In your 2nd paragraph, divorcing him from bed and board when he has moved out is a moot point. D from bed and board is simply a form of forced separation. You are still married till final D papers are served.
Are you still involved with this person? If so, that is a big problem. I don’t know about “proof” the marriage was in shambles. That is his side of it. The other side can portray the marriage they way they want to. They will say that there was love and compassion and that you destroyed that. whether that is true or not is irrelevant. Here is the thing about AofA. Most of the time it isn’t about you. It is about them fighting over assets. You are just “collateral damage”.
As to being served via certified mail… That is one way to do it. I don’t know why they would though. It only costs about $20 to have the sheriff serve you. If you refused to sign for the letter (which you had every right not to) they will simply serve you via the sheriff. Could be at your home, place of work or anywhere. The problem served you via mail because they don’t know where you work.
What did they file in Nov 07? AofA has a statue of limitations of 3 years I think. Hope this helps.
quote:[i]Originally posted by ILOVESHOES[/i]
[br]Help,
I got involved with someone that I did not know was married (ignorance is not a defense) to make a long story short, we knew each other for approx 3 months before I actually found out.
He then told me that he had been miserable for years and he moved out (plenty of proof that the marriage was in shambles). She then goes and hires an attorney and begins a divorce based on divorcing him from bed and board.
He gets an attorney to defend him and I wind up with being sued for A of A and Criminal Conversation…or so I think, here is the twist her attorney attempted to serve me via certified, I did not accept, hired an attorney and he has not yet served me. He attempted to serve me in Feb 08, they filed in Nov 07. What gives…
No, I did not refuse it, I simply did not sign for it and went and hired a attorney to have me served that way. My attorney continues to ask for it and he will respond and say that he will get it to him, and he never does. This suit was filed in Nov 2007 and he mailed me the certified letter in Feb and I hired an attorney. It is now almost 1 year later and I still have not been served yet. I relaize the 3 year statue, but I do not want to live my life waiting for the bottom to fall out. I d not understand the comment about assets, her attorney requested uneqitable dist, but of course they split everything 50/50. My question is why file it if you are not going to pursue it??
She may not be going to pursue it. That is probably unknown until your attorney hears from them. If they have settled things then you may be off the hook unless she feels she did not get a fair deal and wants more $$ from him. By going after you she can force him to cough up the $$. If it is as you describe then it won’t work. Again, you would just be collateral damage. You already are to some extent right? You had to hire an attorney. I wish I could say you don’t have anything to worry about, but unless you hear from their attorney you will have to live with the threat of a lawsuit. The threat of a lawsuit and an actual lawsuit are 2 different things. Sorry, I wish I could communicate more pleasant news.
I have an attorney now, so her attorney would not serve me by sheriff. It is a lawsuit because once I retained an attorney, he let him know that he had indeed filed the lawsuit against me. I did let the person know that I was involed with what is going on and he called her(she will not take any of his calls) and told her that all of their dirty laundry would be aired and that he was going to tell the truth about her and how her father cheated on her mother and she stayed etc… By the way her father is recouperating from Cancer.
They got 50/50 on the ED and the alimony trial (no jury since he stipulated fault) has yet to be determined. They will actually be divorced before the alimony perm alimony is set. I guess that I am confused as to why the wait, I am considering filing BK, would they still be allowed to pursue with the BK???
I am sorry you are going through this. So you have been sued, but you have not been served a subpoena to give a deposition, correct? Again the reasons for this is to pressure the spouse into more $$. Does the man you were involved with know of your dilemma? Can you ask him to give her what she wants? Does he care that you are in this mess and that it is his fault?
If you have not been served with papers then the process can’t proceed. If they are demanding a Superior Court trial, then you are looking at a very long process and a lot of money. From what I understand from my experience.
Civil court cases carry a 10K maximum that they can ask for PER charge…so 40K max for CC and AofA.
