Have Become Totally Disabled & Can No Longer Afford Alimony To Ex-Wife

[jul1957]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? FL
After 27 years of marriage I was divorced from my wife in April 2012. I have owned my own business for 20+ years but my health has been diminishing for the past 5 and my income has gone down for the past few years and I could not afford to pay for an attorney for my divorce hearing. With that said, the judge issued me to pay my ex wife $250 (plus give her the house, 7 partials of land and a few other assets pertaining to my business). I was also ordered to pay her $250 alimony for the rest of her or my life (only way out was if one of us died!). She works 1 permanent fulltime job and 1 seasonal parttime job but have no clue how much she is making nowaday. In May, 2014, after many months of fighting for SSDI, I was finally granted full disability and have been given a fixed (but very low) monthly income. I'm barely able to make ends meat and the $250 a month is forcing me to ask for financial help from friends and relatives. I've reopened my divorce case pro se but her attorney is now throwing out all these motions and orders to me making me sound like a felon. I have no means to pay for an attorney to represent me but I have no clue what all this paperwork is about. Is there any way for me to get free legal representation in Levy County, Florida? I've tried Three Rivers but they tell me they don't work on alimony cases and that's the only free legal advice I can find in my area. ANY HELP would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[Silverplum]

I found these: http://www.floridalegal.org/2004%20noname%20Directory.htm#Levy

https://www.justia.com/lawyers/divorce/florida/levy-county

http://apps.americanbar.org/legalservices/probono/directory/florida.html

 

[jul1957]

Thank For Links But...

Thank you Silverplum but I've already found all these sites (and 2 others) but the only free advice/service for Levy county is Three River. I've phoned them and told them of my problem but the lady who answered the phone cut me off as soon as I mentioned "alimony" and said they do not handle any alimony cases. I also tried emailing several of the attorneys listed on the justia.com site but none of them will return my calls/messages/emails and I seriously doubt any of them will help me or represent me for free. Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated and don't want to sound ungrateful with your response but I've tried all these already with no luck but willing to hear any other options you might have! Thank you!!

 

[single317dad]

Call up the UF college of law and see what they have to say.

How severe was your disability when the alimony order was made?
How much has your disability progressed in the 28 months since the order?
Is there language in the order barring modification?

 

[cbg]

Since lawyers also have bills to pay, you're not going to find any attorney advertising that they will take cases for free. Also, few if any attorneys will respond to requests by email. The way to find out if any given attorney will agree to take your case for a reduced fee, or on a pro bono basis, is to pick up the phone, start dialing, and ask a live person in the attorney's office. If you're relying on websites and emails you'll never find anyone.

 

[jul1957]

Thank you for the fast responses. single317dad, to answer your questions, my disability has been progressing for many years and it's just been since August, 2013 that it took a real turn for the worse and made it impossible for me to continue working at my business and forced me to file for SSDI. My ex has always known of the problem and that eventually the cortisone shots wouldn't be any help. I'm not quite sure what your third question means. Could you please be a little more specific as to what you mean by "Is there language in the order barring modification?". Thanks.

Want to thank you too cbg. I am totally aware that everyone has monthly bills to pay and can't work for free. With that said, I wasn't sure if there were firms that possibly received some sort of gov't allocation to represent clients for free or to give any type of free legal advice. I thank you very much for your note and have already begun a list of attorneys in my area I'm planning to start phoning first thing in the am. Thanks again to you also!!

 

[Proserpina]

Thank you for the fast responses. single317dad, to answer your questions, my disability has been progressing for many years and it's just been since August, 2013 that it took a real turn for the worse and made it impossible for me to continue working at my business and forced me to file for SSDI. My ex has always known of the problem and that eventually the cortisone shots wouldn't be any help. I'm not quite sure what your third question means. Could you please be a little more specific as to what you mean by "Is there language in the order barring modification?". Thanks.

Want to thank you too cbg. I am totally aware that everyone has monthly bills to pay and can't work for free. With that said, I wasn't sure if there were firms that possibly received some sort of gov't allocation to represent clients for free or to give any type of free legal advice. I thank you very much for your note and have already begun a list of attorneys in my area I'm planning to start phoning first thing in the am. Thanks again to you also!!

Some orders will include language specifically addressing the question of whether alimony can be modified or not.

If it's not addressed, look then to your state's statute - thankfully Florida does address the issue in cases where modification is not addressed in the order: http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0000-0099/0061/Sections/0061.14.html

Even if your order does say that alimony cannot be modified, I would still wholeheartedly advise you to speak to an attorney immediately - because generally only bridge-the-gap and lump sum awards will fall under that category.

So, attorney - first thing tomorrow. Beg borrow or...well, you know.

 

[cbg]

I wasn't sure if there were firms that possibly received some sort of gov't allocation to represent clients for free or to give any type of free legal advice.

There very well may be some firms who will represent you for a reduced fee or at least give free legal advice, but as I indicated they're not going to advertise it. If you want to find them, you're going to have to do the work of looking for them.

 

[Bali Hai]

Thank you for the fast responses. single317dad, to answer your questions, my disability has been progressing for many years and it's just been since August, 2013 that it took a real turn for the worse and made it impossible for me to continue working at my business and forced me to file for SSDI. My ex has always known of the problem and that eventually the cortisone shots wouldn't be any help. I'm not quite sure what your third question means. Could you please be a little more specific as to what you mean by "Is there language in the order barring modification?". Thanks.

Want to thank you too cbg. I am totally aware that everyone has monthly bills to pay and can't work for free. With that said, I wasn't sure if there were firms that possibly received some sort of gov't allocation to represent clients for free or to give any type of free legal advice. I thank you very much for your note and have already begun a list of attorneys in my area I'm planning to start phoning first thing in the am. Thanks again to you also!!

The government ordered you to pay the alimony. Not likely that the government will subsidize your representation to reverse that decision. Who knows, stranger things have happened.

Nobody cares that you are unable to pay the alimony, not any lawyer you talk to, not the government or not anyone on this board. The only person who cares is you.

With that in mind, YOU need to spearhead the effort. Since you don't even know if the alimony is modifiable you need to speak with a lawyer and show them your divorce decree. From there, the lawyer will know what to do. Nobody here can do any better than that no matter how much information you decide to give.

 

[tuffbrk]

If you look on your state's website, typically a telephone number for Legal Aid is listed. Legal Aid won't help you but they may be able to give you the names of some attorneys that take cases on a reduced fee basis. Good luck. Let us know how you make out!

 

[jul1957]

No Hope Yet

Have made approximately 20 calls today and haven't found an attorney yet that will listen to my problem and/or offer advice for a reduced fee. Haven't given up hope yet, going to start calling attorneys in one of the bigger cities close to me. Hopefully I'll find SOMEONE to at least give me some advice. Thanks again to everyone and will let you know if I find anyone willing to hear me out.

 

[cbg]

If there are any law schools in your area, call them too. They may have referrals; they may even have legal clinics where you can get free or low cost advice.

 

[Silverplum]

I don't know if you're a "senior," but maybe try here: http://elderaffairs.state.fl.us/doea/legal_services.php

 

[stealth2]

Another thought.... talk to people you know and ask them for names of attorneys they know, have used, etc. I found that calling and telling them that so-and-so referred me, I wonder if you could give me a couple of moments, refer me to someone in my area, etc. got me a lot of info. People actually love to help - it's all in the approach. LOL I had lawyers that I wanted to hang up on because they would not stop talking!