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Denial of Due Process?

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yellorowz

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Maine

I'm writing on behalf of a friend. In brief, her husband, who filed for divorce, convinced her that she would be well taken care of after the divorce, and that she wouldn't need a lawyer. Instead, he would pay her the money (she desperately now needs) that he would have paid for a lawyer for her. He hasn't done any of what he said he would, and my friend, who couldn't even be at the hearing because of serious illness, is now without representation, and she is now in a dire financial and medical situation. (She was self-sufficient when she met her husband.)

Could not the husband be held in contempt, or at least, isn't he guilty of denying my friend due process? Has she any recourse for such coercion?

Thank you.
 


stealth2

Under the Radar Member
Uuuuuh, she's an adult, right? Did he tie her up and force her to accept his proposal? Or did she agree to it of her own free will? How did he deny her due process? On the surface, it looks like she made a poor decision. That's life.
 

yellorowz

Junior Member
Where is your compassion? She may be faulted with being naive and too trusting, but she doesn't deserve to be left with nothing by a man who made empty promises.
 

stealth2

Under the Radar Member
The long and the short of it is that she made a decision to take him at his word. That's not coercion (and you got good info on "due process" elsewhere). Does it suck that she's left high & dry? Sure it does. But she did it all to herself.
 

stealth2

Under the Radar Member
You got the same answers at prairielaw. From different posters. Both of whom are attorneys.
 

nextwife

Senior Member
Unless he drugged her or put a gun to her head, I don't get where her agreement was LEGALLY coerced. She chose the path of least resistance and simply agreed to something without bothering to either consult with an attorney or, at minimum, do some research on her own as to her legal rights.

Are you contending that because she is a WOMAN, she is not to be considered legally capable of informed consent? Simply because she entered into a legal agreement that did not work out to be in her best interests? If a man had entered into a poorly thought out agreement and trusted the other party to be "fair with them", would you feel that he had been denied his due process and that the agreement should be overturned on THAT basis?

If he is failing to comply with any aspect of the agreement, she does have the right to file contempt.

Maybe if you would explain how LEGALLY she was denied due process, we'd be better able to "help". So far, what you described was not a case of being denied due process.

If the divorce is not yet final, what's stopping her from getting her own attorney who can be there when she can't?
 
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yellorowz

Junior Member
It was my mistake to use the word "coercion". It was my word - not my friend's. I should have used the term "undue influence" which means "improper influence that deprives a person of freedom of choice or substitutes another's choice or desire for the person's own". (And, without being a lawyer, I didn't understand that "due process" doesn't apply here.) With my friend's chronic, and severe health problems, she had little strength physically or emotionally to not to take the 'path of least resistance', especially when he seemed so sincere that she would be 'well taken care of' by her husband should the marriage not work out. Poor decision making and misplaced trust of a husband who did very well to hide his serious character flaws should not sentence this woman to being one step away from homelessness, even in a sometimes flawed court system. As it is, she has had to move in with someone, and has no money for an attorney.

And, I would feel the same way about anyone - man or woman - who was manipulated the way this woman has been.

A leading divorce expert from TheDivorceForum.com has generously offered to speak with my friend about her predicament, stating that "Most states allow you to reopen the case based on “ I didn’t know what I was doing” and nothing more!".

I thank you for your time and input.


nextwife said:
Unless he drugged her or put a gun to her head, I don't get where her agreement was LEGALLY coerced. She chose the path of least resistance and simply agreed to something without bothering to either consult with an attorney or, at minimum, do some research on her own as to her legal rights.

Are you contending that because she is a WOMAN, she is not to be considered legally capable of informed consent? Simply because she entered into a legal agreement that did not work out to be in her best interests? If a man had entered into a poorly thought out agreement and trusted the other party to be "fair with them", would you feel that he had been denied his due process and that the agreement should be overturned on THAT basis?

If he is failing to comply with any aspect of the agreement, she does have the right to file contempt.

Maybe if you would explain how LEGALLY she was denied due process, we'd be better able to "help". So far, what you described was not a case of being denied due process.

If the divorce is not yet final, what's stopping her from getting her own attorney who can be there when she can't?
 

Kansas4me

Member
Depending on her "serious illness" she could file against him saying she was not of sound mind at the time she made the arrangment with him.
 

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