Petittioner filed for divorce in March 2012 Seperation date was inSept 2011 marriage date wasNov 2003 Petitioner borrowed moey from parents to get an attorney.
There is no such law in the State of California that says that the Respondent must pay the attorney fees for both the Petitioner and Respondent. However, if one party earns more money than the other party, fees can be awarded to equal the playing field so both parties have the opportunity to be represented. Another fact that can shift the fees between the parties is who cooperated, who made the case difficult, who may have hid assets and if either party was unreasonable. In that position, the good party can be rewarded and the bad party can be ordered to pay a part, or all, of the other party’s attorney fees.
The Respondent would only be required to pay their own attorney fees. The court, at a later date, could require Respondent to pay attorney fees of both if the court found that the Respondent had adquate resources to pay for both and the Petitioner did not have fees or the court could require the parties to pay for attorney fees out of any community property assets that could be liquidated.
The courts have discretion over the award of attorneys fees. Some of the factors they look at are the need and ability to pay of the parties. They can also look at the conduct of the parties during the case. You should consult an experienced family law attorney for more details and what to do.
An order for one party to pay the other's legal expenses generally gets issued for one (or two) of the following two reasons:
a. One party can't afford to pay for an attorney and the other party can afford to help.
b. One party is behaving badly, interfering with the progress of the case, and generally causing the other party to incur legal costs that would have otherwise not been necessary.
