My wife and her ex were never married her son is 5 years old. He filed papers to get visitation. They went to mediation three days ago. After i looked over the papers it seems like we got screwed. First of all we did not have a lawyer as we simply could not afford one. His lawyer typed up all the mediation paperwork. as i was reading i found where they threw things in that we did not agree on, yet my wife signed, overlooking them. things like he can see him every weekend he is off. He gets to claim him on his taxes. and child support says he should pay $794 a month and he is only paying $660 a month. my question is there anything we can do even if we get a lawyer and take him to court? can we even go to court?
Leo HughesUncontested Divorce AttorneyMarietta, GA ·
You really need to consult with a lawyer even to understand what was signed. Sorry for the unhelpful answer, but I cannot venture a guess as to whether the mediated agreement - if that's what it was - is binding or not. Why on earth was she alone at the mediation when she was not capable of reading and understanding what she signed?
Michael David BirchmoreDUI / DWI AttorneyBlue Ridge, GA ·
A meeting with a lawyer will provide you with a better answer than we could provide you here on . My gut compels me to say that if her situation is like many others in her same predicament, it is not likely she will be able to alter the signed agreement. Of course, if she suffers from some disability that prevents her from understanding things that she reads the outcome might be different.
She should speak to an attorney tomorrow. Very likely, there is not anything she can do to change the mediated agreement. However, if there is any grounds to set it aside, there is a very limited amount of time in which to do so.
Once the agreement or memorandum is signed at the mediation, she had three days to rescind it. After the three days passes, the agreement can be enforced in the courts by way of a motion. This was your wife's case, and she attended the mediation, and signed off on agreement. If she did not want to resolve the case at the mediation, she should have walked away, and hired an attorney. Generally, a rough memorandum of understanding is prepared at the mediation by the neutral, and it is executed by the parties, if a settlement is reached. The final agreement, written up in legal form, is generally not prepared at the mediation. She needs to do something she has not wanted to do with this case since day one, and that is consult an attorney. She should have an attorney review the agreement that was prepared and signed, so she will know where she stands.
