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I got a judgement of divorce a few months ago. My attorney persuaded me to settle. Now i can't afford to pay for rent or bills.

My attorney kept on pressuring me to settle or keep on paying him money to go to court. I settled because i ran out of credit cards and wanted this to end. My ex wife and I had a home equity loan and i was made fully responsible. I'm paying almost 1000 in child support and $540(90% since she quite her job) for daycare, plus 482 for the loan. For the first couple of months i was going through all my savings that i had left. Now i don’t have anything left and my bank account went negative. My rent is late and i can’t pay for the loan or daycare. How can I change my judgment, which was done under duress and it completely not just? My income and my basic expenses don’t add up. Also i just found out that my ex can qualify for food stamps and daycare vouchers and she refuses to sign up.

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Attorney answers (3)

Reputation Level 16
If your circumstances have changed, seek a modification from the court.
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Alan James Brinkmeier
Alan James Brinkmeier, licensed in Illinois

Reputation Level 6
You should talk to another attorney and have them review the settlement agreement for you. In general, however, if your circumstances are different than the support judgment, you can seek a modification of a support order by making a motion to the court. As to your other question, usually a person's obligation to provide for his or her ex-spouse and child after dissolution is not discharged by the fact that the ex-spouse or child qualify for public assistance.

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Reputation Level 20
While you can seek a modification, unless your circumstances have changed it's probably throwing good money after bad. A court is not likely to be sympathetic to your claim that you only signed the settlement because you were pressured by your own attorney.

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