My ex husband is a commercial fisherman. I am a single working mother. (my son is from first marriage) We were only married for 4 months before he decided he wanted a divorce.

We have not properties, no children, and no monies together. He is asking for a china hutch he gave me, for me to pay his lawyers fees, and $8500. (he makes 5x my annual salary)

He started by taking a large sum of money from our joint account. All the checks I had outstanding bounced. I had the embarrassing feat of picking up as many as I could. He then accused me of doing partier things (not only embarrassing but hurtful), and then said I "stole" money from him out of our joint account? He came home from Alaska and had a girlfriend immediately (she is a partier too)

I left him the new car, the overly priced house we rented, and asked for nothing. I have all of the bank statements ( I filed copy and gave one to his lawyers) showing he had very little money, gathered all supporting documents, and have filed all my paperwork appropriately.
After 1 1/2 we are still not divorced. I tried to note calendar and was told must try mediation first, ( am filed myself his lawyer is a town joke) I set up mediation which he did not respond to. His lawyer keeps saying he is out of town but I live literally across the street (we live in a small town) and see him all the time. I heard he is moving out of state. I am scared I will be still married forever unable to move on.

Is there something I can do to expedite this divorce, I cannot move forward with my life. I have met someone, but cannot start dating (due to my personal beliefs) Please help me!

Get a lawyer. Ask for alimony, don't give back the gift. It belongs to you, it is not his.

First off what state is this in ? The reason for asking is because it sounds like you may have filed the wrong paperwork in the first place. Usually in many states a relationship / marriage that doesn't last longer then 6 months doeasnt require a divorce. Its called an anullment. Much more simple. You can file a motion in the courts to compell him to participate in mediation within reason. If he then fails you can have him on contempt charges as well as skip that part and go onto the next process. Another avenue for you is to hire a private detective.. get paperwork stating he's out of town and then prove he is there. Also you can send his lawyer inquiries that he must answer within a time range governed by law. Sometimes referred to as interogacies. On those you could ask if he was in town or not. Then seek bank statements etc that may prove that he was. The idea being that your trying to get to trial so you can put all this to rest.