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Parents divorce

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misterdisc

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Indiana

Here is the situation: My parents are getting a divorce. My dad has been mentally ill most of his life. He's been fine with medicine for a while, but they had to take him off of it and things went south. My mom couldn't handle it anymore and my sister offered to take care of him for a little bit so she could have a break. So he is staying with her. Well, during this time my mom decided to divorce him and didn't want him to come back home. They had talked about it before and discussed details then, but never went through with it. When she told him, he seemed to understand and agreed to the details of it. She would keep the house, car (worth $4000) and her savings (about $17000). He would keep his pension (over $3000 a month) and his health insurance. So, she filed some papers with the courthouse and then sent the papers to him to sign. My sister found out then he wasn't in a state to be making financial decisions so she sought after the advice of an attorney. Her and my mom then agreed that she (my sister) would become his power of attorney and sign the papers for him. So the attorney made a court appearance and now is supposed to send this questionnaire to my mom to fill out and she's supposed to hand over the past 2 years of bank statements from checking/savings, etc. Then after that the attorney is supposed to look it all over and then tell my sister that everything sounds fair and then they'll offer a proposal to my mom and then she can either accept or decline it. My sister agrees with the arrangements, but she wants to feel comfortable making this decision so she doesn't get legally messed over later (like someone suing her). Well, now my mom is freaking out because she's afraid my sister is going to go after some of that savings account. It's under my mom's name and she put money she earned in it from different jobs she worked. My mom has talked with several people and they are telling her the only reason a lawyer would ask for those documents is if they were going after more money. I can kind of see this but at the same time, I think my sister and the lawyer should have access to make a decision for my dad. Now based on the advice my mom has gotten from these people, she thinks she needs a lawyer to protect her. My sister is telling me that either way, she's gonna have to give over those documents if she gets a lawyer or not. She's saying it would be pointless to do it now and would be better off waiting until the proposal if it doesn't work out. By the way, the divorce papers she filled out were ones where both parties agreed to the terms. Anyway, now my mom is threatening to get a lawyer and then try to go after more than she wanted originally. She's now saying she wants to press charges for fraud because my dad lied about mentally ill and didn't tell her (not sure if you can do this). My sister is saying she could go after my mom for abuse for not properly giving medicine to my dad. It's one big mess and there's a lot to it, but I'm just wondering what the best course of action is. I don't know anything about legal matters so I'm not sure what to tell my mom. She wants this over with, but I know these things take time. Thanks for any input, mr..
 


Proserpina

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Indiana

Here is the situation: My parents are getting a divorce. My dad has been mentally ill most of his life. He's been fine with medicine for a while, but they had to take him off of it and things went south. My mom couldn't handle it anymore and my sister offered to take care of him for a little bit so she could have a break. So he is staying with her. Well, during this time my mom decided to divorce him and didn't want him to come back home. They had talked about it before and discussed details then, but never went through with it. When she told him, he seemed to understand and agreed to the details of it. She would keep the house, car (worth $4000) and her savings (about $17000). He would keep his pension (over $3000 a month) and his health insurance. So, she filed some papers with the courthouse and then sent the papers to him to sign. My sister found out then he wasn't in a state to be making financial decisions so she sought after the advice of an attorney. Her and my mom then agreed that she (my sister) would become his power of attorney and sign the papers for him. So the attorney made a court appearance and now is supposed to send this questionnaire to my mom to fill out and she's supposed to hand over the past 2 years of bank statements from checking/savings, etc. Then after that the attorney is supposed to look it all over and then tell my sister that everything sounds fair and then they'll offer a proposal to my mom and then she can either accept or decline it. My sister agrees with the arrangements, but she wants to feel comfortable making this decision so she doesn't get legally messed over later (like someone suing her). Well, now my mom is freaking out because she's afraid my sister is going to go after some of that savings account. It's under my mom's name and she put money she earned in it from different jobs she worked. My mom has talked with several people and they are telling her the only reason a lawyer would ask for those documents is if they were going after more money. I can kind of see this but at the same time, I think my sister and the lawyer should have access to make a decision for my dad. Now based on the advice my mom has gotten from these people, she thinks she needs a lawyer to protect her. My sister is telling me that either way, she's gonna have to give over those documents if she gets a lawyer or not. She's saying it would be pointless to do it now and would be better off waiting until the proposal if it doesn't work out. By the way, the divorce papers she filled out were ones where both parties agreed to the terms. Anyway, now my mom is threatening to get a lawyer and then try to go after more than she wanted originally. She's now saying she wants to press charges for fraud because my dad lied about mentally ill and didn't tell her (not sure if you can do this). My sister is saying she could go after my mom for abuse for not properly giving medicine to my dad. It's one big mess and there's a lot to it, but I'm just wondering what the best course of action is. I don't know anything about legal matters so I'm not sure what to tell my mom. She wants this over with, but I know these things take time. Thanks for any input, mr..
Take Mom to see an attorney. That's really all you can do.
 

Ohiogal

Queen Bee
How much is the house worth? Dad is entitled to HALF the marital assets. And I am not sure that is what he is receiving. What income does your mother have?
 

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