My Lawyer Lied to Me About Purpose of Money to Spouse
My question involves a marriage in the state of: Missouri
My friend is in the middle of a long nasty divorce. During court proceedings he had to wait in the hallway while maintenance was being discussed. His attorney came out and told him that his wife and her attorney wanted 3500.00 to pay for an audit for his businesses which he reluctuantly agreed to. When he was brought back in the room the judge asked if they both understood what their attorneys had explained to them and he agreed. Several days later when he asked his lawyer who he should make the check out to, his lawyer told him his ex-wfie. Under the impression that this check was going to a business to pay for an audit, he refused to write the check to his ex wife at which point his lawyer said, if they don't decide to use if for the audit that's up to them. The money is considered supplemental maintenance and you can write it off anyway so what does it matter. He is furious and at a loss for what to do. His attorney told him today that her attorney is threatening to contact the courts for lack of payment. I told him to contact the Missouri Bar Association and ask them for help since his own attorney lied to him. He has agreed to pay for an audit but not for supplemental maintenance which will obviously go toward her attorney fees. PLEASE HELP!!!
Re: My Lawyer Lied to Me About Purpose of Money to Spouse
Your friend would rather waste countless hours of his time under the scrutiny of an auditor than take the chance that his ex- would choose to keep the same amount of money he would pay to be placed under the microscope instead of spending it on the auditor? Alrighty....
I wasn't present in court when this matter was explained to your friend, nor when he told the judge that he understood the agreement. I also have no access to the court order at issue. I suggest that your friend take the order and a transcript of the hearing to another lawyer for review; that will probably cost him a few hundred dollars. He will then have a better sense of whether he can storm back into court and insist upon being audited rather than writing a check and potentially being done with things.
I don't know that anybody "lied" to your friend, or what benefit your friend imagines your lawyer would derive from "lying" to him. It is possible that the agreement was explained poorly and it is possible that your friend misunderstood what was explained to him. It's possible that agreeing to this deal saved him thousands of dollars in attorney fees resulting from his having to litigate, rather than settle, the case.