small pro se victory

[greatdad]

I have sole physical & legal of our 2 children, in final decree X was ordered to pick up her remaining things by certain date. Well she is 7 months pregnant ( was 5 mos at divorce trial), so X wanted to get things this weekend AND wanted judge to order that she and her boyfriend enter my residence. X still has  her atty. I wrote my own opposition motion and went before judge. I succeeeded in keeping her out of the house, as I told judge that I had moved all items into the garage, therefore no reason to enter the house, he agreed that she hired movers that were not friends or family members and they would serve as neutral third parties. I tried to get judge to not allow x in garage since she had movers and they have the list of items in decree, but he did not agree to that, said he would allow her in garage.
X used pregnancy as reason it had to be THIS weekend, her atty said her Dr says she can't travel after Monday. I asked judge to see proof of a Dr letter but he accepted her atty's proffer.
My point here is  that you can succeeed pro se, but it is very hard, if it is a complicated issue, your at a disadvantage, as just as in this case the Judge gives a certain amount of automatic credibility to a lawyer, that you as pro se do not get. I guarantee that if I had used a medical excuse for X to not get things this weekend that I would have had to show proof.
That said, I did succeeed in keeping X out of the house, so it was a victory.
The post divorce crap is almost worse than pre divorce, don't be lulled into complacency right after your final order, as there is more to come............remain diligent and keep documenting everything...never know when you'll need it.

[my3sons]

Hey Greatdad,

Congrats!  And I agree 100% that you can succeed pro se.  I regained custody of my sons pro se a little over a year ago in Maryland and could not be happier.  I second your advice about diligence, documentation, and doing the right thing (the three D's?)  :)

Congrats again, and great post.

[greatdad]

>Hey Greatdad,
>
>Congrats!  And I agree 100% that you can succeed pro se.  I
>regained custody of my sons pro se a little over a year ago in
>Maryland and could not be happier.  I second your advice about
>diligence, documentation, and doing the right thing (the three
>D's?)  :)
>
>Congrats again, and great post.
>
>
Wow..... It is nice to hear from another of "us". I am actually a bit surprised that there was not more response....I was hoping that some of us who are Pro Se could compare notes and at least feel some form of support from knowing their are others out there.