I saw this billboard somewhere in Valley Stream 2 weeks ago (see below) and I can't stress how misleading it is. Unfortunately, there is no law in NY that permits a lay person (or the govt., for that matter) to take down a billboard that contains grossly misleading information.
In NY, the total for all filing fees ('court costs') for a divorce comes to $370 (and possibly $5 to $15 more for a Certified version of the Judgment of Divorce, which is the only document that can officially end a marriage). Since a divorce case is a civil case that must be filed in the NY Supreme Court, the initial fee to commence the case (meaning to purchase an index number for your case) is $210. I have seen some plaintiffs try to get a waiver of the filing fees (to proceed 'in forma pauperis,' meaning as a poor person), but I don't know how successful those Motions are. But you can't hire a private lawyer and then seek to have the court fees waived, that is not going to work.
Then the total of all the remaining filing fees, to be paid later in the divorce, are $160: $95 for the 'Request for Judicial Intervention' aka 'RJI,' then $30 for the 'Note of Issue' and finally $35 if both parties have signed a divorce agreement which is called a 'Stipulation of Settlement' in NY. I've noticed that anywhere from 95% to 99% of all divorces wind up being settled with this type of written agreement, even if at the start 1 of the spouses swears to pummel the other spouse with 'I'll never pay you a dime,' 'I'd rather spend/give all my money to my lawyer instead of paying you a penny' and other charming statements like this.
I have heard the above statements and their more vulgar variations many times but have resolved all of those divorce cases. There is a huge amount of 'windbagging' in contested divorce and Family Court cases and it often comes from the lawyers themselves. One very important lesson I've learned from working on contested divorce cases and nasty Family Court cases is that when one party (or both) finally run out of money and/or get tired of losing time from work is when these cases finally reach a settlement and are done.
Contested divorce and Family Court cases are chock full of dealing with emotions. After 15 tough years of dealing with other divorce lawyers, many of whom are head cases, not to mention representing clients of my own who have had their divorce cases 'cut up' into pieces by their first/second/third lawyer, I have learned that in America, divorce cases are basically about TWO THINGS: EMOTIONS AND MONEY (in the various forms that it is sought after in these cases).
In some divorce cases, each party will sign the Stipulation of Settlement right away; in other cases, it is signed in the first 6 months. For some others, the Stip. of Settlement is signed in the first year, others in the 2nd year, and still others it is signed on the eve of trial, during the trial, after the trial, and even while the case is on appeal After the judge has already rendered a written 'Decision After Trial.' The court system gives these Stipulations of Settlement much weight and unless one spouse can prove that he/she was forced to sign the Stip. of Settlement under 'duress' or if that spouse can prove that he/she had no idea what he/she was signing ('mistake' they call it), it will be virtually impossible to convince the court to undo/rescind/reopen the Stip. of Settlement. Therefore, a married person better watch out what they are signing and fully understand all the terms, conditions and obligations. A failure to fully understand everything happens as often with American born clients as it does with people who did not grow up in the US.
It is also true that many divorce lawyers, even those with years of experience, will use 'pressure tactics' (this is a nice way of saying they twist their OWN clients' arms) to sign the Stip. of Settlement. I'm sure that many judges are aware of, since almost all judges used to be practicing lawyers, but I have seen that they often look the other way. In many counties/boroughs when each party is represented by a lawyer, the judge Will Not 'allocute' the parties after a Stip. of Settlement has been signed. In contrast, in all criminal cases when the person pleads guilty, the judge is required to ask various questions such as 'are you pleading guilty because you are in fact guilty,' ' have you had enough time to discuss this case with your lawyer' and 'are you satisfied with the services of your lawyer,' etc. But in many counties and boroughs in NY, in a divorce case after a Stip. of Settlement has been signed, many judges do not conduct an allocution, meaning that the clients who signed the Stip. of Settlement will never appear before a judge and be made to answer these above questions on the record.
In addition, so often I've seen in both criminal and divorce cases where 1 party is so scared (or stressed out, ran out of money, confused, angry, or a combination of these) that when he/she is being 'allocuted' by the judge, that person answers Yes to the question 'did you sign this agreement freely and voluntarily' and Yes to the question 'are you satisfied with the services of your lawyer' and, in criminal cases, 'are you pleading guilty because you are in fact guilty.'
The lesson I've learned is that in our legal system, the judge is not there to play Detective with your case. The judges are not authorized by our legal system to conduct their own private investigation into your case. Throughout a contested divorce, Family Court and criminal cases (and others), if the client does not speak the truth or indicate that there is a problem between him/her and the lawyer, the legal system (as represented by the judge) does not intervene on its own will. I have practiced heavily in the area of contested divorces, Family Court practice and criminal defense (beginning in 2000 but working heavily in these areas of law in 2002) and it's obvious that so many currently divorced people are moderately dissatisfied to highly dissatisfied with their divorce agreements a/k/a Stipulations of Settlement. This is one of many reasons why I'll always view contested divorces as the utmost difficult area of law. A lawyer who does not work in this field of law cannot say that he/she deals with any problem that is similar to getting a panicked phone call on a Fri. afternoon saying that the other parent is late for picking up the child(ren) or a call over the weekend saying that he/she can't get in phone contact with the children who are spending time with the other parent. Nothing that I've come across in the area of criminal defense, immigration law, debt collection a/k/a commercial litigation a/k/a civil litigation, landlord-tenant law and Dept. of Labor cases comes close to this type of stress and tension and warfare.
I should wrap it up here but the portion of this billboard that says 'Spouse's Signature NOT Needed' is also not true. All divorce agreements and even an agreement from Family Court must be either signed by both parties (and notarized) or the terms must be placed 'on the record' before a judge/referee in the Court. The Only example of a divorce situation where the signature of the other spouse a/k/a the defendant is not necessary is when After the defendant spouse has been served (either in person, as required by NYS law, or via an alternate method that has been approved by the court), that defendant spouse fails to file an Answer, fails to request additional time in which to file an Answer, and fails to officially 'appear' in some other way. If and only if this happens, the plaintiff spouse has to file a Motion seeking a 'Judgment of Divorce' (On Default) but the plaintiff only has 1 year from the default committed by the defendant in order to do this. The plaintiff's lawyer does not have 3 years to file this type of Motion.
In Contrast, once a divorce case is commenced in NY, so long as the defendant spouse is served within 120 days, as required by law, and the defendant spouse 'answers' in time, if they eventually sign a Stipulation of Settlement years and years later, that Same index number will still be valid to finalize their divorce. I included this for those people who filed for divorce but then abandoned their case. Unless the divorce case is officially discontinued (costs less than $40), that index number can still be used.
Thank you for reading this article and I hope that this information helps someone. I have friends who live outside of NY but I am confident that the laws in other states governing divorces (and criminal cases) are very similar, if not exactly similar. I have to include a DISCLAIMER that prior results are not to be used as a guarantee or assurance of future outcomes from these cases, but I assure you that the information that I've discussed in this post is the 100% truth. It is also very true that other lawyers (not any of my lawyer friends on Facebook, of course) do not put such an emphasis on disseminating this crucial information to a new or potential client in the same way that I have chosen to.
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