Divorcing father needs help!

[hosed in illinois]

I am 35 in the middle of a divorce. My just turned 11 and my wife is from another country but lives here in Il. Right now she has poscession of the house, custody of our son. She quit working when she filed for divorce and the court has ordered me to pay her 1210.64 a month in support, 200 in maintenance, 1500 towards her lawyers fees, and all of the housed hold bills. After I pay all of that I have no money to live on and my credit cards are getting close to being maxed out just to eat. I don't even have the cash to pay my lawyer right now.

I have no place to live and on nights when it's not to cold I sleep in my car. I have no family here in Il. and I can't even take my son to Indiana to visit his Grandfather. I get to see my son from 3:00pm on Sat. till 6:00pm on Sun every other weekend. I have to get a hotel room just to have a place for him and I to sleep. Her list of demands is totally rediculus and she wishes to take our son to her native country which is not a member of the Hauge Convention. I am so lost right now and it seems like there is no help anywhere.

Any kind of helpful information or moral support would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks 

[tigger]

I can offer moral support but that's about all.  It seems odd that the judge would order spousal support if she quit right as she was filing for divorce. 

Be sure to post on other boards (custody, visitation, etc) if you haven't already.  State boards don't get read as regularly.

I wish you the best of luck.  Any way you can move back into the house since you're paying the bills there anyway?

[mitcheli]

There is case law the prevents a child support order from impacting a low income parent. It is determined on a case by case basis, but you should be able to reduce or eliminate the maintanence or in the least reduce the support to a level you can afford. I'm not fully versed on it, but an attorney should be. Also depending on where you are from there may also be Pro-bono resources you can utilize to assist your legal issues. In any such case, it seriously sounds like you need to appeal that decision (if you can) or to file for a motion to modify. You can also do this Pro-Se and our site points to a myriad of legal resources you can use for your research, but it's a lot of work.

Good luck,
Ian.

[awakenlynn]

IL has a low-income attorney help through Prairie State (I think that is what it is called).  It definately sounds like you will need an attorney from what you said about your situation and your ex.

Good luck.

[gemini3]

I don't see how you can be ordered to pay $2,000 a month when, from what you're saying, that's all you're making.  Did you provide income information to the court?

[Davy]

Ya'll ever been in an IL court ?   Why question the poster.   I don't have any recourse for the op other than prose', file with the appelates and supremes, complain to the bar, etc.