I am a pro se litigant in a family court matter and my ex-husband’s attorney is consistently late.
Location: Massachusetts Additional info: Pro Se
Hello everyone. I would like to formally state-I have no idea what I am doing. However, I’ve managed to create and serve a discovery and interrogatories request that complied with everything I read about in the legal library… I filed it in December. It is now May. I still haven’t received it despite 2 26g phone calls, many more emails asking for an update. I printed out emails where he asked for an extension, but gave no timeline or reasoning.
I researched and was able to file a motion to compel. Even given the number of months, and the fact that at our last court date, the judge wrote on the paper that I am supposed to get these documents forthwith… That was about a month ago…
I received an email today that they have none of the documents, and that council is going to be late to the hearing. He is always late. Every single court date we have had. He has been at least an hour or more late.
What can I do? I know they are doing this because I do not have representation. I cannot afford it at this time. The documents I’m asking for are directly related to assault and battery charges and theft charges/conviction/probation against my ex-husband. I made sure to keep my requests very narrow and tailored to the safety of the children.
I filed a modification to the parenting agreement to remove overnight based on the fact that he keeps getting arrested for assaulting his girlfriend… Or wife. I’m not actually sure I think they may have gotten married in a attempt to avoid forcing her to testify against him. It’s really messed up. My life is basically Jerry Springer right now.
They Keep getting in fights in front of the kids. The only reason I filed any of this. I know I’m pro se, I know I need to hire an attorney, but I also have contempt charges against him for refusing to pay child support or extracurriculars or medical expenses so I’m doing all of this by myself. Any advice you can give me to help squish this behavior and help keep my kids safe would be greatly appreciated.
Please help! I would really like to squish this kind of behavior because it’s expensive, annoying, and wastes everybody’s time.