She filed against me.....now what do I do....

[stevenlo]

I left my wife on March 11th of this year. We lived in Orange County and when I moved out, I went to Los Angeles County. In April, I decided to file the paperwork for dissolution of marriage but no one had told me about the 3 month out of county rules. So, after hearing from my wife's lawyer that he would sue me if I didn't dismiss the divorce, I quickly acted upon dismissing the case and all appeared to be well and I would just have to wait until re-filing in the correct county.

Now, I have been served by her. Did she do this to make anything in her favor or was it just a controlling action by her? We have no kids and no property. And by her filing, it shows that we both want the divorce. But I fear her attorney wants a lot of fees for the time she has taken up.

What should I do now? Kick back and let the 30 days go by? Or should I write any letters to her attorneys or should I file a "response to dissolution of marriage?"

Thank you!

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

My response:

She filed because she has satisfied the residency requirements for Orange County, and you hadn't yet for Los Angeles County. I rather doubt that there can be a "control" issue because in California, it a "pure" no fault State - - except she'll have the bragging rights to say, "Yes, I filed against him." So what ?

In California, it makes no difference who files against whom. If she's entitled to attorney's fees under the Family Code, it wouldn't have mattered if you filed first or not. The Code makes no distinction.

Respond to what ?

If you both want the divorce, and there's nothing to divide, and no fraud involved, sit back and go for the ride.
You're probably going to wind up paying a portion or all of her attorney's fees anyway. It goes with the territory.

But, there's no substitute for having a face-to-face, in-person, consultation with your own attorney. It doesn't cost that much, and you'll get more details for your own plan of action or strategy - - if one's even necessary.

IAAL