Sounds like she needs to temporarily get a judge direct her husband to release the MARITAL assets to her. I'm pretty sure what he's doing is illegal. Unless they have a prenup, its her money too. She doesn't even have a credit card she can charge it too?

Anonymous wrote:Just forget about the money and move on

Gee, thanks moron.

Anonymous wrote:Just forget about the money and move on

This would be ideal, but she doesn't have a job so she can't just move on. She needs spousal support. This isn't about fighting over millions. This is about providing support for someone who didn't work so she can take care of her family.

Can she get a loan from her parents and pay them back?

She should contact Legal Aid and they will direct her.

Just forget about the money and move on

Unless something has changed, NY attorneys are not allowed to have contingent fee arrangements for domestic relations (or criminal) cases.

OP here. Sorry-- I shouldn't have said contingency. It's not liek he's getting a percentage of the settlement. I just meant that her current lawyer isn't asking her for payment because he knows she can't pay. As part of the settlement, he asks the court to direct her ex husband to pay the attorney fees. This is fairly common when one party has all the assets.

I think the risk of nonpayment is too high for divorce attorneys to work on contingency but she should call around.

http://community.lawyers.com/forums/t/82787.aspx

I believe it is against the professional code of ethics to work on a divorce case for contingency-based fees.

I have a family member in NYC who is going through a divorce. Her husband unfortunately controls all the assets at this point so she cannot just pay a lot of money for a lawyer until the court orders her husband to pay. The attorney she hired is not working out at all and she now has serious concerns about his ability. Can anyone recommend a good, aggressive lawyer who will agree to work on contingency?

Thanks!