[Bobbarita]

If anyone on this board has been divorced in the state of Florida please PM me.

Returned to court and the Magistrate granted my attorney's request for him to pay my attorney fees thus far. $ 24,000. Do you think that decision would serve as a wake-up call to him? No. I'm not dealing with a normal person. Now we learned in court that he had changed the beneficiary (me) on his life insurance and that, per my attorney, is not permitted. So now we go to court over that. Why are we going to court again? My attorney says it's in my best interest to have a ruling by the court to avoid future issues over beneficiary issues. This time I won't moan about another court appearance...

I am still waiting, 7 months now, for Temporary Emergency Support and I have been cashing in my 401K, etc. to stay afloat food, gas, etc. This on a $ 1,200 SSDI check.

My attorney (at the same hearing) asked a specific amount for my support as well as retroactive support. Magistrate said, "OK, Ms.X, (my attorney), you write up the order concerning your fees, and I'll look over the papers and determine the amount of support." I have yet to hear about my support and it's been over 2 weeks.

Also, regarding the retroactive, the Magistrate said something to the effect that she wasn't going to "handle that now" but she didn't deny it.

I had many dealings with the court in another state over the years about child support for 19 years. I observed my almost ex's post-divorce issues and how they were handled. So far, in FL, I have been to court multiple times, (since I filed for divorce in September 2012), for one issue or another which were all decided in my favor.

Up north, (in the state where we resided), many times when an issue came up that required a Judge's ruling, depending on the issue, the attorney's submitted their briefs, the Judge, (in his or her chambers), met with the attorney's on the scheduled court date and indicated what he/she would rule IF the issue had to be heard in court. I believe it was referred to as the Judge "deciding by the papers". Then it was a no-brainer. The attorney's would deliver the news to their waiting client and one would write up the order (per the Judge's decision) and never even GO INTO THE COURTROOM. Of course, if either or both parties wanted to go to court that day they could, but that would be useless and mean higher attorney fees.

As I requested at the beginning of this post, please PM me if you're familiar/experienced with divorce in Florida. I know that only an attorney can answer legal questions but I would appreciate any feedback.

I know the story with attorney's trying to run up billing, and since his lawyer costs as much as my lawyer per hour I guess it's a double whammy for him. Oh well...

[harrietm]

Wow, this sounds awful. I'm sorry I don't know anything about Florida law and divorce, but I just wanted to offer support. I posted on your other thread about going through a separation myself after 24 years. Good luck to you and hang in there.