Divorce advice for my sister-in-law

[chango]

My sister-in-law left her husband after 20+ years of marriage. She gave a divorce attorney $5,000 and they recommended mediation. I'm no attorney but I thought she got royally screwed in the mediation. They agreed he would keep the house and refinance (although I knew being self-employed he would NEVER qualify for a loan), as well as give her half of the value of his toys (boat, jet skis, etc). No spousal support even though she stayed home and raised the kids, in addition to running the finances of their business.

The problem is a few weeks have gone by and nothing has happened. She moved out of the house and into an apartment but he completely cut her out of their joint accounts, including business accounts for the small business they ran together for 10 years. (Side question -- how do you remove someone from a joint bank account without their permission?) Now he says he doesn't think the mediation is fair (he thinks because she left she should get nothing) AND her attorneys say they won't represent her any further unless she gives them an additional $9,000. On top of that -- I haven't seen the mediation papers, but my wife says they agreed he would pay her attorney bills. Of course now they won't lift a finger until they get $9,000

I'm kind of rambling but this is really stressful on my wife and family. This guy is in their house, has all their money and posessions, and these so-called attorneys did nothing but take $5,000 and walk away.. She has no access to their joint accounts, is working part time now, and is afraid of not being able to pay rent 10.1

Any advice/direction/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[scottsins]

1. SHE signed the mediation, willingly.
2. Sounds like she didn't end up with what would be necessarily fair. However, sometimes, people settle for less, rather than dragging the process out longer with a risk of doing worse in court, etc.
3. Did she have a contract with her attorneys? If so, then that would cover their hourly rate, and how much needs to be put on retainer in their trust account to continue work. They usually bill by the hour, and want enough on reserve to bill from along the way. Just because the result right now isn't satisfactory doesn't mean that they're not entitled to charge for the additional work to be done.
3. He may be ordered to pay her fees, but she has the primary obligation under the contract. Simply put, they don't work for free. If the husband is ordered to pay (not sure how specific it was as to paying only at the end, etc.) but doesn't, the lawyers will not just work for her anyway, because she's not the one ordered to pay. In fact, they (should) have a contract too, and the "order" for him to pay does nothing to change that contract. What usually happens is that she pays her lawyer and then gets a judgment against husband for what she paid.
4. Not sure how he is "ordered" to pay her fees right now at all. The divorce is not final, and I didn't hear talk of any temporary orders being entered/signed by the court. Thus, no obligation for him at all. I think you are saying that provision is in the MSA, which is just a piece of paper, UNLESS they have gone in front of a judge, proven up the divorce, had the judge order the divorce according to the MSA, and are just in the decree drafting process. A MSA is an agreement as to what the decree (or some other order) WILL BE. If all she has is the MSA, which states that the husband and her AGREE that the order, once done by the court WILL contain a provision for him to pay her lawyer fees.

Hope that answers some questions. I am not saying that her lawyers are good/bad etc. You haven't given nearly enough information to draw that conclusion, from a legal standpoint, which is why I mention how some details could make a difference as to whether her lawyers are actually screwing her over or not. I do see red flags though as to how things got split up, but that's not necessarily ULTIMATELY the attorney's fault.

 

[NickDanger]

Not to mention the possibility that if SHE reneges on the contract she made to settle the suit, she might end up paying HIS fees to enforce it.

 

[chango]

scotts,
Thanks for the detailed reply. I really do appreciate it. You have given me a starting point in a confusing situation.
I agree she signed the agreement and when I heard about it my reaction was "WTF?". She expected she'd have equity from the house by now -- also her fault.
I also know the attorney deserves to be paid per that contract.. I'm just confused as to why her attorney would recommend her walking away from her business. It seems to me that you could stand before the judge and just ask for a 50/50 split and she'd be way better off than what she got from her attorneys.. Again, I could be way off, that is just applying non legal thought to a legal problem, I know..

I'm reviewing all docs tomorrow. Hopefully I can provide more details and hope you are willing to reply again.

 

[Left Hand Black]

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