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Mellymel418 · #1 09-16-2011, 04:54 PM

Hi my friend is married but separated from his wife, he has been for quite sometime now! He is in county and will be going federal soon, he wants to file for divorce and has asked me to help him get the info he needs! So here I am, what can be done in the federal system for him to file for a divorce? Would it be better to start the process while he's still in county? or wait till he got to his parent BOP! He has PD right now for his case should I suggest to him asking his PD what he should do? Or should I just contact an attorney?

I have no clue if I'm even asking the right stuff here..,lol I've never been married so I have no clue about divorce lol!

Thanks for any help

MrsMurray1 · #2 09-16-2011, 05:01 PM

I'd say ask an attorney. I'm in the same situation and for whatever reason my baby isn't able to get a divorce while in a federal institution. It may just be his particular situation, idk. But I would suggest asking a lawyer.

Zelda50 · #3 09-16-2011, 05:37 PM

Do he and his wife have minor children? If so, it will be more complicated. If they don't and it's a simple divorce, you might want to find a lawyer locally who can do it for a low fee - while the lawyer could still meet with him in the county jail and get the paperwork/signatures done.

Mellymel418 · #4 09-16-2011, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zelda50

Do he and his wife have minor children? If so, it will be more complicated. If they don't and it's a simple divorce, you might want to find a lawyer locally who can do it for a low fee - while the lawyer could still meet with him in the county jail and get the paperwork/signatures done.

Yes there is a minor child involved. So should he ask his public defender he is using for his case or should I find one locally to his county jail? This way we could at least get the process started. He has to go to a state prison first to finish out a previous sentence and then he will go federal after that. So prolly best to get this started and working on the process before he goes federal then? Thanks for your help so far

Mellymel418 · #5 09-16-2011, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrsMurray1

I'd say ask an attorney. I'm in the same situation and for whatever reason my baby isn't able to get a divorce while in a federal institution. It may just be his particular situation, idk. But I would suggest asking a lawyer.

Thank you and I'm sorry he can't get a divorce in federal! That's silly you'd think they would be able too!

MrsMurray1 · #6 09-16-2011, 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mellymel418

Thank you and I'm sorry he can't get a divorce in federal! That's silly you'd think they would be able too!

Thanks. But It's all good. That's at the top of our list within the first week he gets home. Get the ball rolling so we can get those papers signed!!

Mellymel418 · #7 09-16-2011, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrsMurray1

Thanks. But It's all good. That's at the top of our list within the first week he gets home. Get the ball rolling so we can get those papers signed!!

I hear ya! I just wrote him telling him if he wants to get this rolling he needs to do it now while still in county and then while he's at the state level prior to going federal the ball is already rolling on the divorce!

LamontLover · #8 09-17-2011, 05:07 PM

Really? You cannot divorce? Or is it just difficult? I'm confused...
Delphine

YOUNGnGIFTED · #9 09-17-2011, 05:30 PM

Hmm that's interesting. My ex-husband was at USP Lompoc when I divorced him and I had absolutely NO problems doing so. I did all the paperwork and served him his copies by mail and the divorce happened with no problems. I'm in CA so I'm not sure if that makes a difference or not.

Perhaps your guy could check with someone in the law library ~ the people that work in there could probably provide him with some assistant/direction.
Good Luck

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrsMurray1

I'd say ask an attorney. I'm in the same situation and for whatever reason my baby isn't able to get a divorce while in a federal institution. It may just be his particular situation, idk. But I would suggest asking a lawyer.

Zelda50 · #10 09-17-2011, 07:49 PM

Federal inmates can get divorced but it's more difficult for them. I was suggesting that having an attorney who can meet with him in the county jail while he's still there, to get signatures and stuff, would be easier than when he gets to federal prison.

Mellymel418 · #11 09-17-2011, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zelda50

Federal inmates can get divorced but it's more difficult for them. I was suggesting that having an attorney who can meet with him in the county jail while he's still there, to get signatures and stuff, would be easier than when he gets to federal prison.

Thanks Zelda I talked to him tonight and told him everything you and others have said here and he has given me permission to find an attorney that will get the process started while he's still in county! Thanks so much for all the information!

cha_02 · #12 09-20-2011, 03:02 PM

I have a question similar. My friend is in Federal in MS for a few years now. His wife however is in another state. They do have minor children. My question is how can he or I go about getting together the divorce papers. Can they be provided to him there in the prison? Do I need to get them from the county clerks office and does it need to be the county that he's in or the county where she is where their marriage was filed? He does not have a lawyer so is it necessary for me to hire one? I'm sorry about all the questions but I can't seem to get answeres anywhere and it is rather frustrating. Thank you all very much in advance.

