Can't get divorce finalized

[Jodi Kuska]

Hi, I'm jodi from california. My ex husband filed for divorce november of 1999 and it has gone fairly smoothly, as we have long since agreed on community property, child custody arrangements, etc. The problem is that for some reason, the Stipulation for Final Judgement has not been submitted to the court house. I signed it in JUne of 2000, and my ex finally signed it in November of 2000. For months I called the courthouse and they never recieved it. I called my lawyer's secretary numerous times and never got any clear answer on why. Finally, I made an appointment with my lawyer, and he shrugged and said that he guessed we would have to get another Stipulation from my ex's lawyer. This has been a month ago, and NO progress. I'm angry because I want to get married again and I can't for obvious reasons. I don't know what to do, as my lawyer is no help and my ex's lawyer's office won't talk to me. (My ex doesn't want me to get married again, so he's not any help either). All I know is that his lawyer was responsible for getting the final papers to the court, and hasn't. My lawyer is NO HELP at all in finding out why. I actually had to go the the courthouse and get a printout of my file showing that the Stipulation is not there before my lawyer would believe me. I don't know what to do and hope someone can help me. I need this divorce finalized desperately. Also, should I have to pay my attorney more fees for him to take care of this? It doesn't seem right, as I already paid for the divorce services, and still don't have a divorce! Thank you for any advice.

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

My response:

It's not your attorney's fault if opposing counsel refuses to voluntarily cooperate. And yes, you'll have to pay your attorney more fees for his work to "force" opposing counsel to act, either through voluntary measures, or through the filing of further motions to obtain a court order on the matter and force the issue.

You have your husband to "thank" for this. Apparently, he's in no rush for a divorce, and is purposefully delaying any finality because he doesn't want to cooperate with you; e.g., you said it yourself - - he doesn't want you to remarry. So, if he can screw up your plans, he'll do for as long as he can, and cause you to spend more money to force him to act. Nice guy.

So, unless you're willing to spend the money on further procedures, here's where you're going to stay. Your attorney does not owe you these procedures for free.



Good luck to you.

IAAL