My lawyer's advice about staying in the house backfired hard

My divorce attorney told me to stay in our marital home to establish residency for custody, so I did even though she moved out. Ended up paying the full mortgage for 8 months while she racked up debt on shared accounts and the judge didn't care at all about who stayed where. Anyone else get bad advice from a lawyer that cost them way more than they saved?

3 comments

3 Comments

emmaking17h ago

Right? It's like they're playing a completely different game than you are. I followed my lawyer's advice to the letter and ended up paying her car payment for six months while the judge just looked at me like I was an idiot.

charles_baker2817h ago

Wait the judge just sat there and did nothing while you paid her car payment? That's wild honestly. Tbh I thought judges were supposed to actually look at the facts and make things fair but I guess that's not how it works. Ngl that story makes me furious just reading it. You followed the rules your lawyer gave you and still got totally screwed over. Honestly makes you wonder what the whole point of even having a lawyer is if they just give you advice that makes your life worse.

quinn16119h ago

Oh man, that's rough. I had almost the exact same thing happen to me. My lawyer told me to stay put too and I ended up stuck with the whole mortgage for almost a year while my ex moved in with her parents and saved up money. And the judge basically shrugged at the whole thing like it didn't matter at all. I mean maybe it's just me but I feel like lawyers just tell you whatever keeps the case dragging on so they can bill more hours. Really sorry you went through that, it's such a rotten feeling when you follow the advice and still lose.