A Secret To A Successful Divorce

A Secret To A Successful Divorce

Pendente Lite- A Secret To A Successful Divorce Hi. I'm Charlie Offheimer and today we're going to discuss pendente lite hearing, a secret to a successful divorce. You know, many women don't realize that once you file a divorce you are then entitled to have a hearing on temporary support, custdy, who's going to remain in the home. It's an incredibly important and critically important hearing for you. I don't think enough attorneys take it serious enough given the fact that your result in a pendente lite hearing can oftentimes determine how you negotiate and settle a case. So, in our firm, we believe that you take a court reporter to you every time you have a pendente lite hearing, and the court reporter will then take down any testimony that takes place during the hearing.
Now, here's what practically happens at a pendente lite hearing. You give notice to your husband of this temporary hearing and you're asking for spousal support, custody, child support, exclusive possession of the residence, that he not bring the girlfriend around the children if that's an issue, no harassment, no wasting of assets, attorney's fees and payment of certain debts. The pendente lite outcome is like building the foundation or building a frame on your divorce. If you're with a really good and successful attorney, what they're going to do it have you well prepared for that hearing. Many attorneys, I believe, don't take the pendente lite hearing seriously enough and don't prepare their client well enough. If the opposing party appears and is not well prepared and fails to settle the case before you literally appear before the judge, they can be subject to some pretty thorough cross-examination and it will really be helpful or beneficial to you, if you are prepared. I'll give you an example. One of the issues that come up frequently regarding support is income of the parties for spousal support and child support purposes. Oftentimes you find, early in a case, that a husband may try to minimize his income and if we have really worked on this case and obtained good records because of the work that you done, then perhaps we can catch him lying on the stand about his income. If his lies are proven, it can have significant impact on the decision of the judge. I think the biggest thing that a pendente lite hearing often does is lets the husband know he really is going to pay support. Often we have cases where the guy says I not paying you support. We take him to a pendente lite hearing and all of a sudden he finds out, guess what, the court just ordered him to pay $1,500 a month or $2,000 or $3,000 or in higher income cases a whole lot more money. So, Oftentimes a pendente lite hearing kind of sets the standard, kind of causes your husband to understand that he no longer in control and that oftentimes leads to getting a settlement that responsible for you and very critical. So, we think you need to be prepared for a pendente lite hearing and you absolutely should have a court reporter at every hearing. You will hear attorneys say oh, it only temporary hearing, it doesn have any bearing in the final trial, and you don need a court reporter. I say that is not true. Right now you wondering what does balderdash mean? But what I say is because actually I got terrific admissions in pendente lite hearing about boyfriends- I mean, excuse me, about girlfriends and even boyfriends in some cases, and it really has been a valuable tool by which one can then set up a good negotiations and a good settlement of your case. So, the pendente lite hearing is very important. Take it seriously and know that it can actually determine the outcome of your divorce. One last thing, most pendente lite hearing is never heard. What I mean by that is you go down to the courthouse, you anticipate appearing before the judge, and in fact you and your attorney settle case with you and your husband, or at least settle the temporary support issues. I want to tell you this. It really important that you meet with your attorney before the pendente lite hearing so that you can work out what parameters of settlement would be on the issues of the pendente lite hearing because the judges don really like to hear these cases; they much rather you and your husband settle and you and your attorney need to be in sync, synchronized in what you going to ask for and what you will accept. Being prepared for a pendente lite hearing, which is so important to your case, is critical and make sure that you tell your attorney that you want to meet with him for an hour or two before that hearing so you can be prepared. This is really critical information. I think you going to find it helpful and I look forward to meeting you.