Preliminary Conference - petition to recognize divorce abroad

I just want to know who needs to attend this preliminary conference?

I am the petitioner, is my presence needed in the this conference? Does my ex-husband need to attend? or can the lawyer just attend this without me?

Please enlighten me, how many hearings does it usually take before the final decree is issued?

Can somebody advise me on what are the hearings for? my lawyer told me it might take 10 hearings... is this true? I think 10 is too much since all our documents are legit and certified by US Embassy, DFA and others. Plus the fact that I am American and Filipino citizen now and my ex-husband is American citizen. We are both American citizen when we filed and received final decree of Divorce in the US.

I would really appreciate your input. Thank you.

we shouldn't be second guessing your attorney.

but it is better if you will attend if only to assure the judge that you exist and truly interested in the case.

ten is a lot, but that depends on how many witnesses he will present, and if he will face unforseen postponements. the truly difficult part of recognition is not in the production of the docs, but in proving that the foreign law allows divorce.

Thank you so much attyLLL!!!

If the judge will just be considerate, I hope I can get the final decree by June... do you think this is possible? 4 months time? US divorce law is well known, I hope and pray that my petition will be easily proved.

more like a year, but who knows if your lawyer can work out a miracle.

I hope and pray by June because the lawyer already have all the necessary documents last June of 2012 and it will be a year now... I really don't know what happened why the petition is only filed November of last year.

Thank you AttyLLL.. God bless!!!

AttyLLL and others.... please advise on this issue

My petition for recognition of divorce abroad has some conference/hearing schedules this month.

Is it safe to let them know that there are a lot more behind the basic details that we mentioned in our petition? In our petition for recognition, it only stated that my ex-hubby is a foreigner and he divorced me and so I want the divorce to be recognized here, so I can re-marry in the future in the Philippines... that is it.

My worry is when I appear in the court and if asked for any other reason why the divorce recognition should be granted, I have the following reasons:

1. I just turned 17 when i met and live with my husband, when I got pregnant when I was 21, he wanted to marry me (not really sure why because he's been a womanizer ever since we met). I only agreed to marry him since I'm already pregnant and I think I love him that time since he's the only person that cared and love me in a way... being young and grew up bouncing from one relative to another with no support from my immediate family, i thought he is the one for me, but to make the story short we are divorced now after 13 yrs of heartaches and infidelity.

2. He only asked me to sign some papers after waking up one morning (literally, I'm not even up from our bed and the bed became my table)and he asked my mom to sign parental consent and after few weeks... we already have a marriage certificate. No solemnizing officer, no witness and definitely, no marriage ceremony happened.

3. My ex-hubby came from a we off family and he paid people to get a marriage certificate. We were even able to use the fake paper to get to the USA and eventually, I became a US citizen.

4. While we are still together, he still continues to womanize and did not give me any respect as his wife and the mother of his child.

5. On the other hand, I owe him a lot for giving me basic needs like food, shelter and clothing and he sent me to school to finish college. And he was a very good father to our kid. Unfortunately, maybe he didn't really love me enough to keep me in his life. He is already married now and has a new kid.

5. I am lived a miserable life for 13 yrs and I want to move on and get married with my current bf that I know really loves me.

These things mentioned above, should I keep it to myself or the court needs to know this... maybe it will help hasten their decision to recognize my divorce..

replies will be greatly appreciated.

answered your other post. you should discuss this also with your lawyer