Monday, May 21, 2012

Q&A: Pennsylvania Divorce Law - unsigned papers?

Question by TryingMyBest: Pennsylvania Divorce Law - unsigned papers? My friend who lives in PA filed for a divorce from her husband in (I believe it was) 2004. It refused to sign the papers because there was a line in there about the PFA that she had against him, and because he wanted it in the papers that she left him for her new bf even though she had not yet met her new bf when she told him she was leaving. They have a child together, but have their cutody issues all figured out. Any assets or personal property they had together she told him what she wanted, but also told him the divorce was more important so just give her what he wants and keep everything else. e has never given her anything, not even her own clothes, shoes, books, journals, electronics, nothing, in all this time, but she is willing to look past that, and had even told the judge that during the one court hearing they had years ago. She does not have an attorney, and can not afford one. She is disabled and has 5 children to care for. He has not signed the papers, and has not counter filed. Nothing has happened with this in years. I heard there was a paper you could file in PA to request a hearing for the judge to make a decision on the divorce if more than 2 years had passed since the initial filing. Her husband has told her he will sign papers now as long as he does not have to do or pay anything. Does anyone know what this paper could be and how to get it? She has tried calling the court house and they are being clueless. What can she do to get this done without a lot of expense or attornies? Best answer:

Answer by MontrealGuy
She needs to contact a social services office and ask for help. They usually have lawyers who will take the file on legal aid or pro bono (free). She can also contact a shelter for battered women and they can refer her to a lawyer. If one or all of the five children are from her husband then the court will order him to pay child support regardless of what he wants. If the husband works, then in many cases the lawyer can even ask the court for the husband to pay her legal fees considering that he has been acting in bad faith all these years. And if he has not been paying anything for the kids all this time, then they can even force him to pay retroactive the day he left. And if he does not, he will end up in jail. At the very least your friend should explain this to him and ask him to cooperate to avoid serious problems. All the best

Add your own answer in the comments!

Get Free Legal Advice at http://free-legal-information.anaxom.com/ - Know Your Legal Rights !

No comments:

Post a Comment