Superior court cases can ask for whatever they want.
I find it VERY hard to believe that they will persue you in Superior Court. You aren’t involved with the man anymore, and if they do a financial investigation on you they won’t find that you have deep pockets (if indeed you don’t). You can’t just jump into a jury case, there are many steps they have to take before they do that.
If you want to settle for an X amount then I would do it for the sake of all the crap you’ll have to go through. But if they go through the process of making you submit data and information through a discovery process, then I would think hard about it (just drawing on my personal experience). Yes, it is expensive IF it actually goes to court.
I don’t know-something smells on this. They filed in November, but didn’t try to serve you until February? Was the ED being settled at that time? Now it’s been almost a year and you still have no papers.
I know you don’t want to wait and have this hang over you, but waiting is better. If the papers are served, and they continue to stall and draw things out, you can have you attorney ask for a dismissal due to stalling (there is a legal term for that [;)] ).
I would let the guy you were involved with know your situation and your displeasure in his non-support (if he’s being so).
I agree you should wait quietly until a sheriff serves you with court documents. For all you know, the certified letter you didn’t sign for and accept, was a threatening letter from an attorney’s office trying to get you to cough up some money without the other party actually filing a complaint.
quote:[i]Originally posted by ILOVESHOES[/i]
[br]I have an attorney now, so her attorney would not serve me by sheriff. It is a lawsuit because once I retained an attorney, he let him know that he had indeed filed the lawsuit against me. I did let the person know that I was involed with what is going on and he called her(she will not take any of his calls) and told her that all of their dirty laundry would be aired and that he was going to tell the truth about her and how her father cheated on her mother and she stayed etc... By the way her father is recouperating from Cancer.
They got 50/50 on the ED and the alimony trial (no jury since he stipulated fault) has yet to be determined. They will actually be divorced before the alimony perm alimony is set. I guess that I am confused as to why the wait, I am considering filing BK, would they still be allowed to pursue with the BK???
If a suit has already been filed and they haven’t served your lawyer papers (or you), then it’s in stall mode. Once they serve, you have 30 days to respond. Then the back and forth stuff starts.
If you file bankrupcy the opposing party would see that and it would be useless to sue you if money is what they’re looking for.
Just sit tight and wait to hear from your lawyer. Seems to me if one lawyer certainly HAS filed a lawsuit, then your lawyer would have gotten something by now.
If you file for bankruptcy before the judgment. Then the judgment will stick. Filing for bankruptcy is just that, filing. If you have the means to pay your debts and you have assets that can be used to pay those debts (cash not retirement) then a bankruptcy would not be granted. Also, filing for bankruptcy is sorta a win for them, isn’t it?
CC is a criminal offense. That is not wiped out by bankruptcy.
CC is not a “criminal” offense, although its called criminal. You can’t go to jail or be charged with a “crime” for this. If you are able to file for bankruptcy, you would have to wait and file AFTER you have been to court and a judgement has been given. If you qualify, then you can file the day after your judgement and the judgement will be cast aside.
"Criminal conversation is the name for a civil lawsuit sounding in tort (a kind of injury to the person) based on sexual intercourse between the defendant and the plaintiff
There is nothing you need to do or can do until they serve you with the action. Filing for bankruptcy won’t help because there is currently no judgment against you.
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Helena M. Nevicosi
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I got involved with someone that I did not know was married (ignorance is not a defense) to make a long story short, we knew each other for approx 3 months before I actually found out.
He then told me that he had been miserable for years and he moved out (plenty of proof that the marriage was in shambles). She then goes and hires an attorney and begins a divorce based on divorcing him from bed and board.
He gets an attorney to defend him and I wind up with being sued for A of A and Criminal Conversation…or so I think, here is the twist her attorney attempted to serve me via certified, I did not accept, hired an attorney and he has not yet served me. He attempted to serve me in Feb 08, they filed in Nov 07. What gives…