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  1. #1

    Default Can You Sue Your Ex- for Not Signing a Settlement Agreement

    My question involves a marriage in the state of:Florida

    Due to reduction in salary, my husband filed a motion to modify alimony paid to his ex-wife. Through mediation, the ex-wife agreed twice to a new agreement (the same agreement twice-with two different attorneys) After waiting weeks for her to sign, she then refused to sign both times without any reason why. This has been ongoing for three years. We had to submit thousand of copies of financials from our home and his business, only to turn around in a few months and update with thousands more documents. The ex-wife is now on her third attorney after having been fired by her former attorneys. Having endured the intense stress of this case for three years, we feel that the ex-wife is intentionally trying to inflict distress. I have endured anxiety and health problems due to that anxiety. My husband and I are deeply in debt, have zero savings, and absolutely no retirement....so the uncertainty of this matter has been extremely hard for us.
    Can my husband or my husband and I sue for harassment or infliction of emotional distress? Thank you so much for your time!

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    Default Re: Lawsuit Settled Twice but Not Signed Still Ongoing Harassment

    I'm sorry, but no.

    Your husband perhaps needs to manage his attorney more effectively.

    Your husband hasn't found work in 3 years?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
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    Default Re: Lawsuit Settled Twice but Not Signed Still Ongoing Harassment

    Quote Quoting teachergirl1
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    Can my husband or my husband and I sue for harassment or infliction of emotional distress? Thank you so much for your time!
    Unfortunately, her lack of cooperation on this does not come anywhere close to meeting the definition of the tort for intentional infliction of emotional distress. What your husband needed to do once she dragged her feet is push to get the matter scheduled for a hearing with the judge so that if she doesn't get off the dime and sign the agreement the judge will decide the matter for her. Absent something really unusual there is really no good reason for a modification case to stay open over three years.

  4. #4

    Default Re: Lawsuit Settled Twice but Not Signed Still Ongoing Harassment

    Thank you for your response. He has never stopped working, his income has reduced due to reimbursement changes in his field of work. The debt comes from years of unsustainable alimony obligations and loans were necessary to pay.

    Thank you!

  5. #5
    Join Date
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    Default Re: Lawsuit Settled Twice but Not Signed Still Ongoing Harassment

    If you choose mediation instead of either binding arbitration or litigation, you open yourself up to the possibility that the other party is going to balk. Mediation is, by definition, a non-binding process. If the issues are simple and the parties are amendable, it can be faster and cheaper than litigation -- hence the attraction for the parties -- and judges like it when cases are resolved out-of-court. But if you don't reach a binding agreement, even if you get all the way to the point of having a written document that is consistent with the parties' oral agreement but is not yet signed, either party may balk. (Sometimes mediation is mixed with arbitration, where the mediator is empowered to decide all issues not agreed to by the parties; sometimes that is called "binding mediation", but the binding part is technically a form of arbitration.)

    If your husband is embarking upon another round of mediation with his new lawyer, he needs to step back and ask himself if history is going to repeat itself. He needs to talk about how to structure any out-of-court proceedings such that the outcome will be binding.

  6. #6

    Default Re: Lawsuit Settled Twice but Not Signed Still Ongoing Harassment

    Thank you!

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
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    18,340

    Default Re: Can You Sue Your Ex- for Not Signing a Settlement Agreement

    Quote Quoting teachergirl1
    View Post
    we feel that the ex-wife is intentionally trying to inflict distress.
    No.

    What she is intentionally trying to do is avoid getting her alimony reduced.

    She has an absolute right to use any tactics available to her to accomplish that goal.

    Until your husband is willing and able to get this before a judge for a ruling, it could go on for another 3 years, or forever.

    Your financial problems and emotional reactions to her tactics aren't worth a nickel to you. Sorry.

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