Don't know what to do!

[Pegasus]

Ok, here is the situation.  My husband went to court this past July to try to get custody of his daughter.  We ended up losing, but that is beside the point.  From the beginning our attorney knew that money would be hard for us to come by all at once.  She was very understanding at that point.  

Well after court and the order was finalized, etc  she sent us our bill.  It was almost $2000.00, which is pretty much what we expected.  Shortly after receiving the bill my husband got word he would have to deploy to Iraq.  Well, this meant that we would not be making as much money each month as we would have.  My husband spoke with our attorney about making arrangements for us to pay $100.00 a month and if we could do more at times then we would.  Attorney agreed and understood.  

When dh went through the transition from his regular job to Army pay he went almost an entire month without a paycheck!  We were behind on all of our bills, house, car, electric, phone, etc.  There was no way we could pay our attorney at this time.  Our attorney sent us another itemized statement.    Then, the next thing I know I have a detective trying to serve papers on me where attorney is taking my husband to court for her money.  The detective asked if my dh was home, I told him no and actually he had been deployed.  The man was very nice and said then he would not serve those papers to me and that our attorney should know that she can't do that while he is deployed.  Granted we should have at least payed her something by now and we fully understand the reasoning for the lawsuit, but we just flat out don't have the money right now to pay her.  We know that we will have to pay this debt and rightfully we should.  We are not even treading water again yet.  I definately do not have the money to pay another attorney to fight this one.  Last week a different man served me the papers, but he did it so fast I couldn't get a word in before he was gone.  Here are my questions.

1.  My name was nowhere on the papers served, will I be held responsible in court?

2.  Should I try to contact this attorney myself to try to settle this out of court?  I was not sure if that was a good idea since she has an attorney.  I will be able to start paying at the end of this month.

3.  Can she do this while dh is away/deployed?  The Sailor's Soldier's Relief Act covers these things doesn't it?

4.  I know that I have like 20 days from the service of the papers to file a response.  Can I do that myself or should I?

5.  What happens if I don't file a response by then?  

I am just at a loss.  Don't have a clue what to do.  Any help at all will be greatly appreciated.

[socrateaser]

>1.  My name was nowhere on the papers served, will I be held
>responsible in court?

Service on a person known to live in the same residence as the person to be served is effective. Your husband has been served and he is responsible. Any account with jointly held assets can be garnished to pay the attorney's bill.

>2.  Should I try to contact this attorney myself to try to
>settle this out of court?  I was not sure if that was a good
>idea since she has an attorney.  I will be able to start
>paying at the end of this month.

The attorney doesn't want to negotiate anymore. You're being encouraged to pay -- the hard way.

>
>3.  Can she do this while dh is away/deployed?  The Sailor's
>Soldier's Relief Act covers these things doesn't it?

Yes, you can get the judge to abate the proceeding (freeze it) until your husband's return, but you have to inform the court of the situation. Have your husband write a letter to the judge explaining that he is deployed and ask that the action be abated until his return. Provide a copy of his orders if you have them, or a letter from a commander. File the letter in court with the court clerk using the case number on your summons, and send a copy to the attorney.

>
>4.  I know that I have like 20 days from the service of the
>papers to file a response.  Can I do that myself or should I?

If you can hire an attorney, do it. Otherwise do the letter. Make sure that the letter contains a contact address and fone number so the court can inform you of its decision.

>
>5.  What happens if I don't file a response by then?  

You lose and the attorney will start garnishment proceedings.