Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Today's challenge

Today's Family Law challenge that I am dealing with is a violation of ATROs (Automatic Temporary Restraining Orders in force during a Divorce case) which restrain a party from, among other things, changing life insurance beneficiaries. As a Certified Family Law Specialist, I attack my challenges with zeal.

My Divorce client believes that his estranged wife, who is quickly drinking herself to death, removed him as the beneficiary of her life insurance policy, on which he has been paying the premiums under Court Order. He had called the out-of-state insurance company to check on the status of the policy, and was advised that the policy had "changed", but that they couldn't provide him any other information.

I addressed the matter to the wife's attorney, who paid "lip service" to correcting any violation of the ATROs if that had occurred. I submitted an authorization to the wife's attorney to obtain documents from the insurance company relating to beneficiary status and changes, and the wife's attorney agreed to forward it to the wife for her signature.

My client reported to me yesterday that his estranged wife told him that her attorney directed her not to sign anything. When I addressed that to her attorney, the wife's attorney hid behind the "attorney/client confidential communication" privilege. Clearly, I'm not going to get the cooperation of the wife or her attorney.

So today's tasks included a Secretary of State Business Portal search, calling the out-of-state insurance company and going through their privacy filters in an effort to determine who I can speak to and where I can subpoena records, being advised that they will only provide me an out-of-state Post Office Box for my submission of a Subpoena, then searching for and locating an agent in California who apparently is the wife's agent for the insurance company, preparing Deposition Subpoenas and Notices to Consumer, preparing Notices and Acknowledgment of Receipt of Service in an effort to expedite service, preparing appropriate cover letters to the out-of-state insurance company and agent, and giving notice to the uncooperative wife's uncooperative attorney of the Subpoenas and Notices to Consumer.

The next tasks will be one or both of the following: An Ex Parte Application to the Court (for a hearing on 24-hour notice) seeking orders requiring the estranged wife to immediately reinstate my client as the beneficiary of her life insurance policy and/or for an order that the Court Clerk sign the beneficiary change document on her behalf, along with orders restraining the insurance company from paying out any life insurance benefits pending further order from the Court; and/or Contempt of Court proceedings against the estranged wife for violation of the ATROs. In order to do either, I need the insurance company beneficiary documents whose receipt a cooperative adverse attorney would have facilitated.

What harm would the estranged wife suffer from my discovery of the beneficiary change - given her attorney's prior "lip service" to correction of the ATRO violation? Her attorney's tacit refusal to cooperate may subject the wife to Contempt proceedings, whereas her cooperation would have "fixed" the violation by reinstating my client as beneficiary.

Without the focus and dedication that I applied today, it would have taken days or weeks for other law firms to get done what I got done in a single morning. I await receipt of the subpoenaed documents so that I can use them to take the next steps.

Now, it is time for me to start the work on other matters that I had planned to do today.

Written by Certified Family Law Specialist DONALD F. CONVISER, of Warner Center Law Offices, a Los Angeles Divorce Lawyer with over 35 years of Family Law experience, whose website can be found at www.conviser.net

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