Hi I am 26 I was married only a year , me and my husband had a son and when my son was 3 months I told him to leave or get help do to lots of money missing and I had a huntch he was doing drugs he left and his where abuts where not known for about a year and a half in December I received a lettert telling me where he is , my lawyer sent him papers and he never signed them I waited the 20 day period and now I am playing a waiting game and I'm having a hard time getting ahold of my lawyer I just want to know the estimated time it takes to get divorce and custody papers if its going through default

You're represented by counsel. No one here should be advising you. And shame on any lawyer who has taken your money but is difficult for you to reach. He or she should be answering the question for you... no one else.

Call him/her back and insist on speaking with him/her. If he/she is in court, then insist on a call back when he/she returns... and then make sure you're there to answer the phone.

If you've got a lawyer who's ignoring you, fire him/her; get your money back; and report him/her to the bar. He/she has a fiduciary responsibility to you. Not being able to get in touch with him/her so you can get simple questions like this answered isn't acceptable... and if it's true that he/she isn't returning your calls, that's against the bar's canon of ethics. He/she can be repirmanded for it.

He/she works for you. Don't forget that. Act like the boss and insist on being respected and responded to.

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Originally Posted by Dee121981

Hi i am 26 i was married only a year , me and my husband had a son and when my son was 3 months i told him to leave or get help do to lots of money missing and i had a huntch he was doing drugs he left and his where abuts where not known for about a year and a half in december i received a lettert telling me where he is , my lawyer sent him papers and he never signed them i waited the 20 day period and now i am playing a waiting game and im having a hard time getting ahold of my lawyer i just want to know the estimated time it takes to get divorce and custody papers if its going through default

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What are the terms of your retainer and are you up to date with the Attorney's bills? It's a common misconception that once you meet with an Attorney and hand over some money the Attorney is in the case for life - and that is not the case.

If you are up to date and have made a reasonable number of attempts to contact the Attorney and don't receive a response, write a brief letter and say you WANT AND NEED information. Or make an appointment, sit down with the Attorney with your questions and get the questions answered - but expect to have to pay for the meeting.

The time frame depends on the State - in most cases if your husband did not respond to the letter he has to be properly served in person or by publication and each State has different time frames. Sometimes it's 20 days to respond, sometimes it's 30. When the papers have been served and filed and any responses received, then it has to be placed on the Court calendar and that time frame varies by how busy the Court is.

There is no quick answer here.