Legal Question in Family Law in Michigan
Divorce
Is a divorce valid if a husband's lawyer filed the Final Hearing Judgement papers a month before
the event actually took place?
The wife got a copy but the judge's name was not hand signed,
just stamped.
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Divorce
The date the judge dated the paper is the date of the judgment. Should be on the front page under the caption.
It doesn't matter when the documents were filed by opposing counsel.
The docs could have been filed for form and then signed.
Re: Divorce
Sounds like it is - a lawyer can submit the paperwork ahead of time and then the Judge signs it when the time is right. And a lot of judge's use a stamp or other type of signature, versus a full, handwritten signature. As long as the judgment was not entered before the 2-month or 6-month waiting period, it is probably valid.
Re: Divorce
That is how it is done. The lawyer files a motion to enter judgment a month or so before the hearing. When the judge grants the divorce, he or she signs one original that is placed in the court file. The clerk then stamps the "true copies" that is given to the parties. The "true copies" are duplicates of the original. William S. Stern