Father rights??? CA

[kamakieast]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? I live in Hawaii my wife is in CA For 9 years I have paid without a court order child support and alimony. She found out I have a girlfriend and filed for divorce. She received an order for child support and alimony which is fine. Now she will not go forward with the divorce. She has her money coming in and no desire to get the divorce settlement. What can I DO?? She said she would settle out of court. I spent $1500 dollars to meet her in CA after spending $6500 on ATTy fees. She would not meet me and I can not afford more legal fees Aloha and Mahalo

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? I live in Hawaii my wife is in CA For 9 years I have paid without a court order child support and alimony. She found out I have a girlfriend and filed for divorce. She received an order for child support and alimony which is fine. Now she will not go forward with the divorce. She has her money coming in and no desire to get the divorce settlement. What can I DO?? She said she would settle out of court. I spent $1500 dollars to meet her in CA after spending $6500 on ATTy fees. She would not meet me and I can not afford more legal fees Aloha and Mahalo

I honestly don't think that you are going to be able to finalize things without an attorney. You are simply too far away to manage it.

However, with an attorney you CAN get things finalized, even if your spouse isn't particularly cooperative about it.

 

[clch]

So you were served, but did you file an answer? Have you been defaulted? Did you file a counterclaim?

Assuming that you answered and filed a counterclaim, I would think that you would be able to wrest control of the process away from her if she is not doing anything to advance the progress of the case. Alternatively, eventually the court will dismiss the divorce for want of progress, assuming neither of the parties bother to do anything in the meantime.

 

[kamakieast]

Fathers rights.

Yes, I did file an answer with my atty. We also had declarations on both sides and financial info passed on to the court...Just can't afford to spend more on an atty. How long do you think it would take to take advantage of no activity with the divorce? I have chosen to hold up child ans spousal support until she gives me something...Probably not a good plan but that is where I am. Collection efforts have just been filed. Mahalo:

 

[CourtClerk]

So you were served, but did you file an answer? Have you been defaulted? Did you file a counterclaim?

Tell tale sign that you have no idea what you are talking about. Assuming that the divorce is taking place in CA, there is no counterclaim to file as CA is a no fault divorce state. In fact, you can't file a counterclaim to a family law action in CA if you wanted to.

Assuming that you answered and filed a counterclaim, I would think that you would be able to wrest control of the process away from her if she is not doing anything to advance the progress of the case. Alternatively, eventually the court will dismiss the divorce for want of progress, assuming neither of the parties bother to do anything in the meantime.

The rest of the signs that you don't know what you are talking about....

So, if you don't have state specific information, don't post.

 

[CourtClerk]

First, you need to disregard EVERYTHING that clch said, because it was crap.

Yes, I did file an answer with my atty. We also had declarations on both sides and financial info passed on to the court...Just can't afford to spend more on an atty.

What declarations? PDD (preliminary declaration of disclosure)? FDD (final declaration)? income and expense? Where exactly in the process are you? Have you gone to trial? Have you been inside of a court at all?

How long do you think it would take to take advantage of no activity with the divorce?

As I said earlier, disregard what clch said, because obviously he/she doesn't know what he is talking about, because it can stay held up in court for YEARS UPON YEARS UPON YEARS for you to come along and finalize later. Especially since you answered.

I have chosen to hold up child ans spousal support until she gives me something...Probably not a good plan but that is where I am. Collection efforts have just been filed. Mahalo:

What collection efforts? Filed by who/where?

It's impossible to tell you where to go with this because no one knows where you are at, what's been done and what still needs to be done. Have you guys gone to PACT? Have you been to mediation? Has a request for trial setting been filed? Have you had a status conference?

You may not want to pay the fees, but you need an attorney.