being
Evicted from Home Which Cost
Massachusetts Taxpayers About $100,000
to Outfit for his Disabilities
Family Courts and
Broken and Need Major Reform
Open
PDF Press Release
Chronology of Dan's
Story
Youtube Video on Dan
More at Fathers For
Justice
Web Site:
www.F4J.org
Photo Gallery of Dan
Other videos:
Father For Justice
in Action
Stonehenge last week
Officials Acting
under
"Color of law"
have no immunity
Dan Iagatta was hit by a
car while standing on the side of the
road in 2004. He was a tri-athlete, a
volunteer fireman and ran a plumbing
business in his home town of Foxboro.
Sometimes it is impossible to believe
the stupidity and corruption of the
Massachusetts family courts. In this
case to divide a homes equity
the court
has ordered a transaction that will cost
1.5 times MORE THAN the amount being
paid! Why would any court do this you
may ask? When there are sensible
alternatives?
LET'S
LOOK AT THE COSTS OF THE TRANSACTION
THEY HAVE ORDERED TO BENEFIT THE LEGAL
SYSTEM AND JUDICIAL SYSTEM EMPLOYEES:
|
Item |
Cost |
|
1) Sell the house - 5% of
$400,000 is a brokerage fee of
$20K + costing costs of $10,000 |
$30,000 |
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2) Undo the special features
that cost $100K |
$115,000 |
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3) Special Master "fees" to
administer this transaction at
$350 per hour (most SMs are
ex-judges being paid off by the
system) = $20,000 |
$20,000 |
|
4) Other legal fees from both
sides of the divorce to lawyers,
let's estimate at 40 hours for
each side at $250/hour = $20,000 |
$20,000 |
|
5) Reinstallation of the
handicap equipment at a new
house: $50,000 (assuming it can
be moved, not wasted) |
$50,000 |
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TOTAL: |
$235,000 |
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Can you say: "Stupid and/or
corrupt judges?" |
So the total
cost of paying the wife her $153,000 in
equity in the home now will cost an
ADDITIONAL $235,000, not
including the payment itself.
Who
benefits from this travesty and waste of
money? Only lawyers, judges and ex-judges who
act as "Special Masters".
Can you say corruption?
Anyone could tell you the house should
be refinanced and/or the wife should be
paid her share over time. But this would
not generate huge legal and transaction
fees for lawyer$, judge$ and ex-judge$
who act as "Special Masters".
In this case the "special master" is
actually allowed to take any property for their
personal benefit from the father if he
does not move out.
See the "legal" order here. Dan was
denied the right to be at his trial
while he was in the hospital (this makes
this whole order illegal and void under
the U.S. Constitution.)
Legal
fees and BILLIONS in federal kickbacks
is what drives our family courts today,
not common sense, and certainly never
what is in the best interest of children
as they would have you believe.
In fact Massachusetts
courts do EXACTLY the opposite of what
is scientifically proven best for
children in 90% of cases.
Equal
parenting time ("Shared Parenting") has
been scientifically proven best for
children and 80-90% of custody awards
are for sole custody! About 85% of
Massachusetts voters voted for this in
2004 in a non-binding referendum. So why
isn't it law? The judiciary committee is
loaded with divorce lawyers who make a
fortune on the corrupt divorce process.
Follow the money! Legal fees and
BILLIONS in federal funding creates huge
incentives for sole-custody awards.
Clearly money is more important to
lawyer$, judge$ and other judicial
employee$ than the well-being of our
children.
Dan
Iagatta
made offers of settlement
that exceeded the final order (before
all the legal fees bankrupted him).
Lawyers want the battles to suck all the
funds out of divorcing couples estates.
After that they will "settle" or a judge
will issue a boilerplate ruling having
little or nothing to do with the
kangaroo trial.
Were not gonna take it anymore.
Join
Fathers For Justice
and help reform the CORRUPT "family" courts.
Protests
will be happening every month in
Massachusetts and an educational
campaign will let everyone know about
the corruption and extortion that
happens in our family courts by the end
of 2007.
More stories on
the abuse of fathers and others by the
corrupt family courts
More details on Dan's History in the
broken family courts
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Mad dad vows fight:
Divorce court orders
quadriplegic evicted
from childhood home
By
Laurel J.
Sweet
Friday, February 2, 2007
- Updated:
12:38 AM EST
Through
childhood, fatherhood
and the devasting
cycling accident three
years ago that left him
quadriplegic, Daniel
Iagatta III has only
ever known one home.
With Norfolk Probate
Court evicting him from
126 Beach St. in
Foxboro, and demanding
the sale of the house he
was born in, Iagatta is
girding up to move to
new digs on Feb. 9: a
purple cardboard box
with a skylight.
