Does this sound right about a divorce laywer.?
My brother is having the worst luck with his divorce laywer in my opionion. He signed his paperwork for the divorce over a month ago...non-contested. His lawyer told him two weeks ago that she called his wife to set up an appointment to give her a copy of the contract and his wife said she wanted her lawyer to look at it first. My brother called yesterday to check on it and come to find out his wife hadn't even been served yet. His lawyer said she is giving his wife until Monday to get back in touch with her & if not then she will have the sheriff serve the papers. To me, my brother is paying this laywer...not his wife. Why when my brother signed the papers why not the laywer just serve the papers to his wife and let her decide what she wanted to do after that point. It sounds a little fishy to me. Anyone with legel expertise or been through similar experience please let me know. Thanks in advance.
Answers:
There is no way of knowing whether a divorce will be uncontested until either (1) the defendant signs some sort of a waiver, consenting to the divorce; or (2) the defendant has been served with papers and defaulted in appearance. The plaintiff (your brother) cannot -- CANNOT -- unilaterally make a divorce "non-contested", no matter what he signs; and serving the wife with a summons and complaint CERTAINLY will NOT force her to sign anything. It is up to his wife whether to contest or not.
From what you said here, it sounds like your brother's lawyer has given his wife the courtesy of an extension in order to keep the divorce from being contested. Regardless of your reservations and what has been said by some of the previous posters, this is a GOOD strategy. It doesn't pay to get tough on your adversary when you want her to resolve the matter amicably. Once the wife gets slapped with papers and goes and hires her own lawyer, the divorce may no longer be so easy. One major principle that all good lawyers follow -- and one that is particularly important to divorce lawyers -- is that you choose your battles carefully and save your fighting strength for stuff that really matters. Lawyers routinely do "courtesies" like extensions for their adversaries, because in the end, they gain more than they lose. To turn an uncontested divorce into a contested one over something so trivial accomplishes nothing -- and probably only hurts you in the end.
Tell your brother that when it comes to divorce, the cardinal rule is "easy does it". I find it curious that people who are divorcing always seem to be in such a hurry. Is he getting remarried already? Is he so anxious to divorce because he already has a wedding date and the invitations have been sent out? Tell him to keep his pants on (metaphorically). He IS getting divorced -- just not tomorrow. And the less nasty the divorce, the better he will come out in the end.
EDITED to address additional information: Just because your brother's position is that there is nothing to divvy up -- still it is not necessarily an uncontested divorce. The defendant can contest the issue of the divorce itself, especially depending on the nature of the allegations against her. Regardless of the particulars, it's not an uncontested divorce until the defendant says so.
Some times, in ugly cases of divorce, You need a second lawyer to over see the first lawyer----Lots a luck--
The lawyer should have went ahead and had the Wife served once the paperwork was signed and ready to go to her.
It is costly to do formal service. Typically the plaintif will first ask the defendant to waive formal service to save the cost.
In many jursidictions the way it works if the P formally serves the D. P pays the cost. If P asks D to waive formal service and D does not, D pays the cost. The atty is trying to save your brother money.
sounds like double-talk to me..
I hope your brother's lawyer sees this and recognizes the matter. I hope that for the lawyer's sake, because he should drop your brother as a client now, rather than later.
In most states, there is an economic incentive to allow a defendant in a civil matter to accept service rather than sending out a process server. It's also more civil. And the court rules in most states mandate civility. Your brother wants to emarass his wife and make her life hell. I hope the lawyer figures out that he does not need this kind of client. No lawyer does, it's not worth it, especially when you're questioning his integrity and he hasn't even started the case yet.
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