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Jan. 30th, 2004 02:54 amMy divorce hearing ended up being a no-op: the judge didn't like our separation agreement. Her clerk sent my wife off to see the lawyer of the day (a free legal consulting service in the courthouse), who promptly found four major omissions and a direct contradiction in the separation agreement. Now we have to go correct the omissions and contradiction, and come back for another hearing, which will probably be sometime in March. Feh. I was hoping to get the clock started on Wednesday for the final divorce.
I think the reason that the judge sent my wife to the lawyer of the day is because she misunderstood my saying that I'd done my own negotiation on the contract to mean that I'd written the agreement. In actuality, we'd hired a divorce lawyer to draw up a basic separation agreement, based on what we wanted, without representing either of us. The lawyer thought this odd, but did it anyhow. My wife then hired a lawyer to go over the contract to make sure that it was fair from her side. I dealt with my own side without a lawyer. I'm not sure if this was a good, money-saving move on my part, or ridiculous overconfidence in my as-yet incomplete law education.
For those who are curious, the usual procedure in Massachusetts for an uncontested no-fault divorce: you file your paperwork and get a hearing date. At the hearing (it's really a trial, even though the trial lasts all of 5-10 minutes, because nothing's contested) the judge enters findings of fact based on the paperwork and your testimony at the hearing. 30 days after the judge enters findings, you're automatically technically divorced, but it's really easy to undo the divorce. 120 days after the judge enters findings, the divorce is permanent -- the only way to undo it is to get married again.
I think the reason that the judge sent my wife to the lawyer of the day is because she misunderstood my saying that I'd done my own negotiation on the contract to mean that I'd written the agreement. In actuality, we'd hired a divorce lawyer to draw up a basic separation agreement, based on what we wanted, without representing either of us. The lawyer thought this odd, but did it anyhow. My wife then hired a lawyer to go over the contract to make sure that it was fair from her side. I dealt with my own side without a lawyer. I'm not sure if this was a good, money-saving move on my part, or ridiculous overconfidence in my as-yet incomplete law education.
For those who are curious, the usual procedure in Massachusetts for an uncontested no-fault divorce: you file your paperwork and get a hearing date. At the hearing (it's really a trial, even though the trial lasts all of 5-10 minutes, because nothing's contested) the judge enters findings of fact based on the paperwork and your testimony at the hearing. 30 days after the judge enters findings, you're automatically technically divorced, but it's really easy to undo the divorce. 120 days after the judge enters findings, the divorce is permanent -- the only way to undo it is to get married again.
