Lite California

My ex was awarded pende lite attorneys fees. What is this? I now pay her attorney to fight me, is this legal?

My ex-wife had an attorney but he dropped her because she couldnt pay the bills. she continues to file motions and drag me back to court, now without an attorney. She was just awarded attorney fees to get the old attorney back to fix her case and get things back on schedule for final orders. Here is where I just lost all sence of common sense. She cant afford an attorney anymore because she argues and wants everything 100%. Now the judge orders me to pay her attorneys fees pende lite so we can proceed with litigation. I have to pay her attorney and mine. Ive been trying to settle for two years and she refused. Now I get punished again by having to pay her attorney to keep delaying. this is not right. This cant be legal. who knows about this or has ever heard of such a thing. Its not a criminal matter. its california family law.

In most states, attorneys fees can be awarded in domestic cases.

You say your ex-wife. If your divorce has been finalized, it would be unusual to have fees awarded while a modification case is pending. If your divorce has not been finalized, it is not unusual to have the party with control over the majority of the marital assets (and the most income) pay some portion of the attorney's fees for the other party as those marital assets are presumptively joint property and should not be used to put one party at a disadvantage in court. Until the judge has heard both sides (and both sides have had a fair chance to present their side of the case to him), the judge can't decide if her ultimate position is unreasonable. If the judge decides that her ultimate position is unreasonable, he may deduct the attorney's fees that you have paid out from her share of the property division.

Obviously, you need to talk to your attorney about whether an appeal is available from this ruling on attorney's fees and what needs to be done to force this case to a final hearing.

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