ok, I was wondering about the laws of divorce in PA. My bf is married but has been seperated for 6 months. His ex left him for someone else and is now pregnant. She left him with all their debt and we are paying it. the agreement was that he will aquire all the debt is she signs off on the house. she agreed. But do to him paying all the bills he cant afford a lawyer but she keeps saying she has one. it has been 6 months and still no papers. I was wondering how long it takes once u see a lawyer to send up and draw up papers for a divorce.?? Plus what steps can he take to speed this up. He wants a no default. What is the best approach? they also have 2 kids together. Well one is his the other she had before him. He wanted custody. what can he do there also?
2007-03-06 01:36:38 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Family & Relationships ➔ Marriage & Divorce
If they agree to most things, an idea is to approach a paralegal to draw up the divorce papers. It will save money. Unfortunately, there will still be the filing fees. I have included some links for further reading that should help on it.
2007-03-06 01:49:13 · answer #1 · answered by dawncs 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
For a no fault divorce neither he or his ex would need a lawyer if they want a calm well natured divorce which is usually why people file no fault. Your bf can go to the courthouse and get a no fault divorce packet, fill it out and file it all in a good days time. It may take a few months to get a hearing though (took me 3 months) but in 6 months time I would think they could have already been divorced. (Although I don't know how busy family court is in the county you live) Custody is a completely different story. More than likely custody of the child will go to the mother unless she doesn't want custody. If she does want custody, he would have to prove her unfit, which is pretty hard. He could file for joint custody though and as long as mom agrees the judge would more than likely not even blink an eye. I hope this helps.
2007-03-06 09:48:00 · answer #2 · answered by vanillashimmer21 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi Tracey! This is a really complicated divorce... and it should be handled by an atty. I know money is tight, but if he isn't properly represented it's going to cost him many thousands of dollars more in the future when he agrees to an unbalanced deal put forth by HER atty!!! Trust me, I know from experience... get a lawyer now. Also, there is much free legal information to be found online! If you want to help him, research all you can about divorce in PA, what he's entitled to, what she's entitled to, and the timeline for filing, etc. He sounds like a nice man who married someone with issues... I'm betting she'll try to get all she can from him, or saddle him with all her debt. He needs to get an atty, so that doesn't happen. (Make sure it's an atty with lots of divorce and child custody experience!) Also he might try debt consolidation to eliminate some of the higher interest rates he may be paying. The best defense is knowledge and preparation!! Get busy!! :o) Good luck!
2007-03-06 09:47:01 · answer #3 · answered by JP 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