It’s all the result
of an ugly divorce, and
a settlement Iagatta
says he can’t afford to
pay. But and before he
gives an inch to
authorities, Iagatta, 43
- a religious education
teacher whose plumbing
business went down the
drain when he lost the
use of his limbs - said
he’ll surround his
property with a human
chain. Actually, a
superhuman chain;
supporters, some of whom
plan to dress up in
superhero costumes, are
massing to come to his
rescue.
“They’re literally
going to have to drag me
out of here,” threatened
Iagatta, whose ex-wife
Michelle Iagatta, 39, a
nurse at Norwood
Hospital, has custody of
their two sons, ages 13
and 10.
Michelle Iagatta’s
attorney, Patricia
Gorman, said, “He
(Iagatta) told her from
the very beginning she
would get nothing. This
is not just about a man
in a chair. There’s
another person here.”
Iagatta, whose
12-year marriage was
declared over July 7 by
Judge Beverly Weinger
Boorstein, has appealed
to both U.S. District
Court and the Supreme
Judicial Court to
intervene to no avail.
Iagatta said his
marriage ended after he
was hit by a car while
riding a bicycle and
training for a triathlon
in 2004. The divorce
judgment specifies he
cover his ex-wife’s
legal fees. He was also
ordered to pay her
$127,000 by Aug. 31 for
property division,
either by buying out her
share of the house
Iagatta said they bought
from his mother or by
selling it outright.
None of that has
happened. The mortgage
is in arrears and
Iagatta is hundreds of
thousands of dollars in
debt, and he’s been
declared in contempt by
Boorstein.
“He’s got strong
beliefs in God and I
think that’s what keeps
him going,” said
neighbor Maria
Eisenhauer, a fellow
parishioner at St.
Mary’s Church in
Foxboro. “The sad part
is he could become a
viable part of society,
but not if they remove
him from here.”
For her part,
Michelle Iagatta must
pay her ex $100 a week
in alimony so long as
they both shall live, or
until he remarries.
Gorman said, “She’s been
sending him a check
every week. He has not
cashed one. She would
just like to be able to
get the money (from the
house) so she and the
boys can move on.”
lsweet@bostonherald.com.
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After he was
paralyzed, Foxboro man fights back
By
Heather McCarron/Staff Writer
Thursday, February 01, 2007 - Updated:
04:15 PM EST
FOXBORO — Two years ago, Daniel
Iagatta III was hard at work
training for a triathlon when the
course of his life took a major
detour. The former Foxboro call
firefighter and EMT, who had just
completed paramedic training, was
struck by a car while on a training
ride in Walpole.
"I was rendered a quadriplegic,"
said Iagatta, sitting in a
sophisticated electric wheelchair in
the kitchen of his Beach Street home
last Friday.
The accident resulted in
challenges Iagatta could have
allowed to beat him. But that’s not
what Dan Iagatta is all about, say
those who know him. And for his
resolve in overcoming his
disability, Iagatta was recently
honored by Easter Seals.
"You have to show an effort to
help yourself and not sit there and
have a poor me pity party," he said.
Now, Iagatta is tackling another
challenge — one related to the
divorce he underwent while
recovering from his accident — with
as much determination as he has
tackled his physical challenges.
Last week, the former plumber was
prepared to be escorted out of his
childhood house — which he purchased
from his mother after his father
passed away — by police, according
to a divorce decree that Iagatta and
supporters insist was unjustly made
by the probate court.
After enlisting the help of Gov.
Deval Patrick’s office, the eviction
slated for last Friday was delayed
for at least two weeks while efforts
are made to stop it permanently.
Neither Iagatta’s ex-wife, Michelle,
nor her attorney, Patricia Gorman,
of Gorman & Greenberg in Dedham,
returned phone calls seeking
comment.
Despite the challenges he faces,
Iagatta has not let himself be idle.
In December, he regained his
drivers’ license and is able to get
around in a specially-equipped van
he was given last month following a
fund-raiser put together by friends
and supporters in the community,
including Rodman Ford.
Iagatta’s able to drive because,
he explained, quadriplegics have
differing degrees of movement,
depending on what part of their
spinal cords were injured. The term
doesn’t necessarily mean total
paralysis, but rather that four
limbs are affected to some degree.
He described what it’s like for him:
"You know how you when you bury
yourself in the sand at the beach
and you can’t move? That’s what it
feels like. It’s so frustrating," he
said.
The 43-year-old, divorced father
of two boys has also earned a
teaching certificate from UMass at
the vocational high school level for
plumbing, and he wants to work on a
master’s degree to add to the degree
in fire science he already has from
Providence College.
"I was the first person ever who
went through the certification
program (at UMass) as a
quadriplegic," he said. "I felt like
I accomplished something not only
for me, but the disabled community."
