Legal Question in Family Law in Arizona

Arizona Statutes Allow Fees Against Harassing Parties

You don't say whether all the actions have beenfiled as post-petition matters within your divorce,or if he has filed separate actions. In eithercase, there are some Arizona statutes that providefor an award of attorney's fees against a partywho is filing actions merely to harass the otherparty. In addition, Arizona law permits an awardof fees in a family law action if one party hasa greater ability to afford the fees. The nexttime he files against you, I suggest you stronglyurge your attorney to seek an award of fees underone of the applicable statutes. Since he's in themilitary, if you receive a fee award, you presumablycan garnish his pay to collect it.

Incidentally, although $7,000 sounds like a lotfor attorney fees, I think you are actually doingextremely well for having been in court 17 times.I have handled divorce cases where the partieshave managed to run up nearly that amount of feesbefore they even got a divorce!

Get to the bottom of the problem!

I'm not an AZ attorney, but in principle, you should figure out WHY you spend so much time and aggravation in a marriage that should have ended. This seems to be his only way of keeping a hold of you, so he's going to make SURE you have to continue to deal with him. Also ask yourself, if YOU are fighting legal battles that should not be fought. Is your attorney giving in to the need to do constant battle? Hasn't s/he yet sought the costs and fees recommended by Ms. DeLa Rosa? If your Ex gets a good legal rap on the nose for his misbehavior, he'll reconsider whether the aggravation to you is worth it. Also, I seem to recall that his commanding officer can have an effect on his personal behaviour, and if he is acting out, there may be a way to get him to calm down through mediated discussions. Ask your lawyer, though if this might not be effective, don't do this type of thing yourself.