I filed for divorce a few months ago and served my husband with the complaint and a motion for sole legal and physical custody of our son.
My husband is addicted to drugs, spent all of our savings, lost his job and is generally a mess. I kicked him out before filing for divorce and he repeatedly broke into our home to steal things to sell for his drug habit.
We have zero equity in the house and I pay for everything so I got a restraining order against him. Now, when I see him in the neighborhood I call the police.
When the hearing came for my motion for custody, he did not show up so the judge gave me temporary sole legal and physical custody and scheduled a pretrial conference for September.
I am afraid he will not show up again September. What can I do to just end this so our son and I can move on with our lives?
Frankly, it is better for you if he does not show up in September because you can ask the judge to divorce you right then and there — he does not need to be present. Before your hearing, make sure you fill out your financial statement with as much detail as possible. If there are any joint assets other than the house, you may need to divide them. However, you can argue that because he is not contributing to anything, you should get to keep the assets to help you support your son.
If you have joint bank accounts, you need to now open new accounts in your own name and move the money over so he does not have the opportunity to raid the accounts to buy drugs.
When you go to court, bring a proposed judgment of divorce. Write the proposed judgment listing out all of the things you want the judge to order in connection with the divorce. For example, ask that the house be conveyed to your sole name, that all joint bank accounts be given to you individually or closed and, of course, that you continue to have sole legal and physical custody of your son. If you want to resume your prior name, put that in the proposed judgment too. Finally, write that you will not be ordered to pay alimony or provide health insurance for your husband. While it sounds crazy, if he is unable to work due to his addiction, you could be ordered to support him if he asked.
Your son is entitled to child support regardless of your husband’s issues, so sign up to be a Department of Revenue customer.