I currently have 3 open cases, child custody, child support, and equitable distribution to remove my name from the truck my ex-husband drives. We have been separated since February 2020. My attorney’s office has not been helpful and I’m honestly just drained from these open cases I know nothing about. My ex-husband and I have been to mediation and papers have been signed by both parties. If I dismiss my cases, can I use what we used in mediation for future references and get them notarized on my own? Also, my attorney’s office is draining my account I have with them and not contacting me about it. They’ve used $4,000 of $5,000 and haven’t explained anything, they don’t consult about anything and just pull from my account, is this normal? I barely have any money left to keep fighting this. I don’t want to move forward with anything else with them, just very disappointed. I want to remove the rest of the money I have with them and dismiss the cases. Who do I need to contact to remove all cases including personnel in the courthouse?
If you settled your case in mediation and have signed documents (i.e. a fully executed and notarized separation agreement or memorandum of settlement agreement), then your case is finished and permanently resolved assuming all issues were settled.
If you have pending litigation in the courts, then you may still need those open depending on how you settled in mediation. For example, you may not have settled with an actual separation agreement but instead the agreement was to enter into a consent order, in which case you should not dismiss your court case.
You can call your attorney’s office at any time and tell him or her that you want to cease representation effective immediately. If you have a pending court case, the attorney will likely need you to sign a consent for him/her to withdraw from the court case. Your attorney should be able to provide you a more detailed or itemized bill that would explain the work he or she has performed and why they have been drawing on the funds.
You should be very careful before you dismiss any litigation, but the form needed to dismiss court cases is a Notice of Voluntary Dismissal.
Anna Ayscue
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm Cary • Chapel Hill • Durham • Raleigh • Wake Forest
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