My ex and I have almost completed a DIY divorce, we have a court date in a few days. I have done all the paperwork, filing, paid the fees, etc, on my own. He asked last week to see the Judgement I had prepared, and I obliged. He then let me know he’d had an attorney look it over (neither of us had hired an attorney up to this point, and according to him, this was a friend doing him a favor and not someone he hired), and he is requesting several changes that I do not feel are necessary. I added two statements to the Judgement that was provided online, and he is of the opinion that both should be removed:
He is requesting I delete a statement that says we have a signed/notarized Separation Agreement and will abide by it. He is afraid that the judge will want to look it over and change it. I have no qualms at all about a judge looking at it, but I didn’t think that would happen. Is it likely that the judge would want to review/change it?
He also says that I legally cannot put a statement about my name changing in the Judgement, since I didn’t include it in the Complaint. I asked the Clerk of Court when I filed if I should put it in the Judgement, and was advised that I should at that point. Could this be something that would make the judge refuse to sign? If I take it out, what are the steps I would take to change my name, and could it be done the same day?
My ex says that if I don’t make the changes he has requested, he will bring legal representation to the hearing. Since this was a no contest, DIY divorce, would that have any bearing on what happened during court?