What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? FLORIDA.
My husband has representation and I do not.
I'm 57; he's 48.
We were married for 28 years.
6 children, all grown now.
He has a stable job with an income of 84k.
I was a govt employee for 15 yrs with an ending salary of 45k.
I haven't worked for 7 yrs because he said I needed to "be the center of the family" and he made enough money to keep us.
I filed for divorce in Nov 2009. I was granted a protection order against domestic violence. I filed for temporary support and was awarded it in Nov 2010. There was one delay after another by his atty; everytime it came close to a hearing, she became unavailable. During that time, I responded to my husband's lawyer with all the discovery information that was requested. I didn't ask for discovery b/c I was focusing on trying to get a hearing for temporary support and I had copies of his paystubs. The Magistrate made recommendation and report; my husband objection; then the Judge heard us and supported the Magistrate's recommendations. As soon as my husband was ordered to pay $1000 biweekly he's finally in a rush to get this over with b/c his lawyer told him that amount would be lowered.
The Judge ordered mediation and we got a notice of mediation for Jan 5, 2011. After being unemployed for years, I finally landed a decent job that I start on Jan 3. A condition of employment is that I begin training on Jan 3, and I cannot be absent for anytime during the training and probationary period. I called my husband and he agreed to my requesting a 60 day postponement for mediation.
I called the mediation center and requested in writing an alternate date noting that my husband was agreeable. This morning, I got a copy of an email from his lawyer to the mediation center that my husband will not agree to a postponement. She then emailed me and said she would entertain postponement when I provided proof of the training. That ticked me off, but in the end, I sent it.
I did not send a Notice of Discovery at the beginning of the case, because I thought we would be able to settle since we have no property and no debt.
My husband's settlement offer is that he will pay me $2000 per month for two years only.
My offer to him is that he pay me $2000 a month until my income reaches 50% of his, which is $42K. I'm not sure that I can do that in two yrs. And, with the length of our marriage and his ability to pay, I think I qualify to be awarded permanent alimony. But still, if I could work up to an income of $42k, I could be self-sufficient.
I wrote all this just to ask the question, is it too late for me to request discovery such as financial records? Have I given up my rights to have discovery??
My husband has representation and I do not.
I'm 57; he's 48.
We were married for 28 years.
6 children, all grown now.
He has a stable job with an income of 84k.
I was a govt employee for 15 yrs with an ending salary of 45k.
I haven't worked for 7 yrs because he said I needed to "be the center of the family" and he made enough money to keep us.
I filed for divorce in Nov 2009. I was granted a protection order against domestic violence. I filed for temporary support and was awarded it in Nov 2010. There was one delay after another by his atty; everytime it came close to a hearing, she became unavailable. During that time, I responded to my husband's lawyer with all the discovery information that was requested. I didn't ask for discovery b/c I was focusing on trying to get a hearing for temporary support and I had copies of his paystubs. The Magistrate made recommendation and report; my husband objection; then the Judge heard us and supported the Magistrate's recommendations. As soon as my husband was ordered to pay $1000 biweekly he's finally in a rush to get this over with b/c his lawyer told him that amount would be lowered.
The Judge ordered mediation and we got a notice of mediation for Jan 5, 2011. After being unemployed for years, I finally landed a decent job that I start on Jan 3. A condition of employment is that I begin training on Jan 3, and I cannot be absent for anytime during the training and probationary period. I called my husband and he agreed to my requesting a 60 day postponement for mediation.
I called the mediation center and requested in writing an alternate date noting that my husband was agreeable. This morning, I got a copy of an email from his lawyer to the mediation center that my husband will not agree to a postponement. She then emailed me and said she would entertain postponement when I provided proof of the training. That ticked me off, but in the end, I sent it.
I did not send a Notice of Discovery at the beginning of the case, because I thought we would be able to settle since we have no property and no debt.
My husband's settlement offer is that he will pay me $2000 per month for two years only.
My offer to him is that he pay me $2000 a month until my income reaches 50% of his, which is $42K. I'm not sure that I can do that in two yrs. And, with the length of our marriage and his ability to pay, I think I qualify to be awarded permanent alimony. But still, if I could work up to an income of $42k, I could be self-sufficient.
I wrote all this just to ask the question, is it too late for me to request discovery such as financial records? Have I given up my rights to have discovery??
