Judgement of Divorce As a Change of Circumstances....THE CONCLUSION???

[allsaidanddone]

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

Hello,

My other thread was closed.....

Received the judges "Opinion and Order of the Court" yesterday (after 14 long months) through email regarding my case.

After the circus that the judge took me on by not wanting to hear our case on three different occasions and then asking for us to provide the same information over and over he finally ordered that that there was no change of circumstance in all 4 areas motioned by the ex. He even went as far to say that the ex knew all along that I was working, something we told him and proved since day one.

So I guess I won. But in every sense of the word, my girls and I truly lost. 10K spent to prove my case. We asked the Judge to award my lawyer fees and he denied it. I had to fight this case as he wanted to terminate my SS.

At this point, I have nothing to lose and am considering appealing the Judges decision regarding the lawyer fees. Can one appeal a portion of an Order?

Thanks

 

[ecmst12]

I don't think so, you don't have grounds to appeal. And even if you did, it would cost you another $10k in legal fees. Let it go, move on.

 

[stealth2]

I have to agree with ecmst. I would bet that the judge can easily explain the delays. Whatever you get back? You will pump right back into your appeal attorney. Apart from that? The aggravation & stress involved will affect you - and the kids - negatively. As much as it guts you, let it go as some battles are simply not worth engaging in. Trust me on that.

 

[Ohiogal]

I don't think so, you don't have grounds to appeal. And even if you did, it would cost you another $10k in legal fees. Let it go, move on.

She might be able to appeal the attorney fees on ABUSE OF DISCRETION -- however it would cost another 10k in legal fees. She should let it go and move on.

 

[Bali Hai]

She might be able to appeal the attorney fees on ABUSE OF DISCRETION -- however it would cost another 10k in legal fees. She should let it go and move on.

If the higher court found abuse of discretion, the judge should be thrown out of office and forced to pay her attorney for the appeal.

 

[latigo]

If the higher court found abuse of discretion, the judge should be thrown out of office and forced to pay her attorney for the appeal.

With all regard due and owing - your caveat (footnote) is superfluous.

No one is going to accuse you of having an acquaintanceship with the theme of this web site. Not in the slightest!

 

[allsaidanddone]

Thank you everyone for your responses.

I was more leaning to appeal the judges decision based on the frivolous motion against me based on the fact that he knew I was employed to begin with and that he knew that I was going to sell the house after a year (yeah, he even tried to claim that was a change of circumstance) among considering the judgement of divorce one as well. He very well knew that there was no change of circumstance but was hoping the judge would go outside the law and rule in his favor. It's very hard for me to know that I have to pay 10k for his stupidity, especially when I certainly could have used this money for my eldest who is graduating and my 16yr who needs transportation soon. I guess your right, I will have to move on and be happy that it wasn't worse.

On another note, (as the ex told me many months ago) he only went to a lawyer seeking a divorce but his (bankrutcy) lawyer told him that he was paying too much in alimony and that he should also add that in the motion. Well, the judge didn't address the divorce AT ALL in the order and went as far as saying that the "sole" issue to be addressed was whether or not there was a change in circumstance. So, I guess I'm still married until he decides to file another motion. Of course I will not fight that but I most certainly will not pay a dime for it.

As for the Abuse of Descretion, nothing I would pursue but this judge has been suspended before for dismissing 30 cases because of "his
unjustified delay in resolving cases pending on his docket and his attempts thwart detection of cases failing to meet the guidelines established by
Administrative Order 2003-7". "Respondent dismissed 30 cases as the guidelines threshold approached in order to avoid those cases being identified as being out of compliance with AO 2003-7. He would continue to work on the adjudication of those cases in a conscious design to avoid detection of those cases as being out of compliance. As stated by the Judicial Tenure Co". All the while, all the lawyers and their clients continued working their cases not knowing they were closed. All the he received was a two weeks suspension with out pay for this. And the other suspension he received was from soliciting sex from a police officer in a bathroom stall at the airport. The Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association rated him "not qualified" so just maybe he won't be re-elected. Then again, who really pays attention to judges when voting??

Sorry for my ramble, it's still pretty raw for me I guess. I will move on however and hope like he!! the ex and his bankruptcy lawyer don't come up with any more genius plans in the future.

Thanks for everyones support.

 

[allsaidanddone]

Am I Divorced or Not??

So, as I mentioned, the Judge did not address the motion to convert JOS to JOD in the final order.

My lawyer and I were discussing it at which time we remembered at the very first hearing that he verbally consented to the divorce. TO me, I just thought that this was one motion that he didn't have a problem with and would be settled when the other motions were settled.

My lawyers office called the court today which confirmed this but "he didn’t see an actual Order converting the Judgment of Separate Maintenance into a Judgment of Divorce" and welcomed us to come down to the court to "look at the hard file to be sure". I agreed to pay the processor to go down next week to ease my mind one way or another. With that I have a couple of questions.

First off, I know nothing about this but if they don't know if a hard copy was filed, shouldn't they look for it???

If there is no hard copy, does that mean I am not divorced yet even though he "consented"? Can I be divorced without a hard copy??

If I am not divorced, what do myself or my ex need to do next? Afterall, it was consented. Would we have to pay again to complete this?

And lastly, if I am legally divorced, who is in a world of trouble for the insurance benefits that I have used, thinking that I was still covered? (Nothing was ever denied) Me? (Sorry, but I would so like to be able to hook the ex for this one after causing me and the girls to be 10K poorer over something he could never win).

Help!!

 

[ecmst12]

Getting divorced doesn't automatically cancel your health insurance. Chances are you're still eligible even after the divorce and if he didn't remove you within 30 days of the divorce he would have to wait for the next open enrollment to do it.

If your lawyer can't figure out whether you are divorced or not, I suggest you need a new lawyer that's not a moron.

 

[allsaidanddone]

Getting divorced doesn't automatically cancel your health insurance. Chances are you're still eligible even after the divorce and if he didn't remove you within 30 days of the divorce he would have to wait for the next open enrollment to do it.

If your lawyer can't figure out whether you are divorced or not, I suggest you need a new lawyer that's not a moron.

Thank you ecmst, but unfortunately, I would be legally dis-enrolled at the end of the month in which we were legally divorced. I called Tricare about this along time ago for the reason of completely understanding how things worked so that I could plan. This is why I wonder if I could be legally divorced without being "served" by the court with a "hard copy". Tricare explained to me that the ex would need to call and show the decree/order. But since neither of us received it (he has told me that he didn't either), this was not done. (and I'm not even sure the ex would have known that he needed to do this back then btw)

As for my lawyer, she is quite bright. I think it's more the judge that we have dealt with who is the moron. I agree though, that after he "consented", she should have followed up with "then why don't we have a written order?" But I will give her that because she was so well versed and very effective in every other way. It is what it is at this point with so many unecessary lessons learned. "sigh"


No offense towards your comment, I appreciate everything you have offered.

Kim