What are my rights?

[amiracle2004]

I live in Michigan

My husband moved out in July 2009. We have 1 minor child that lives with

me. He has not helped support her for anything including childcare so that I

may work. I filed for divorce but there is no judgement yet. Will he have

to pay back support after the FOC makes a recommendation?

Am I entitled to a portion of his pension? We were married 8 years.

Does he have to keep me on his medical insurance until the divorce is final?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[Proserpina]

I live in Michigan

My husband moved out in July 2009. We have 1 minor child that lives with

me. He has not helped support her for anything including childcare so that I

may work. I filed for divorce but there is no judgement yet. Will he have

to pay back support after the FOC makes a recommendation?

Am I entitled to a portion of his pension? We were married 8 years.

Does he have to keep me on his medical insurance until the divorce is final?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

Have you filed for child support yet?

What type of pension?

 

[mistoffolees]

I live in Michigan
My husband moved out in July 2009. We have 1 minor child that lives with
me. He has not helped support her for anything including childcare so that I
may work. I filed for divorce but there is no judgement yet. Will he have
to pay back support after the FOC makes a recommendation?
Am I entitled to a portion of his pension? We were married 8 years.
Does he have to keep me on his medical insurance until the divorce is final?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

In general, you don't get anything unless you ask for it.

You have to request child support - it's not automatic. You can find a child support calculator online for your state which will give you an idea of how much that should be. Most states will NOT award retroactive support. Rather, you should request temporary support while the divorce is pending.

Pensions are typically treated as assets. You will be entitled to a portion of the marital portion of the pension - although this can be offset with other assets. In addition, MI is an equitable distribution state, so the pension will be divided according to what the court considers fair, not necessarily 50:50.

He wil be required to leave the insurance in place - again, if you request it (actually, this one IS automatic in some places, so check the paperwork that you received when filing for divorce. There may be some automatic court orders (such as not hiding financial assets, not leaving the country with children, etc) and insurance may be covered. If it isn't, ask the court for an order for him to keep it in effect.

Spend some time with Google. If you enter 'michigan divorce' (without the quotes), you'll get a wealth of background information.

 

[amiracle2004]

Thank you for the info

I have not yet filed for child support. The reason that I havent, is because I

am having financial troubles and can not pay my attorney more money, and

she does not want me to do it myself since she is representing me. The

pension is through Central States Teamsters. I would not expect to get

50/50 but I would expect something for the time I vested in the marriage and

took care of everything and worked while he was out on the road 6 days a

week.

 

[mistoffolees]

I have not yet filed for child support. The reason that I havent, is because I am having financial troubles and can not pay my attorney more money, and she does not want me to do it myself since she is representing me. The pension is through Central States Teamsters. I would not expect to get 50/50 but I would expect something for the time I vested in the marriage and took care of everything and worked while he was out on the road 6 days a week.

You have to balance the cost of paying an attorney against the lost child support. You will not be likely to get retroactive support, so every month that goes by is money lost.

As for the rest, you will need to readjust your thinking. You are not entitled to anything for the years you put into the marriage, whether you worked or didn't work, whether he was home or traveling, or anything like that. The court isn't interested in whether you felt you put more into the marriage than him. You WILL be entitled to a portion of marital assets - simply because you were married and for no other reason.