Iagatta, who gives motivational
presentations to kids, believes in
leading by example — a lesson he has
tried to instill in his sons, Dan
Iagatta IV, 13, and Dylan, who will
turn 11 on Feb. 13.
"I say ‘don’t go by what you say,
go by what you do,’" he said.
Iagatta and his supporters in the
Massachusetts chapter of the
international organization Fathers 4
Justice, or F4J, are in the midst of
bringing attention to what the
fathers say are inequities in the
probate court — issues that Iagatta
insists led to an unfair divorce
decree in his case, and that
threaten to put him out of his home.
The fathers say Iagatta’s case
isn’t isolated, and they hope his
story will help change things for
other parents — both mothers and
fathers — going through divorces.
"He (Dan) was in a hospital bed
(during divorce proceedings) and
denied the right to a trial," said
F4J member Bob Norton, of Milford.
"We’re not here to cause a
conflagration of the parties. We
can’t try this (divorce) again in
the media," said George Mason, the
coordinator of the Massachusetts
F4J. "Right now the court says
there’s one house and one custodial
parent, and one ‘visitor’ (parent).
We’re here to unite parents with
their children and to ensure
equality for moms, dads, and
grandparents."
Iagatta is proud of what he’s
been able to accomplish in his life,
in spite of his handicap.
Iagatta is continuing to forge
full speed ahead, working on his
rehabilitation, looking toward
further education and, he hopes,
soon getting back into the work
force as a teacher.
Iagatta ran a plumbing and
heating business in Foxboro for 23
years before his accident, and he
was a call lieutenant with Foxboro
Fire for 14 years.
Immediately following his
accident, Iagatta was unable to give
responses of more than four or five
words, he said. Now he has full
command of his verbal communication,
has gross arm movement, has some
slight movement of a finger on his
right hand, and is able to do things
like manipulate controls on his
wheelchair and hold a cup. He’s been
told that, at this point, "what you
see is what you get."
But Iagatta isn’t one to settle
for that, he said.
"I’m a firm believer in
expectation. If you put that
expectation in your head (that it’s
not going to change), you’re not
going to change," he said.
Neighbor Maria Eisenhauer, who
grew up with Iagatta, said he is an
inspiration who continues to be
involved.
"He still volunteers as a teacher
of CCD at St. Mary’s twice a week.
He’s a lector at the church. He
still does photos of the sports
kids," she said.
Iagatta said that’s just who he
is. "Life is a participator sport,
not a spectator sport," he said.
"Just point me in the direction and
I will give 110 percent."
Iagatta is the recent recipient
of the Easter Seals Massachusetts
Personal Achievement Award. It was
given "due to his amazing comeback
from a debilitating accident,"
according to Kara Della Vecchia, of
Easter Seals Massachusetts.
Iagatta has received help from
the Easter Seals Assistive
Technology Program, which provided
him with voice-recognition software
and microphones that allow him to
dictate letters, maintain an
electronic calendar, exchange
e-mails and surf the Internet. The
program also provided him with
wireless environmental controls so
he can turn on lights before he goes
into a room and control his radio
and air conditioner without help.
"I do a lot of advocating for
Easter Seals. They’ve been real
helpful in setting me up," Iagatta
said.
Going forward, Iagatta is hoping
to compete in the bicycle portion of
a triathlon in Sharon this summer,
using a special hand cycle.
"I’m praying that things get
resolved (with the court) and my
kids are able to participate," he
said last Friday. "We were always
doing races together before."
Heather McCarron can be reached at
hmccarron@cnc.com or 508-634-7584.
Award hails
Foxborough
man's
comeback
from
accident
He stays
busy despite
limits
By Emily
Yahr, Globe
Correspondent
|
February 8,
2007
FOXBOROUGH
-- Daniel
Iagatta III
saw the car
coming, but
it was too
late. He
knew it was
going to hit
him.
When he
woke up in
an ambulance
later, he
immediately
thought of
his new,
$6,000
bicycle,
which he had
been riding
to train for
his eighth
triathlon.
"My first
thought was,
'Oh, no, my
bike is
ruined,' "
the lifelong
Foxborough
resident
said in a
recent
interview,
almost three
years later.
"And then,
'I probably
have a
broken bone
or two.' "
Iagatta,
now 43, soon
discovered
that the
accident was
far more
serious. The
plumbing
contractor,
licensed
paramedic,
father of
two, and
sometime
pilot was
left
paralyzed
from the
chest down.
The accident
forever
changed his
life. But it
has not
stopped him
from living
it.
Iagatta
was recently
awarded an
Easter Seals
Personal
Achievement
Award for
his
remarkable
strides in
recovery
since the
2004
accident,
through the
use of
technology
and his own
optimistic
outlook. As
a result of
his intense
energy and
support from
the
community,
he says, he
has been
busier and
more
productive
than ever.
