Advice for Divorce Papers

[500mg]

My question involves divorce in the State of:Texas
Hi, I got married back home(pak) in 1996 and after few months we got separation for like few years, we have a one daughter during that time and than later on in 2003 she filled the divorce back home in Pakistan court, I was getting hearing notice from pakistan court but didnt make it to the court so court made the one side decision and she got the Kullah(divorce) from the court, after that I was calling my daughter on & and off and my daughter she always try to convinece me if we could live togather and mom she is changed now etc. so we start talking and I applied for immigrant visa for them & finally they got here on immigrant visa in USA in Aug.08 & again didnt last very long & got divorce in Aug.09, we were working on the settlement agreement & came up with that i am gonna pay her a $1000 a month for 12 months & after that i will pay only child support according to Texas Law based on income, we made the agreement letter with one witness from her side and one from my side and one neutral person(judge), before we all signed the agreement paper I gave $1000 to neutral(judge), and he gave me a receipt too, now she dont wanna signed the paper and she took some money when she were leaving from my apartment and now she filled the divorce in the court, constable brought divorce paper at my work but i wasnt there so he left his and I called him he said he got divorce paper.

Now my question is should i take the divorce paper or hire the lawyer? by the way I have a small business under my name and a personal account, I transfered most money to my friends account, i got no property etc. If something worst happen, Do they check the all account histry and will they able to take money from my friends account ?

There is one more thing i would like to tell is all the marriage and divorce took place back home in pakistan so far, our marriage never been register in USA except when i applied for immigrant vise for them, I submitted my pakistan mirriage certificate.

[Mr. Knowitall]

What exactly do you mean by "divorce paper"?

[500mg]

Hi Knowitall,

I live here in Texas and I am going through divorce, I got the divorce paper from the court and she is asking for everything half. Now my question is to you is about the personal account that I have under my name and I had money in there before she got here in USA. She just got here in Aug.2008, so do I have to divide the money between us by Law? by the way i transfered to my friends account, Will they find out that I transfered the money such and such account? and if they did, will they take out the money from their account?

Thanks!

[supercomp]

So,

1) You got married in Pakistan in 1996.
2) She got ex-parte divorce in Pakistan in 2003 (I assume it was official court order).
3) You never got married again afterwards.
4) You used your 1996 marriage certificate to apply for Immigration benefits for your ex-wife and daughter in 2008, without a valid marriage (since you are divorced).
5) Now, she wants divorce in US and take 1/2 of everything you own.

You got two choice from what I can see (I am not a lawyer)
1) Pretend that divorce never happened in pakistan, and go along with another divorce proceedings in USA.

2) Tell the court the truth about 2003 divorce (assuming it was official with court and all). Hence, there isn't valid marriage. However, both of you, defrauded immigration by stating that your marriage was valid. There could be serious consequences for that, especially for your wife and daughter as they could get deported back to pakistan as they were (at least your wife was) party to this fraud.

Pick your poison I guess. Let me know if I didn't get the story straight.

Definitely tricky situation and time to hire a lawyer.

[PAK]

You should stand that your marital relation were ended in Pakistan. You just sponser her to look after your daughter otherwise she has right to get 50 50 from your assets according to states family law.

Ch. Ejaz Ashraf Lawyer ( Pakistan )
Email: worshipper1981@yahoo.com