What do I do now?

[gc12497]

Florida

My wife filed for divorce while I am in Arizona at a busness training class, she overnighted me the papers. I do not agree with the child support, vehicle payment and child custody arrangements, but am not sure I can afford an attorney to help me. She is also portraying me in a very unsavory manner in the documents, the statements which she makes are untrue and may affect my custody rights. How do I fight for my rights and make some changes in our agreements without representation? Any help from knowledgeable persons is welcomed...please do not comment on this post if you only wish to cast aspersions and make judgements about something or someone which you know nothing about. Thanks to those who wish to contribute something which may be of aid to my cause!

 

[Ohiogal]

Florida

My wife filed for divorce while I am in Arizona at a busness training class, she overnighted me the papers. I do not agree with the child support, vehicle payment and child custody arrangements, but am not sure I can afford an attorney to help me. She is also portraying me in a very unsavory manner in the documents, the statements which she makes are untrue and may affect my custody rights. How do I fight for my rights and make some changes in our agreements without representation? Any help from knowledgeable persons is welcomed...please do not comment on this post if you only wish to cast aspersions and make judgements about something or someone which you know nothing about. Thanks to those who wish to contribute something which may be of aid to my cause!

YOu don't sign any agreement. YOu contact an attorney for a consult. You start researching the statutes in Florida. Child support is set by statute. Vehicle payments normally remain with the person who gets the vehicle. Child custody is decided either by agreement or by the court with a standard visitation plan. So start researching. As for casting asperions and making judgments -- you don't get to dictate that. We comment on what we read. You don't like the answers you do not have to post.

 

[SHORTY LONG]

Ohiogal, nice word: aspersion; animadversion. I love learning and am not ashamed
to admit such to anyone. Thank You.

 

[Ohiogal]

Ohiogal, nice word: aspersion; animadversion. I love learning and am not ashamed
to admit such to anyone. Thank You.

OP gets credit for that.

 

[Gracie3787]

Florida

My wife filed for divorce while I am in Arizona at a busness training class, she overnighted me the papers. I do not agree with the child support, vehicle payment and child custody arrangements, but am not sure I can afford an attorney to help me. She is also portraying me in a very unsavory manner in the documents, the statements which she makes are untrue and may affect my custody rights. How do I fight for my rights and make some changes in our agreements without representation? Any help from knowledgeable persons is welcomed...please do not comment on this post if you only wish to cast aspersions and make judgements about something or someone which you know nothing about. Thanks to those who wish to contribute something which may be of aid to my cause!

DO NOT SIGN ANY PAPERS. In Florida any petitions for divorce, etc MUST be personally served by a process server. Once you are legally served you will have 20 days in which to file an answer and any counter-petition.

You really do need an attorney, but if you cannot hire one, you'll need to read up on the laws. Here are some sites that you'll need:

Florida Statutes- www.flsenate.gov/STATUTES All of the laws concerning divorce, CS, custody, visitation, etc are in Chapter 61.

The Florida Rules of Civil Procedure- http://phonl.com/fl_law/rules/frcp

The Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure- http://phonl.com/fl_law/rules/famlawrules

Another helpful site is www.flcourts.org you can find the Family Law forms there and alot of other very useful info.

 

[gc12497]

Fed-Ex does not count as being served?

Gracie - Thanks so much for the incredibly helpful information, I have a quick question. She overnighted the paperwork to me via Fed-Ex. Does this mean I have not yet been served and how does that affect her ability to proceed with her petition?

 

[LdiJ]

Gracie - Thanks so much for the incredibly helpful information, I have a quick question. She overnighted the paperwork to me via Fed-Ex. Does this mean I have not yet been served and how does that affect her ability to proceed with her petition?

While you might be able to make the argument that you were not properly served, I honestly would recommend against handling it that way. Ultimately you are not going to be able to stop the divorce from happening, and you will just make it more complicated, and therefore potentially more costly.

Get a consult with a FL attorney ASAP. Its honestly too difficult to handle a divorce on a long distance basis, without one.

 

[Gracie3787]

Gracie - Thanks so much for the incredibly helpful information, I have a quick question. She overnighted the paperwork to me via Fed-Ex. Does this mean I have not yet been served and how does that affect her ability to proceed with her petition?

You said that you are in AZ for a business training class, which I assume means that you have not moved, and will be returning to Florida, correct?

If you want to, you may accept the Fed-Ex as legal service. How to do that is spelled out in the rules of procedure, you must file a waiver to process. However, you are under no legal
obligation to do so, nor will a court look down on you for insisting that you be legally served by process server either there, or once you return to Florida.

If you do not wish to accept the Fed-ex as legal service, you will need to notify your wife that she must use legal process. DO NOT sign anything other than that letter informing her, and DO NOT file anything with the court until you have been legally served.

She CANNOT proceed with the case until one of the following happens:

1. You file ANYTHING with the court acknowleding in any way the papers you recieved.

2. You have been legally served by a process server and the process server stamps the date/time on the summons. The process server is also supposed to file a "return of service", but sometimes that doesn't get done right away.

 

[Gracie3787]

While you might be able to make the argument that you were not properly served, I honestly would recommend against handling it that way. Ultimately you are not going to be able to stop the divorce from happening, and you will just make it more complicated, and therefore potentially more costly.

I would agree if the OP's situation is that he has actually moved to AZ. But the OP seems to indicate that he is in AZ for business and apparently is planning on returning to FL.

It's pretty evident that OP is going to need to see an attorney, or have time to look into the laws and prepare himself for answering the petition. He is at a great disadvantage because he is away from home on business, apparently his wife is trying to use this situation as a way of getting around the laws and a fair hearing on the issues. The laws are written to protect a respondant from being taken advantage of due to lack of legal process. OP refusing to accept the Fed-Ex as actual service is not going to complicate matters at all, and I don't get the impression that he is trying to stop the divorce, he just wants to be treated fairly according to the laws and not be taken advantage of simply because his wife chose to file while he was out iof state on business.

 

[LdiJ]

I would agree if the OP's situation is that he has actually moved to AZ. But the OP seems to indicate that he is in AZ for business and apparently is planning on returning to FL.

It's pretty evident that OP is going to need to see an attorney, or have time to look into the laws and prepare himself for answering the petition. He is at a great disadvantage because he is away from home on business, apparently his wife is trying to use this situation as a way of getting around the laws and a fair hearing on the issues. The laws are written to protect a respondant from being taken advantage of due to lack of legal process. OP refusing to accept the Fed-Ex as actual service is not going to complicate matters at all, and I don't get the impression that he is trying to stop the divorce, he just wants to be treated fairly according to the laws and not be taken advantage of simply because his wife chose to file while he was out iof state on business.

If he misses a hearing or deadline because he is claiming improper service, and she someone manages to get a judge to issue a default ruling, it WILL be a whole lot more complicated....and that is my concern.

 

[Gracie3787]

If he misses a hearing or deadline because he is claiming improper service, and she someone manages to get a judge to issue a default ruling, it WILL be a whole lot more complicated....and that is my concern.

That is a possibilty, which is why I advised him to not file anything with the court. If he doesn't file anything the court clerk cannot set a hearing date at all. (In Florida, the court clerk's are the ones who actually write the defaults, which are then signed by a Judge). A court clerk cannot do anything without seeing either a return of service, or, papers filed by the respondant. (I know, it's a little different from other states, but that's weird Florida for ya).