What is the name of your state? 
Nevada
I would like to know if i have a case against my divorce attorney? My divorce became final in December of 1999. After 29 years of marriage. In Maui, Hawaii. I was granted full custudy of our minor child, along with child support and spousal support, as well as half of his retirement and half of his social security. Plus my ex was to pay all my attorneys fees. My ex-husband had worked at two former companys. My attorney filed ( so i assumed) the necessary Q.D.R.O.'s to my ex-husband's present employer as well as his former employer. I was very naieve and trusted my attorney completely. Within a couple of months of my divorce. I receive a letter from my ex- husbands present employer saying the Q.D.R.O. was missing some legal matter. This letter was sent to me as well as to my attorney. By this time I was working two jobs and under a lot of stress. I didn't call her on this, assuming she would take care of it and let me know. This was I believe February of 2000. I just took it for granted that I wouldn't get anymore information on these Q.D.R.O.'s, until my ex retired. My attorney didn't explain anything to me of how this worked. I was always asking the naive questions I knew of asking. Like, when my ex retires do i call the company about my share of his retirement? something to that effect.
Then around 2002 I receive a bill from her office, saying i owed $1700.00. I emidiately phoned my ex, asking if he had paid my fees. He said he had paid it off a few months earlier and he said he would contact her office. He was very upset. We were always in good speaking terms after our divorce for our son's sake. He always paid me on time.
Then in January of 2003 my ex-husband was diagnosed with asbestos cancer Misothilioma.
The doctors told him to get his will in order, because this cancer was terminal. Right away he calls me and to ask for our three children's social security numbers as well as mine. He told me I know you're getting my retirement. This is how he was going to do this. Some will go to each of our kids, and whats left over, he would split in half between me and his present wife, he didn't want anyone fighting over money. Of course this never happned. By the time he died. our three children got 10,000.00 each. His widow made sure of that. Unfortuanately the girlfriend (at the time) was not in good terms with us. Plus we heard she was very greedy and money hungry. So as soon as she heard of his cancer she convinced him to marry her, because she didn't have any money, plus his medical bills were going to be huge. So they got married, and they proceeded to sue the company's he worked for. all in secret our kids didn't know how much was settled, something in the millions. My ex passed away on October 30, 2004. His funeral was in November of 2006. I didn't notify his employer of his passing because i new his present wife would do it. In the meantime i am assuming my ex husband's retirment benefits paper work would be sent to me soon after, so i can see what i was getting. December 2004 came along and didn't receive anything. So I call my ex's company to see what i needed to do. To my Shock!! they proceed to tell me that the Q.D.R.O. paper work was not completed, and i needed to contact my attorney imidiately, because it was being sent to his surviving spouse. I Called her right away and told her my ex had passed away. and the company still didn't have the correct paper work. She asked if my ex had re-married i told her he had re-married in 2003. She said she would take care of it right away in court. I was terrified I thought my ex-'s benefits, that were rightfully mine were going to his widow. This was December 2004. She told me not to worry, she would put a freeze on this order. Then i come to find out she hadn't completed the Q.D.R.O. for my ex's former employer. I waited for about two months to give her a chance to do the paperwork that was needed. I called her in March of 2005, she said whe was still waiting forthe paper work from the California company. By this time my children and i started to make plans to move to Las Vegas, Nevada. The cost of living was way cheaper than Hawaii. Plus i could live comfortably with my ex-husbands retirement benefits. I informed my attorney i neded all this business completed before i left. Because i needed the money. I continued to call my attorney for up dates and wondering why, i had not recieved any paperwork. There was one excuse after another. I would call about every two weeks, there was no answer, i would leave messages for her to call me back. She never did. In the meantime my children and i made plas to move to Nevada the summer of 2006. give everyone time to get their jobs in Las Vegas, first, and prepare for the move. By January 2006, was vey upset with her, still no information. I would leave messages on her phone, that i wanted to meet with her, for her to explain why this was taking so long. So by April 2006, i didn't know what to do. I had no money to sue her. but i wanted to believe she was honest, and she wouldn't do this to me. I continued to call her almost everyday, leaving message, after message with her assistant. I wrote her a polite letter, asking her to please get this done before i moved to Nevada. She called me back to apologise, and said she would get right on it. This was May 2006. Only one month left before our move. Our scheduled moving date was June 14,2006. My children had jobs waiting for them. Finally on June 3, 2006, her office called me to tell me they had mailed the paperwork to both companies, and to come and pick up the copies. That was all that was said to me by her assistant. So i assumed i would receive the money from the retirement benefits within a few weeks.
