Q: I received mail late from my husband’s attorney, sent regular mail causing a missed court date. What should I do next?
My soon to be ex-husband filed for divorce because I couldn’t. The children and I have been pinching pennies since separation and don’t have the funds for an attorney. His attorney sent me a notice about making an agreement for marital debts. I sent them an email on Nov.17.
I received a letter on December 5th in the mail saying that on the 28th I was stricken and they are trying to erase my rights for suing for Economic claims on Jan 10th because I didn’t show Nov 28th. I then received regular mail from his attorney on Dec. 8 (not postmarked) telling me we had court on Nov. 28 and time. It said that I had never replied to them only showing their email, not mine. The notice was written Nov.21, 4 days after they received the agreement and still filed false information on the 28th. I recorded me opening the mail even stating the date. Should I reach out to them about the notice that was sent to them Nov. 17 or should I just wait till January and show the judge? What should I do next
A:
Any attorney here would love to offer carefully tailored guidance as to what this asker must do to preserve her rights in a Pennsylvania divorce action. However, we cannot do it because of both the user agreement in place here on Justia, and ethical limitations as to offering anonymous legal advice without knowing all the facts of the case (malpractice).
What is safe to say is that Pennsylvania judges will jealously protect the dignity of their courts. If there is a scheduling order for an appearance and the asker fails to appear, then that is a "strike" against the asker. We do not know how the court will use that strike, but correction of one's image in court is now essential to surviving divorce in Pennsylvania.
This means this asker must at all costs retain counsel and move the court to have the other spouse pay counsel fees. Waiting around for something to happen will cost dearly as the other spouse's counsel is maneuvering for a win.
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