legal advice

Hi ladies:

I have a friend here at work who divorced in the last couple of years. She has a teenage daughter who has health problems. Because the circumstances of her marriage were so bad, she sttled for almost nothing in order to get out. She gets only $60 a week in child support!!! He does nothing else for this child or another child who is working her way through college.

During the marriage, my friend had the health insurance and the bills were in her name. Of course insurance only paid part of the bills. Because they are in her name, her ex-husband says she is totally responsible the balance of the medical bills.

Do any of you know if it is possible to go back to court and try to get a better settlement in addition to more child support? They had a house and she got nothing.

Any advice will be much appreciated.

Angie T.

Difficult situation. With regard to child support, I believe it is possible to petition for a reevaluation of the amount paid to her by her ex-husband. The attorney who handled her divorce can advise on this. Most decent attorneys will give a free consult before taking someone on as a client, if she thinks a new attorney would be a better match for her. Legal Aid is another resource. Also the office of the Friend of the Court in her district.

As for everything else, I doubt she has any standing. Once the settlement papers are signed, they're signed. At least that's my understanding.

Angie,
This is where a good, hungry lawyer is invaluable. With some, their advice or first consultation CAN BE free. Notice I said CAN BE. And your friend wouldn't be charged for the advice unless she retained the lawyer. I wouldn't hestitate to find out the answer to these questions and I hope you encourage her to do so.

It infuritates me to hear of men who wipe their hands clean of a child's welfare out of spite, or any other reason. I wish her well!

JJ

MossPatch and jawjaw;

thank you for your advice, I will pass it along and hope for the best. Men like this are despicable and I hope one day he will reap what he has sowed.

Angie

Angie,

My understanding is that child support can be reevaluated for sure, and under certain circumstances so can spousal support. My therapist told me about a client of hers who got divorced from a man who was extremely wealthy: he was worth $30 million at the time of the divorce and his wife was awarded $3 mil. Not being a greedy person, she was desperate to get out of the hell that was her marriage so she settled against the advice of her lawyer. Now, three years later there were apparently serious health issues that were wiping her out financially. So she went back to court, and won an additional settlement.

foundhervoice-atlast

We need to hear from Mustang gal on this one!