motion to "compel"

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? fl.

Petition for divorce in Janurary 2009 and I produced my financial affidavit. STBX was to have his financial disclosure by March 25, but still has not produced it. He recieved a "motion to compel" from my lawyer the last of April but he still is holding off. Now my lawyer says he will do another motion to compel. What is this and how many chances does he have to disclose his financial situation.

Zena9710 said:

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? fl.

Petition for divorce in Janurary 2009 and I produced my financial affidavit. STBX was to have his financial disclosure by March 25, but still has not produced it. He recieved a "motion to compel" from my lawyer the last of April but he still is holding off. Now my lawyer says he will do another motion to compel. What is this and how many chances does he have to disclose his financial situation.

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What did your attorney say when you asked these questions of him?

motion to compel

I never get to speak with my lawyer, it is always his assistant who is very snappy when I have a question. It always seems I am annoying her probably because she rarely returns my phone calls and therefore I leave many messages to call me

He received a motion to compel? okay. So did the judge ORDER HIM to comply? A motion is a request not an order.

Ohiogal said:

He received a motion to compel? okay. So did the judge ORDER HIM to comply? A motion is a request not an order.

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Since the motion is coming from the wife, it might just as well be an order.

motion to compel

The motion to compel was sent out nearly one month ago and I have gotten no additional paperwork, so no I don't think the judge has ordered anything, so why would they file another motion to compel?

Zena9710 said:

The motion to compel was sent out nearly one month ago and I have gotten no additional paperwork, so no I don't think the judge has ordered anything, so why would they file another motion to compel?

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Your attorney is the only one who can answer that. As long as the first motion was served, your attorney can set a hearing date for that motion without having to file/serve another motion.

Do you have a copy of the motion? Did the attorney leave anything out of it, such as a time limit in which to comply with the mandatory disclosure?
If so, that might require a second motion to correct any mistakes in the first one.

Actually, the laws are kind of strange about this type of disclosure. While the Florida Family Law Rules state one thing, the actual statute states another. Basically, a party can wait until 72 hours before a final hearing to produce a financial affidavit. The only way to fight that is to file a motion to compel, and then have a hearing on the motion where the Judge will order the other party to produce the affidavit.