Zelda50 · #13 09-20-2011, 05:25 PM

If his wife will contest it, he will certainly need a lawyer. I believe he files wherever he has legal residency. Even if the spouse lives in a different state, the divorce will be valid and the courts of all states will recognize the divorce.

Grace316 · #14 09-21-2011, 08:28 PM

In my experiences, the Petitioner had to appear in court for a hearing. This would may it easier for the person on the outside to file for the divorce and the inmate to sign papers not contesting it. Of course my experience is only limited to Florida and a couple of states where I have friends that were divorced.

delvenia · #15 09-23-2011, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mellymel418

Hi my friend is married but separated from his wife, he has been for quite sometime now! He is in county and will be going federal soon, he wants to file for divorce and has asked me to help him get the info he needs! So here I am, what can be done in the federal system for him to file for a divorce? Would it be better to start the process while he's still in county? or wait till he got to his parent BOP! He has PD right now for his case should I suggest to him asking his PD what he should do? Or should I just contact an attorney?

I have no clue if I'm even asking the right stuff here..,lol I've never been married so I have no clue about divorce lol!

Thanks for any help

my fiancé and i hired an attorney. it costed $1,500 because in order to get around him not being albe to physically appear in court or be able to have someone go and depose him at the prison (very expensive and prison must approve), he filed the divorce and had another attorney file an answer in wife's behalf basically agreeing to it. it made it look as if they both filed divorce kind of. the divorce was granted to him based upon the answer that our attorney made her sign. it took like 9 months. he was already in federal custody. it will be hard for him to file and much more expensive. if she filed it would only be like $300, but in my case she was being a b**ch so the attorney had to put a lot of pressure on her to cooperate. i was deposed in his behalf as his witness and she was also deposed. i hope this helps.

delvenia · #16 09-23-2011, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mellymel418

Thank you and I'm sorry he can't get a divorce in federal! That's silly you'd think they would be able too!

this is false because mine did, it just took a while and cost $1,500. he will just likely need an attorney to be hired. it's not done the same way as it is on the outside

Mellymel418 · #17 09-23-2011, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by delvenia

my fiancé and i hired an attorney. it costed $1,500 because in order to get around him not being albe to physically appear in court or be able to have someone go and depose him at the prison (very expensive and prison must approve), he filed the divorce and had another attorney file an answer in wife's behalf basically agreeing to it. it made it look as if they both filed divorce kind of. the divorce was granted to him based upon the answer that our attorney made her sign. it took like 9 months. he was already in federal custody. it will be hard for him to file and much more expensive. if she filed it would only be like $300, but in my case she was being a b**ch so the attorney had to put a lot of pressure on her to cooperate. i was deposed in his behalf as his witness and she was also deposed. i hope this helps.

Well she won't file he really is not sure where she is. She doesn't stay in one place long enough for him to make contact with his child! So we prolly will have to fork out the money for him to get this divorce! Thanks your info helped alot!

Mellymel418 · #18 09-23-2011, 08:57 PM

Oh good news he maybe divorced already we will know Monday for sure!!! Apparently she did file a year ago for the divorce and he never signed the paperwork or turned it back in so his attorney is checking because since he didn't sign or contest anything she may have been granted the divorce already!!! I hope so because I really don't have the extra money to help him get this done!!! He forgot about her sending him divorce papers a year ago, his attorney told him today that she had filed and he would know for sure Monday if he's divorced or not!

MANDI.LICIOUS · #19 01-11-2012, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mellymel418

Oh good news he maybe divorced already we will know Monday for sure!!! Apparently she did file a year ago for the divorce and he never signed the paperwork or turned it back in so his attorney is checking because since he didn't sign or contest anything she may have been granted the divorce already!!! I hope so because I really don't have the extra money to help him get this done!!! He forgot about her sending him divorce papers a year ago, his attorney told him today that she had filed and he would know for sure Monday if he's divorced or not!

I know this is old n with the recent news u shared I'm hoping this went through so...

~15 MONTHS TIL HE'S HOME~

Mellymel418 · #20 01-11-2012, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MANDI.LICIOUS

I know this is old n with the recent news u shared I'm hoping this went through so...

~15 MONTHS TIL HE'S HOME~

No we are still trying to found out if he is he ended up firing that lawyer and got a new one and the new one can't seem to get his divorce paperwork why I don't know? And I can get it but I have to drive to that county and sign paperwork and then go through the files! I'm like 4 hrs from that county so that won't work, so he's waiting till he gets to the Feds to have legal aid there look into it for him! He's also trying to get in touch with her to see what's going on but she won't answer the phone! Sad because he'd like to talk to his daughter too! So we are in a holding pattern to get married till we know for sure he's divorced!