Waiver of Citation and other questions

[ziza]

What is the name of your state? Texas

Hi all,
My husband filed for our divorce through an attorney and the divorce is supposed to be uncontested since we have already reached an agreement on how our assets are to be divided. I do not have my own lawyer at this time since we are in agreement and things are amicable. No children involved.

I spoke with his lawyer last week and he told me that the decree will be ready next week and that I will need to sign a waiver. I assume this is a “waiver of citation”.

The language I have seen on sample waivers basically state that:

4. Global Waiver
I agree that the court can make decisions in this case without further notice to me.
5. The Respondent’s swears under oath:
“My spouse gave me this form and a filed copy of the Petition for Divorce with the same case number as the case number on this form. I have read the Petition for Divorce and understand what it says.
“I understand that signing this form is a substitute for going to Court and telling the Court my side of the case. I do not want testimony in this divorce recorded. And, I agree that a Judge, Associate Judge, or appointed Referee of the Court may make decisions about my divorce, even if the divorce should have been filed in another county or state.
“I give up all rights, privileges, and exemptions I may have under the Soldier’s and sailor’s Civil Relief Act of 1940, including having a lawyer appointed to represent me in this case.”

According to texaslawhelp.org, “If you sign a Waiver of Citation, you are giving up your right to be served the divorce papers by a process server. Depending on how the Waiver is worded, you may also be giving up your right to know anything more about the lawsuit, along with your right to have a say in how your property and debts will be divided.” Key phrase in this paragraph is “how the Waiver is worded”.

My questions/concerns: I am unclear on how the divorce process in Texas works. Will my husband and I sign a copy of the decree to be presented in court beforehand with the lawyer? If I sign the waiver (based on the agreed property division), can my husband have changes made after I sign the waiver but before the court date and I not be made aware of them by the attorney? Oh, and does the attorney submit a copy of the decree to the court before the court date? If I do not sign the waiver (meaning I would have to be served) in order to retain “rights”, would that mean the divorce is contested? Are there different versions of the “Waiver of Citation” that do not include the global waiver portion cited above? Last question, can the waiver be amended to include the phrase in the Global Waiver section:
I agree that the court can make decisions in this case without further notice to me, provided that such decision be made based upon the mutually signed divorce decree, dated xx-xx-xxx.

I understand that if I sign the waiver, I do not need to be present in court, however I want to appear. My biggest concern is that decree to be presented to the judge could possibly not be the one I agreed to.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! ~zizaWhat is the name of your state?

 

[LdiJ]

When you get the waiver to sign, I would strongly recommend that you run all of the paperwork by an attorney to ensure that there is nothing amiss. You don't have to retain one, just pay for an hour of his/her time. In the long run, it will be worth it.

Otherwise, you are likely to be back here in a couple of months complaining that you got taken.

 

[las365]

Long ago, I worked for a family law attorney in Houston who did lots of uncontested divorces. The unrepresented Respondent (that's you) would sign the Waiver of Citation and the Decree and then our client (the Petitioner) would go to court with the attorney to get the divorce granted and enter the Decree. We would NEVER have changed the Decree after it was signed by the Respondent without notifying him or her of the changes and getting it re-signed.

Oh, and does the attorney submit a copy of the decree to the court before the court date?

Not in my experience.

This is excellent advice that you should follow:

I would strongly recommend that you run all of the paperwork by an attorney to ensure that there is nothing amiss. You don't have to retain one, just pay for an hour of his/her time.

If you want to go to court when the divorce is granted and the Decree is entered, you can. In that case you don't have to sign the Waiver. Be aware that the Judge will probably just ask if you agree; s/he won't go over all the details in the Decree.

 

[ziza]

Thanks for the responses!

I should be getting a copy of the decree sometime this week. I'll figure out what to do after I see them. Yeah, yeah.... I know I should get a lawyer and most likely will.

A friend of mine told me a horror story about her divorce: her husband filed, she signed the waiver of citation and the agreed upon decree. He discouraged her from appearing on the court date, but she did anyway. To her surprise and the judge's, the husband's attorney had changed the decree that was presented to the judge. The judge then got all over the attorney for doing it. My friend was at her breaking point of dealing with the ex and she let the changes go on through.... But she would not have known if she didn't show up at court.

Thanks again for the advice... I'll be checking back to see if y'all can alert me to any other pitfalls that may come up!
~z