"It's
like he has
no idea he
has a
handicap,"
said his
cousin,
Cheryl Ann
Iagatta.
"Being a
quadriplegic
hasn't
slowed him
down. If
anything,
it's
propelled
him into an
arena where
he wants to
do so much
more."
But these
are also
bitter
times.
Iagatta is
going
through a
contentious
divorce,
fighting
with
insurance
companies
over
hospital
bills, and
battling to
keep his
house,
having
received an
eviction
notice from
the Norfolk
County
Family and
Probate
Court
following a
dispute over
division of
marital
assets. He
is also
struggling
with
restrictions
from a prior
restraining
order taken
out against
him in 2004
by his wife,
Michelle,
which
includes not
being able
to work as a
substitute
teacher in
Foxborough.
Patricia
Gorman,
Michelle
Iagatta's
lawyer, said
that several
different
payment
options were
discussed
over the
last year,
but that
Daniel
Iagatta was
unwilling to
cooperate.
"We've
tried many
times to
work with
him," Gorman
said. "It's
been a long
divorce
trial, and
Ms. Iagatta
wants to
move forward
with her
children,
but she
can't do
so."
Daniel
Iagatta is
scheduled to
be removed
from his
house
tomorrow,
and a number
of people
have lobbied
on his
behalf. A
group called
Fathers-4-Justice
has
spearheaded
the effort,
with members
drafting
legislation
and calling
on Governor
Deval
Patrick to
intervene.
Jose
Martinez, a
spokesman
for Patrick,
said the
matter is
legally out
of the
governor's
hands,
though
representatives
from his
office have
met with
Iagatta in
the past few
weeks to
discuss his
situation.
State
Representative
Fred "Jay"
Barrows, a
Mansfield
Republican,
is helping
to arrange
emergency
housing
through the
Randolph
Housing
Authority.
Barrows
said he was
impressed by
the
outpouring
of support
for Iagatta.
"This is a
difficult
situation
for anyone,
disabled or
not, to deal
with," he
said. "He's
really an
inspiration,
to see what
people have
to live with
and what
they have to
do."
Iagatta's
recent
troubles
have not
changed the
decision to
honor him
with the
Easter Seals
achievement
award. Kirk
Joslin,
president of
Easter Seals
Massachusetts,
said the
organization's
officials
did not know
about
Iagatta's
legal and
personal
issues,
other than
the fact
that he was
going
through a
divorce. But
even taking
those issues
into
account, the
organization
would not
change its
mind about
giving
Iagatta the
award,
officials
said.
"The
award was
given based
on what he
achieved
with Easter
Seals
technology
that we
provided and
what he has
done in the
community,"
said Ann
Hall, an
Easter Seals
spokeswoman.
"His
personal
life wasn't
the basis of
why he
received the
award, so
there is no
validity for
changing the
outcome."
Easter Seals
does not
look into
the
background
of its
clients, she
said.
Iagatta
embodied the
Easter Seals
mission,
which states
that people
with
disabilities
have equal
opportunities,
said Faith
Eutsay, the
organization's
vice
president of
development.
Iagatta
says he has
tried not to
let anything
faze him.
Physically,
he has
improved. He
now has
slight
shoulder
movement and
can flex his
wrists and
move some
fingers,
which
enables him
to hold a
cup of
coffee and
press keys
on his
laptop
computer.
He is
still
determined
to complete
a
mini-triathlon,
with the
help of his
son and a
friend who
will swim
and run,
respectively.
Iagatta can
now ride a
hand-powered
bike about 4
or 5 miles
before he
gets tired;
the
mini-triathlon
bicycle
distance is
12 to 15
miles.
Having
learned
difficult
lessons
about
personal
mistakes,
Iagatta
said, he
goes to
classrooms
to speak to
students on
the verge of
dropping out
of school,
hoping to
use his
experiences
as a
motivational
tool.
He has
trouble
explaining
his
generally
positive
outlook; he
mostly
credits his
religious
faith.
"You
think you
have it bad,
but, really,
there's
always
someone who
has it
worse," he
said. "Bad
things
happen, but
it's how you
recover from
them that
matters."
Thanks to
Easter Seals
and the
Massachusetts
Rehabilitation
Commission,
Iagatta has
a remote
control to
activate the
radio in his
house, as
well as
several
appliances.
He has
voice-activated
technology
that allows
him to speak
into a
computer so
he can
compose
e-mail and
use the
Internet.
He says
he has heard
just once
from the
driver of
the car that
maimed him,
a short
letter of
apology that
came shortly
after the
accident. He
wishes he
could talk
to the
driver, to
say there
are no hard
feelings.
"I have
no
animosity,"
he said. "It
was an
accident.
Everything
happens for
a reason."
Emily Yahr
can be
reached at
yahr@globe.com.
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