Legal Question in Family Law in Washington
Can they force me to waste time and $ till the divorce is settled?
My wife and I have agreed to divorce - and I moved out. Now wife has an lawyer who is requiring me to spend 100's of hours filling out paperwork about my business, life, submit cancelled checks for every miniscule thing I have purchased in my life, etc. and I dont the have time or $ to keep jumping through these hoops. Wife just wants to rake me over the coals and make my life miserable until the divorce date - while the lawyer takes any finances we built.
Is there any way I can force this into a courtroom earlier - or stop these bogus hoops they are making me jump through?
Thank you.
~ R
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Can they force me to waste time and $ till the divorce is settled?
yes. you can file an objection with the court regarding her attorney's interrogatories and requests for production. However, you'll need ot confer with her attorney before doing so. I would advise you to seek counsel right away before anything else happens.
Re: Can they force me to waste time and $ till the divorce is settled?
What you are describing appears to be what is called discovery. To block it, you would need to file a protective order (You should talk with opposing counsel before filing it, and see if you can work out an agree level of discovery). In Snohomish County, if you have not requested a trial date, you don't have one. So if want to push the process along you need to request a trial date.