[megarahmae]

I have been trying to get my divorce finalized for almost a year and a half. There are no assets to settle. There is no argument about custody. There has been no issue with child support. The only problem is he refuses to sign. Each time the papers get sent back, he makes one little tweak that is so detrimental he knows I will not sign it. He has not contacted me or our 15 month old daughter for this entire time and he has been with his girlfriend of 2 years.

We were only married for 10 months. The whole time, he cheated on me and abused me. When my baby was 3 weeks old and still nursing, he took her from me and hid her at his girlfriends house.

I am now a single mom, working and going to school full time and trying to earn money for my bills and to be able to buy the necessities for my daughter. I don't get any support, no extra money, and I am paying off his credit card bills.

My lawyer just sits there and I already owe him almost $10,000. I can't keep doing this... Can anybody help?

[AK lawyer]

My lawyer just sits there and I already owe him almost $10,000.

That's the trouble with so-called "uncontested" divorces. The parties ultimately have to agree to everything. If you decided to go for an uncontested divorce, it was a mistake to hire an attorney and thus allow your husband to run up the lawyer's bill to this extent. I assume the $10 K was mainly incurred by quibbling about tweaks like this.

Your lawyer could, if he chose to, schedule a trial on the divorce and get the judge to grant the divorce petition whether or not your husband signs anything. But because you owe your lawyer that amount of money I suspect that he is reluctant to do so and risk not being paid for the further time involved.

[ScottGem]

And why are you not asking for child support? You are doing your daughter and yourself a disservice by not asking for support. I would go back to court, ask for support and ask for a hearing where the divorce can be finalized.