My EX pulled a fast one!!!

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)PA & DE?

I filled for no fault divorce by in PA back in May, the divorce was to be finalized by Aug but I have kind of refused to sign...my husband has been doing everything to end the marriage, but I have my own reasons for not doing it just yet.

I will say we both have moved on...

He moved to Delaware and filled for a divorce as well, he told the courts that he did not know where I was so the divorce went uncontested. He mailed me a copy of the final...what does this mean for my divorce in PA...and will I stop receiving spousal support?

Can he do this and is the divorce legal?

infor seeker said:

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)PA & DE?

I filled for no fault divorce by in PA back in May, the divorce was to be finalized by Aug but I have kind of refused to sign...my husband has been doing everything to end the marriage, but I have my own reasons for not doing it just yet.

I will say we both have moved on...

He moved to Delaware and filled for a divorce as well, he told the courts that he did not know where I was so the divorce went uncontested. He mailed me a copy of the final...what does this mean for my divorce in PA...and will I stop receiving spousal support?

Can he do this and is the divorce legal?

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Apparently, he was sick of you bleeding him for spousal support... especially since you have "both moved on".

I guess you shouldn't have "kinda refused to sign".

Do you have a better reason for not ending it so far than "I really liked living on his check without HIM"?

Can he do this... and is the divorce legal?

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Whether he can or cannot do it is moot, since he did do it. The divorce will be legal unless you move to challenge it.

That said, since the divorce was already imminent and you were dragging your feet to continue milking his spousal support for as long as you could, you are going to have to figure out whether it is worth the time, effort, and expense to challenge the DE divorce. All this trouble to wind up divorced anyway shortly afterwards.

As a practical matter, the most sensible thing to do is just drop it and consider yourself divorced.

Divorces in somewhat similar situations (one party is dissatisfied with the progress of the case filed in another jurisdiction, and files in another eligible jurisdiction) have been set aside before, although I don't know if this has happened in DE.

(See In Re: Marriage of Laine, KS Appeals, Case #92812, 2005.) (The district court set aside the divorce they had previously issued due to proceedings that were ongoing at the time, this was upheld on appeal.)

However, you will a) have to challenge this in the DE courts, and it will take time and money, and b) if you have said time & money to challenge the divorce, your X may very well request that the PA courts dismiss your divorce action there, or modify the spousal support.

To get any major traction, you'll have to indicate why you were dragging your feet. It sounds like you weren't exactly blameless on your X "pulling a fast one". (My X could very well have argued that I pulled a fast one against her, although I waited until the divorce case in the other state was dismissed before starting proceedings of my own in another state. I would state I was trying to get divorced, rather than waiting for the appeal to finish, and my X was the one that started the proceedings that got thrown out.)

infor seeker said:

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)PA & DE?

I filled for no fault divorce by in PA back in May, the divorce was to be finalized by Aug but I have kind of refused to sign...my husband has been doing everything to end the marriage, but I have my own reasons for not doing it just yet.

I will say we both have moved on...

He moved to Delaware and filled for a divorce as well, he told the courts that he did not know where I was so the divorce went uncontested. He mailed me a copy of the final...what does this mean for my divorce in PA...and will I stop receiving spousal support?

Can he do this and is the divorce legal?

Click to expand...

You filed for divorce and all the issues were settled - yet you were the one not to sign. What your ex SHOULD have done is file in PA to have the divorce finalized even without your signature.

Instead, your ex went to DE and told them that he didn't know where you lived. Is that true? If it is not true, then he committed fraud.

Was the PA case still active at the time he filed in DE? If not, then you don't have much of a case. If the PA case WAS still active (and he knew it), then, as golfball indicated, there MIGHT be an outside chance to have the divorce thrown out, but unless he won the lottery sometime during that time frame, it's probably not worth the time or expense.

Now, even if you can PROVE (not just assert) that he knew where you were and committed fraud by not notifying you of the hearing, your divorce is still final. In the event of fraud, you could possibly get the court to reopen any property division or support issues. HOWEVER, even if they were willing to do that, your ex would assert that the MOST you should receive is what you would have received had you signed the PA decree in August.

So, compare what you would have received if you had signed in August with what you actually received. Unless there's a massive difference, it's not worth even attempting to reopen the settlement - because it will be time consuming and expensive. So, if the support would have ended if you had signed the decree in August anyway, there's no benefit to you to reopen the case (again, even if the judge would consider it).

I'll ask the same question you were already asked:

Why were you delaying it. What did you hope to gain? And what substantial differences are there between the DE decree and the unsigned PA decree?

infor seeker said:

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)PA & DE?

I filled for no fault divorce by in PA back in May, the divorce was to be finalized by Aug but I have kind of refused to sign...my husband has been doing everything to end the marriage, but I have my own reasons for not doing it just yet.
I will say we both have moved on...

He moved to Delaware and filled for a divorce as well, he told the courts that he did not know where I was so the divorce went uncontested. He mailed me a copy of the final...what does this mean for my divorce in PA...and will I stop receiving spousal support?

Can he do this and is the divorce legal?

Click to expand...

Let the man be free from you, for the love of God! Get your own income.