So I gave the change of address to the two former employers of my ex-husband. We were settleding our new place in Las Vegas. In July of 2006, I receive a letter from one of my ex's
former employer, explaining the amount of my monthly payments retroactive from July 1, 2006, for the amount of $148.82 for the rest of my life. A company he worked for, over ten years and made middle class income. I requested information why these benefits were so low, they didn't answer my question. My exhusband passed away in October 2004but because my attorney didn't have the paperwork done before he passed, so instead of paying me from the time of his death. His company went by when my attorney filed my paperwork june of 2006. I have not received any information from his other employer. I phoned the company in August 2006, asking why it was taking so long, they told me, they were almost done and they were going to send the paperwork to my attorney, to check, if i had any questions from this day forward, I was to contact my attorney, and my attorney would contact their attorney. I contacted my attorney and told her assistant, for them to please call me as soon as they received the paperwork, she told me they would. This is November 2006. So now i am back to square one. I haven't heard from my attorney, which does not surprise me. My ex-husband worked for this company for 7 years before our divorce. So if i didn't get any benefits from this company, would they at least send me a letter explaining this to me. I would understand. Plus if my ex-husband would have known how small the retirement benefits were before he died, he would have made sure, i
would have received part of his settlement, from his lawsuit for Misothilioma, from all the companies he worked for. He would have given me the necessary papers i needed to claim it. Whether his wife liked it or not. I know this was a long letter, i am sorry, i felt i needed to explain the whole situation in order to see if this qualifies as a Legal Malpractice? If it does, my question is. I know i have to retain an attorney from Hawaii. All this happened on Maui. So i don't want a Maui Attorney. How do i go about this? I have a limited income. I live with my daughters, i can't afford my own place. Can you refer me to a good attorney, maybe from Oahu, Hawaii? Thank you so much, Maria
NevadaI would like to know if i have a case against my divorce attorney? My divorce became final in December of 1999. After 29 years of marriage. In Maui, Hawaii. I was granted full custudy of our minor child, along with child support and spousal support, as well as half of his retirement and half of his social security. Plus my ex was to pay all my attorneys fees. My ex-husband had worked at two former companys. My attorney filed ( so i assumed) the necessary Q.D.R.O.'s to my ex-husband's present employer as well as his former employer. I was very naieve and trusted my attorney completely. Within a couple of months of my divorce. I receive a letter from my ex- husbands present employer saying the Q.D.R.O. was missing some legal matter. This letter was sent to me as well as to my attorney. By this time I was working two jobs and under a lot of stress. I didn't call her on this, assuming she would take care of it and let me know. This was I believe February of 2000. I just took it for granted that I wouldn't get anymore information on these Q.D.R.O.'s, until my ex retired. My attorney didn't explain anything to me of how this worked. I was always asking the naive questions I knew of asking. Like, when my ex retires do i call the company about my share of his retirement? something to that effect.
Then around 2002 I receive a bill from her office, saying i owed $1700.00. I emidiately phoned my ex, asking if he had paid my fees. He said he had paid it off a few months earlier and he said he would contact her office. He was very upset. We were always in good speaking terms after our divorce for our son's sake. He always paid me on time.
Then in January of 2003 my ex-husband was diagnosed with asbestos cancer Misothilioma.
