samslick Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 This post is mainly for those members who have been through the divorce process in CA. During my 2 year marriage, my wife did not contribute a dime to the mortgage, insurance (car/health/dental), groceries, etc). Our accounts were never merged together, and anything that needed to be paid, came out of my pocket (and that means anything--car repairs, vet bills, whatever). I bought the house before we got married and it is in my name only. I already filed on my form that Im requesting the judge to deny a motion for spousal support. My STBX, in all her wisdom, emails me today stating that she isn't going after anything, and that she will be responding to the divorce papers but will be asking for spousal support. She also stated that I should just make this easy and agree to pay the support and not petition anything. She is acting like a child and her and I can't even speak to each other now to try and draft an agreement on the support, so we would end up going to court anyways. I have not replied to her email, and I guess she's not smart enough to read the paper that said I dont want to give her any support. She is flat broke and has absolutely nothing to her name. I could understand her asking for spousal support if she contributed to the marriage, which she definitely did not, and I have plenty of paperwork supporting this. Considering she has no money to even file a response (which is $395 plus serving costs), should I just respond to take this to court and fight it? I can't afford an attorney, or even mediation. I read that the judge will look at the length of the marriage, quality of life, whether or not I helped pay for her education (which I did). Does she have a leg to stand on? She also thinks that if I don't petition the response and just accept what she's saying that this whole matter will be done very quickly. It's clear now that she has no idea what she's reading/doing. She stated she is going against her lawyer's advice by not trying to go after the house, 401k, or other material items. She can't afford a lawyer so the only advice she is getting is from some friend of hers who is still in law school. Given my expenses and now continuing to pay for this house by myself, what's the point in her spending the money to respond to something that a judge will ultimately see that I have no spare income to give to her? I live paycheck to paycheck, and my savings is wiped out because of her. One last thing, she only has 4 days left to file a response before the 30 days are up, doesn't she also have to serve me her response in those same 30 days? Or does it only matter that the court receives her paperwork by the 30 day deadline. Link to post Share on other sites
andyg99 Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 I was divorced in CA, your marriage was a short one - if she gets support it would most likely be small and have an end date (maybe the length of the marriage - 2 years)... of course as always: check with a lawyer to be sure!!! Link to post Share on other sites
carhill Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 If she doesn't file a response within 30 days, you can petition the court for a default judgment on the FL100 you filed. If you moved for a waiver of spousal support in the FL100, the court will rule on that. I'd strongly suggest mediation and a MSA rather than a summary default judgment. Link to post Share on other sites
Author samslick Posted December 27, 2011 Author Share Posted December 27, 2011 If she doesn't file a response within 30 days, you can petition the court for a default judgment on the FL100 you filed. If you moved for a waiver of spousal support in the FL100, the court will rule on that. I'd strongly suggest mediation and a MSA rather than a summary default judgment. I did check the box on the FL100 to waive spousal support but I guess she didn't understand how that affects our proceedings with this. As far as mediation goes, she has refused to talk to me like an adult or behave like an adult throughout this entire process. I highly doubt this is going to be quick and easy like she thinks it will be now. Im looking for a summary default judgement as Im giving her furniture and other property that I had purchased with my own money during the marriage (even though that counts as community property). The amount of debt I have compared to hers is immense and any judge will see that. Neither of us are coming out ahead in this mess in my eyes. Im still stuck with all the costs of the house, car payment, property tax, etc. Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts