Circumstances Before and After Default Judgement - NJ

mb5412 said:

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

Hello,

Can anyone explain to me the following?

1) Can spouse legally get away with purposely not serving papers? ie: "Defendant Response to Complaint? (She's representing herself)? She did serve the complaint document but mailed it back to the court before I could read and sign it. I was supposed to have 35 days. She mailed the document back to the court 3 days after serving it!!! Oh, she did mail me a certified letter notifing me of the default hearing

2) Now that I'm in default there are issues still unresolved:
a) What's the value of the marital property? (Do I need to do any leg work to help her w/this?)
b) How much is in my pension? (Of course I know but I'm not helping unless I'm ordered to)
c) She wants joint custody of 16 y/o son (I suspect she's going to move to a different town to live w/ her girlfriend or dad) I want to keep the marital property. By the way, she collects SSI and can only work part time!! How will this affect parental custody? I want my son to live w/me.

On the day of the default hearing she was informed of the unresolved issues and was given 30 days to resolve.
My question is what happens if she, me or us fail to resolve? Is there a chance of an Administrative Dismissal? Neither of us have the funds to hire an attorney. I'm hoping that she doesn't have the stomach to continue and eventually have the case getting administratively dismissed.

Finally, I believe she did some underhanded things to have this case result in a default judgment. At this point is it worth hiring a lawyer to get this thrown out and restart from square one?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

Click to expand...

mistoffolees said:

Do yourself a favor - get an attorney. There are too many issues and you seem too lost to try to do it via self-help.

If she didn't properly serve you, there shouldn't have been a default judgment, but if you were at the hearing and didn't say anything, you may have waived your rights.

If she tries to leave the court's jurisdiction with the child, then you petition the court to order the child returned. That's fairly routine.

For the long run, custody of the child is based on what's best for the child. Mother's income does not play a role. In fact, if she's only working part time, that can be in her favor since she would be able to spend more time with him. They'll consider each of your parenting abilities, available time, and, with a 16 year old, the child's wishes.

If she's living with a girlfriend - as in romantic - you could ask the court to order that the child not spend nights there when the girlfriend is around. That won't always be granted since it depends a lot on the court, but in many jurisdictions, it would work very strongly in your favor as far as custody.

If she tries to leave the court's jurisdiction with the child, then you petition the court to order the child returned. That's fairly routine.

You will both need to disclose full financial information. As for the value of the house, do not accept anything but an in-house appraisal done by a certified professional. If she won't do it, then you'll have to ask the court to order it done.

But get an attorney. You're well on the way to ruining your chances of anything.

Click to expand...