What is the name of your state? WI
Bear with me, because this is long.
My brother separated from his wife three years ago. He found out she was carrying on an affair with one of her high school students and moved out of the house. They sold the house together and divided the profit. They mutually split the furniture, belongings, vehicles, etc. There is a marital settlement agreement, signed by both parties and notarized.
She agreed to help expedite the process, and they began paperwork. Immediately after receiving the first set of documents, she became completely unresponsive and refused to sign or send back anything. We called, we asked nicely, no response. An attorney friend of the family offered to help. More paperwork was filed and sent. No response. Service was attempted, no response. The attorney found himself too busy and recommended a colleague. She sent my brother paperwork which had his name misspelled, the wife's name just wrong, and saying that there were children and each had been married before (neither had any children and neither had been married previously). My brother appreciated the help, but he and I decided to go to the self-help center and file the petition ourselves.
During this time, wifey became cooperative again. She apologized and at this point signed, had notarized and sent back the marital settlement agreement. We had already filed the divorce petition and summons, and agreed that we would send that to her, she would sign the affadavit of service, and we would file that.
I sent the paperwork to her certified mail, so that we could confirm when she received it. Three weeks later I get it back saying the address she'd given us was wrong. Two weeks after that she finally returned a phone call to inform us she'd moved (why she didn't tell him, I'm still not sure), and that we needed to resend. She never went to pick up the paperwork and it was returned again. I drove to her house and dropped it off for her. She claims it wasn't there. He agreed to meet with her at the bank so they could just have her sign and notarize the affadavit there. He waited three hours and finally called her at which point she said she was "too embarassed" to show. We agreed with her that the paperwork would be sent to her place of work. Someone (not her) signed for it and she claims she never received it.
The dismissal date is looming and we're now outside the 90 day mark. There's talk of another attorney, but he's having trouble getting enough money together for one (this whole relationship has left him rather financially devastated). She is a diagnosed bipolar, being committed and diagnosed a few months after their wedding. But we don't know if this explains the wild difference between her agreeability from one month to the next.
Now it gets complicated. She's claiming to her friends that she's pregnant (presumably by the high school student she's now in a relationship with). This affects the filing, yes? What do we have to do in this case? What can we do at all? I know the obvious answer is to obtain an attorney, and we're looking into loan options to do so, but my question is, can she claim that this baby is his? He makes quite a bit more money than she does... does her pregnant state change the marital settlement agreement stating she doesn't want alimony?
Also relevant: she has "faked" two pregnancies and miscarriages before. We're not entirely certain that she's really pregnant now. Do we need to confirm this before proceeding?
Bear with me, because this is long.
My brother separated from his wife three years ago. He found out she was carrying on an affair with one of her high school students and moved out of the house. They sold the house together and divided the profit. They mutually split the furniture, belongings, vehicles, etc. There is a marital settlement agreement, signed by both parties and notarized.
She agreed to help expedite the process, and they began paperwork. Immediately after receiving the first set of documents, she became completely unresponsive and refused to sign or send back anything. We called, we asked nicely, no response. An attorney friend of the family offered to help. More paperwork was filed and sent. No response. Service was attempted, no response. The attorney found himself too busy and recommended a colleague. She sent my brother paperwork which had his name misspelled, the wife's name just wrong, and saying that there were children and each had been married before (neither had any children and neither had been married previously). My brother appreciated the help, but he and I decided to go to the self-help center and file the petition ourselves.
During this time, wifey became cooperative again. She apologized and at this point signed, had notarized and sent back the marital settlement agreement. We had already filed the divorce petition and summons, and agreed that we would send that to her, she would sign the affadavit of service, and we would file that.
I sent the paperwork to her certified mail, so that we could confirm when she received it. Three weeks later I get it back saying the address she'd given us was wrong. Two weeks after that she finally returned a phone call to inform us she'd moved (why she didn't tell him, I'm still not sure), and that we needed to resend. She never went to pick up the paperwork and it was returned again. I drove to her house and dropped it off for her. She claims it wasn't there. He agreed to meet with her at the bank so they could just have her sign and notarize the affadavit there. He waited three hours and finally called her at which point she said she was "too embarassed" to show. We agreed with her that the paperwork would be sent to her place of work. Someone (not her) signed for it and she claims she never received it.
The dismissal date is looming and we're now outside the 90 day mark. There's talk of another attorney, but he's having trouble getting enough money together for one (this whole relationship has left him rather financially devastated). She is a diagnosed bipolar, being committed and diagnosed a few months after their wedding. But we don't know if this explains the wild difference between her agreeability from one month to the next.
Now it gets complicated. She's claiming to her friends that she's pregnant (presumably by the high school student she's now in a relationship with). This affects the filing, yes? What do we have to do in this case? What can we do at all? I know the obvious answer is to obtain an attorney, and we're looking into loan options to do so, but my question is, can she claim that this baby is his? He makes quite a bit more money than she does... does her pregnant state change the marital settlement agreement stating she doesn't want alimony?
Also relevant: she has "faked" two pregnancies and miscarriages before. We're not entirely certain that she's really pregnant now. Do we need to confirm this before proceeding?
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