Forced to represent self in alimony appeal - PLEASE HELP!

[bookgirlac]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? South Carolina

My husband filed an appeal of alimony and my response is soon due. During our marriage, I was in a traffic accident that left me permanently disabled and I had to rely on his support completely. I discovered his adultery and he left me after 7 years. He was making almost $50,000 a year whereas I made nothing. I'm ashamed to say I had something of a nervous breakdown after he left me, but my best friend was able to loan me the money to hire a lawyer who helped me get alimony based on his adultery and some history of domestic abuse. My ex-husband is appealing it based on the length of the marriage and because he now has a son with his girlfriend whom he claims he needs to support before me. I am barely making ends meet, so I have no resources to hire a lawyer and fight this. If the alimony is taken away, I have no idea how I will survive. It's not much, but I get by with it and my disability money. My friend has helped me research laws; I'm terrified I'm making a mistake representing myself Pro Se, but I feel I have good evidence in the transcripts from our trial and based on some cases I've found. My main questions are, are there any common mistakes I should be careful of in representing myself, and also, my ex-husband has submitted only a handful of pages of the court transcripts as his evidence whereas I have numerous pages I'd like the judges to consider. Do I have to supply copies of these pages individually, or was my ex required to supply copies of the entire transcript when he filed his appeal?

Thank you to anyone who can help!

[seniorjudge]

If this is something in a court of appeals, then you must have a lawyer.

You cannot do this by yourself.

[LdiJ]

Originally Posted by seniorjudge

If this is something in a court of appeals, then you must have a lawyer.

You cannot do this by yourself.

However, if it an appeal from a magistrate's decision to a sitting judge, its possible to do it without an attorney.

However, you really need a full transcript from the original trial.

[seniorjudge]

Originally Posted by LdiJ

However, if it an appeal from a magistrate's decision to a sitting judge, its possible to do it without an attorney.

However, you really need a full transcript from the original trial.

Well...we don't know at this point.

But, in either case, yes, you need a full transcript.

[nextwife]

Originally Posted by bookgirlac

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? South Carolina

My husband filed an appeal of alimony and my response is soon due. During our marriage, I was in a traffic accident that left me permanently disabled and I had to rely on his support completely. I discovered his adultery and he left me after 7 years. He was making almost $50,000 a year whereas I made nothing. I'm ashamed to say I had something of a nervous breakdown after he left me, but my best friend was able to loan me the money to hire a lawyer who helped me get alimony based on his adultery and some history of domestic abuse. My ex-husband is appealing it based on the length of the marriage and because he now has a son with his girlfriend whom he claims he needs to support before me. I am barely making ends meet, so I have no resources to hire a lawyer and fight this. If the alimony is taken away, I have no idea how I will survive. It's not much, but I get by with it and my disability money. My friend has helped me research laws; I'm terrified I'm making a mistake representing myself Pro Se, but I feel I have good evidence in the transcripts from our trial and based on some cases I've found. My main questions are, are there any common mistakes I should be careful of in representing myself, and also, my ex-husband has submitted only a handful of pages of the court transcripts as his evidence whereas I have numerous pages I'd like the judges to consider. Do I have to supply copies of these pages individually, or was my ex required to supply copies of the entire transcript when he filed his appeal?

Thank you to anyone who can help!

Just curious: If you had NOT been married to him at the time of the accident, what would you have done to get by now? Presumably you get SSDI. Did you opt out of any employer pd LT or ST disability? Did you not work for someone who offered such an option?

What do women who DON'T have husbands during a short marriage do when THEY get disabled?

[Bali Hai]

Originally Posted by nextwife

Just curious: If you had NOT been married to him at the time of the accident, what would you have done to get by now? Presumably you get SSDI. Did you opt out of any employer pd LT or ST disability? Did you not work for someone who offered such an option?

What do women who DON'T have husbands during a short marriage do when THEY get disabled?

Those women can't AFFORD to get disabled!!

[Ronin]

Now that you have been served notice by the appeals court to file a response you do not have a heck of a lot of time to waste.

You should have received a copy of the appellant brief. The first thing you should do is meet with the attorney who helped you win your alimony and show him or her the brief. This attorney knows the particulars of your case and should be able to quickly tell you whether or not the appeal has merit. If it does not have merit or is frivolous it should not be difficult for this attorney to file a quick response and be done with it. If it does have merit then your attorney will explain that.


The following site may be of some help:
[url=http://www.judicial.state.sc.us/appeals/FAQ.cfm#whatROA]SCJD Court of Appeals[/url]