Divorce advise

[hurting_dad]

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

I filed divorce papers a couple weeks ago and gave them to spouse. She quit her job even though she was carrying health insurance for us and our 3 kids saying that she didnt sign the papers and she was never served. Now she is asking me to put her and the kids back on my insurance.

Now spouse has an attorney and says she wants me to withdraw the papers so we can talk. I stopped direct deposit on paychecks to have control over money and not allow her to leave me with nothing but she says I am withholding her access to the money. The money has been at both of our disposals inside our home the whole time. Wife has worked part time for 6 months and gets her own paycheck. She says because I don't put my check in the bank that the automatic withdrawal for her cell phone will not go through and her cell phone will get shut off.

Need help

 

[Ohiogal]

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

I filed divorce papers a couple weeks ago and gave them to spouse. She quit her job even though she was carrying health insurance for us and our 3 kids saying that she didnt sign the papers and she was never served.

She was not served if you handed the papers to her. That is NOT proper service.

Now she is asking me to put her and the kids back on my insurance.

And the court may order that.

Now spouse has an attorney and says she wants me to withdraw the papers so we can talk.

And what do you want to do?

I stopped direct deposit on paychecks to have control over money and not allow her to leave me with nothing but she says I am withholding her access to the money. The money has been at both of our disposals inside our home the whole time.

Explain that.

Wife has worked part time for 6 months and gets her own paycheck. She says because I don't put my check in the bank that the automatic withdrawal for her cell phone will not go through and her cell phone will get shut off.

Well her money needs to go into the bank apparently to pay her cell phone.

Need help

Get an attorney.

 

[hurting_dad]

Response

She was not served if you handed the papers to her. That is NOT proper service.

**** I agree it was not proper service. Nothing I can do about it now but she said that if she signs the papers she is accepting them. Would that mean that she violated the health insurance notice?


I stopped direct deposit on paychecks to have control over money and not allow her to leave me with nothing but she says I am withholding her access to the money. The money has been at both of our disposals inside our home the whole time.

Explain that.

**** I didn't want her taking the money out of the account and getting an attorney leaving me with nothing. I have paid all of the bills for several years, I am the only one on our lease so it is my responsibilities if the lease goes into default or if the utilities don't get paid.


Get an attorney.

**** I can't afford one.


Thank you for taking the time to respond.

 

[Ohiogal]

**** I agree it was not proper service. Nothing I can do about it now but she said that if she signs the papers she is accepting them. Would that mean that she violated the health insurance notice?

Not if she were not properly served. And you can do something about it now> You make sure she properly gets served. You can correct the service issues.

**** I didn't want her taking the money out of the account and getting an attorney leaving me with nothing. I have paid all of the bills for several years, I am the only one on our lease so it is my responsibilities if the lease goes into default or if the utilities don't get paid.

So you have left her with no access to the money. She apparently got an attorney. You are going to need one as well.

**** I can't afford one.

At this point you can't afford NOT to have one.

 

[hurting_dad]

Money

Would it be in my best interest to just put the money back in the account?

 

[Zigner]

I suggest you seek a consultation with an attorney.

 

[hurting_dad]

The point of me posting my issue on this site was to try and get free advice without having to see an attorney. I know I need to see an attorney but I can't afford one. Does anyone have any experience they can share? It may or may not be helpful but there has to be people with experience in these type of situations that can give me advice.

 

[mistoffolees]

The point of me posting my issue on this site was to try and get free advice without having to see an attorney. I know I need to see an attorney but I can't afford one. Does anyone have any experience they can share? It may or may not be helpful but there has to be people with experience in these type of situations that can give me advice.

You got your advice - this is not something you should try to handle without an attorney. Some situations can be handled on your own. Yours doesn't appear that way.

It's up to you to take the advice or ignore it.

You can say that you can't afford it all you want - it's likely to cost you many times more than the cost of the attorney if you wait. Many attorneys will work out a payment schedule for you. If you're truly destitute, there are legal aid processes. Or ask the judge to have the attorney paid out of marital assets. Or borrow the money. It's pay me now or pay me later.

 

[Ohiogal]

Can you operate at the level of the attorney? If not then you can't do this yourself. If so, then you don't need an attorney. Understand? Start with reading the state statutes on divorce. Then read the rules of civil procedure, rules of evidence and the local rules. When you have read ALL of that come back and ask questions as they pertain to you. Okay?

 

[LdiJ]

I would also suggest that until you get things more formally divided, that you make sure that ALL of the bills are paid, including her cell phone. You don't have to put all of your money back into the account, but you do have an obligation to make sure that the bills are paid at this stage.