The doctors told him to get his will in order, because this cancer was terminal. Right away he calls me and to ask for our three children's social security numbers as well as mine. He told me I know you're getting my retirement. This is how he was going to do this. Some will go to each of our kids, and whats left over, he would split in half between me and his present wife, he didn't want anyone fighting over money. Of course this never happned. By the time he died. our three children got 10,000.00 each. His widow made sure of that. Unfortuanately the girlfriend (at the time) was not in good terms with us. Plus we heard she was very greedy and money hungry. So as soon as she heard of his cancer she convinced him to marry her, because she didn't have any money, plus his medical bills were going to be huge. So they got married, and they proceeded to sue the company's he worked for. all in secret our kids didn't know how much was settled, something in the millions. My ex passed away on October 30, 2004. His funeral was in November of 2006. I didn't notify his employer of his passing because i new his present wife would do it. In the meantime i am assuming my ex husband's retirment benefits paper work would be sent to me soon after, so i can see what i was getting. December 2004 came along and didn't receive anything. So I call my ex's company to see what i needed to do. To my Shock!! they proceed to tell me that the Q.D.R.O. paper work was not completed, and i needed to contact my attorney imidiately, because it was being sent to his surviving spouse. I Called her right away and told her my ex had passed away. and the company still didn't have the correct paper work. She asked if my ex had re-married i told her he had re-married in 2003. She said she would take care of it right away in court. I was terrified I thought my ex-'s benefits, that were rightfully mine were going to his widow. This was December 2004. She told me not to worry, she would put a freeze on this order. Then i come to find out she hadn't completed the Q.D.R.O. for my ex's former employer. I waited for about two months to give her a chance to do the paperwork that was needed. I called her in March of 2005, she said whe was still waiting forthe paper work from the California company. By this time my children and i started to make plans to move to Las Vegas, Nevada. The cost of living was way cheaper than Hawaii. Plus i could live comfortably with my ex-husbands retirement benefits. I informed my attorney i neded all this business completed before i left. Because i needed the money. I continued to call my attorney for up dates and wondering why, i had not recieved any paperwork. There was one excuse after another. I would call about every two weeks, there was no answer, i would leave messages for her to call me back. She never did. In the meantime my children and i made plas to move to Nevada the summer of 2006. give everyone time to get their jobs in Las Vegas, first, and prepare for the move. By January 2006, was vey upset with her, still no information. I would leave messages on her phone, that i wanted to meet with her, for her to explain why this was taking so long. So by April 2006, i didn't know what to do. I had no money to sue her. but i wanted to believe she was honest, and she wouldn't do this to me. I continued to call her almost everyday, leaving message, after message with her assistant. I wrote her a polite letter, asking her to please get this done before i moved to Nevada. She called me back to apologise, and said she would get right on it. This was May 2006. Only one month left before our move. Our scheduled moving date was June 14,2006. My children had jobs waiting for them. Finally on June 3, 2006, her office called me to tell me they had mailed the paperwork to both companies, and to come and pick up the copies. That was all that was said to me by her assistant. So i assumed i would receive the money from the retirement benefits within a few weeks.
So I gave the change of address to the two former employers of my ex-husband. We were settleding our new place in Las Vegas. In July of 2006, I receive a letter from one of my ex's
former employer, explaining the amount of my monthly payments retroactive from July 1, 2006, for the amount of $148.82 for the rest of my life. A company he worked for, over ten years and made middle class income. I requested information why these benefits were so low, they didn't answer my question. My exhusband passed away in October 2004but because my attorney didn't have the paperwork done before he passed, so instead of paying me from the time of his death. His company went by when my attorney filed my paperwork june of 2006. I have not received any information from his other employer. I phoned the company in August 2006, asking why it was taking so long, they told me, they were almost done and they were going to send the paperwork to my attorney, to check, if i had any questions from this day forward, I was to contact my attorney, and my attorney would contact their attorney. I contacted my attorney and told her assistant, for them to please call me as soon as they received the paperwork, she told me they would. This is November 2006. So now i am back to square one. I haven't heard from my attorney, which does not surprise me. My ex-husband worked for this company for 7 years before our divorce. So if i didn't get any benefits from this company, would they at least send me a letter explaining this to me. I would understand. Plus if my ex-husband would have known how small the retirement benefits were before he died, he would have made sure, i
would have received part of his settlement, from his lawsuit for Misothilioma, from all the companies he worked for. He would have given me the necessary papers i needed to claim it. Whether his wife liked it or not. I know this was a long letter, i am sorry, i felt i needed to explain the whole situation in order to see if this qualifies as a Legal Malpractice? If it does, my question is. I know i have to retain an attorney from Hawaii. All this happened on Maui. So i don't want a Maui Attorney. How do i go about this? I have a limited income. I live with my daughters, i can't afford my own place. Can you refer me to a good attorney, maybe from Oahu, Hawaii? Thank you so much, Maria