It's My Place: A Lesson Learned

Thursday, February 09, 2006

A Lesson Learned

This morning, while I was ironing clothes (no speeches...I know I should do it at night), it was time for P to wake up. I called her 334342 times, and I thought she had gotten up. After a few minutes, I realized that I didn't hear her in the bathroom, so I went to check on her.

This is what I found in my bed:

She must have thought I was going to steal her pillow.
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This week, I had to go to family court here in the city I live in. I was forced to go to court because P's dad REFUSED to sign the documentation to get her passport renewed. Her passport expires in April, and if I was to get a job offer after it expires, P would not be able to enter the US. I tried to go about this in a civil manner. I completed all the documents and gave them to him to sign and have notorized, but he refused to so it.

He once told me that he would complete the paperwork if I agreed to something he wanted. Of course I told him that before I let him blackmail me, I'll get sole custody in writing (I have sole custody by law, but I needed it in writing from the court), and I wouldn't have to deal with him about it anymore. He was advised by his lawyer (numerous times) to just sign the document.

Once we arrived at court, I knew it didn't look good for him for two reasons:

They only set aside 15 minutes for us
His lawyer didn't show up. She wasn't late. She didn't show up. AT ALL.

To make a long story short, the judge gave him more than a few opportunities to sign the doucument, and he REFUSED! The last time he refused, the judge said,

'Fine, Frau W, I'll grant you sole custody today.'

Of course, he was more than willing to sign then, but it was a tad too late.

What lessons did we learn this week?

If your lawyer (the one you pay) suggests at least 5 times for you to do something, do it. Listening to your bedroom lawyer will get you NO WHERE. Fast.
If said lawyer (the one you pay) doesn't come to court, you have already lost!

A lesson earned is a lesson learned (maybe one day I'll post about the time he tried to take me to court in Louisina while we lived here in Germany...another lesson he earned, to the tune of about $4,000, oh, his lawyer served me by FAX...SO illegal!).

8:21 PM |

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