Discovery ignored again. Now what?

[Hunterman]

I never saw her at the mediation. I gave her mail to the mediator who took it to her. She opened her mail as they were talking and then for whatever reason she showed the mediator the statement that was in the envelope. There is around $3,000 in that new account. Not a lot of money, but what this verified is that there was at least one other asset that she had that we didn't know about. If she would have waited to open the envelope or not shared it with the mediator we would never had known.

 

[LdiJ]

I never saw her at the mediation. I gave her mail to the mediator who took it to her. She opened her mail as they were talking and then for whatever reason she showed the mediator the statement that was in the envelope. There is around $3,000 in that new account. Not a lot of money, but what this verified is that there was at least one other asset that she had that we didn't know about. If she would have waited to open the envelope or not shared it with the mediator we would never had known.

How much in assets do you think that she might actually have? You might want to consider what you are paying your attorney vs what your potential share of what she actually has is. You don't want to be throwing good money after bad in attorney fees.

 

[Hunterman]

That's a good point about how much money she might have. I don't know if she has $6,000 or $60,000. Right now we can't even come close to an agreement because she has never responded to any of my settlement proposals or made her own proposal. Even during mediation she did not respond. It's pretty much impossible to make any advancement towards a settlement when she ignores discovery requests, doesn't answer interrogatories, and doesn't respond to settlement offers. She does show up in court and she did show up for mediation, but that's been the extent of her involvement.

 

[not2cleverRed]

That's a good point about how much money she might have. I don't know if she has $6,000 or $60,000. Right now we can't even come close to an agreement because she has never responded to any of my settlement proposals or made her own proposal. Even during mediation she did not respond. It's pretty much impossible to make any advancement towards a settlement when she ignores discovery requests, doesn't answer interrogatories, and doesn't respond to settlement offers. She does show up in court and she did show up for mediation, but that's been the extent of her involvement.

Knowledge of the worth of the assets is only necessary to divide assets equitably. It is very easy to spend more on a lawyer than the worth of the assets in question.

Since she's not participating, perhaps she keeps the ones that are in her name, you keep the ones on your name, and just worry about the ones in both names.