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  • My Lawyer added up the settlement wrong

    I discovered that my lawyer added up my settlement wrong and I was paying my ex $12,000 more than I needed too. I told my lawyer, she apologized but it created a big problem.

    My ex would not co-operate. His lawyer suggested we split the difference. I pay $6,000 more than I needed to.

    I have never heard of such nonsense!! In a math exam 2+2 = 4. Otherwise, it's wrong.

    My lawyer said based on her experience, it's a crap shoot if a Judge will recognize the error in math and reduce the settlement accordingly.

    Has anyone experienced this? I want my $12,000 back!

  • #2
    well i have no knowledge in this type of thing but did you sign anything saying that the figures were correct?? I would still try and see what you can do to fight it. It is a lot of money.

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    • #3
      Your lawyer made a dumb mistake and she should be responsible for her actions.Just my opinion.

      Comment


      • #4
        As long as you are sure it is a straight mathematical addition mistake, and there can be no other interpretation, then bring a motion to get it fixed.

        If you bring a motion, the other party has up to the motion date to agree to settle the relief you are requesting in your motion. If the other party does not agree to pay back the money in an acceptable manner then you should go to the motion and you should win the motion including your costs. The other side would have to serve and file a responding affidavit to your claims in your supporting affidavit to your motion. There really is no defense to the math error so you should win what you were asking for with costs.

        I say bring the motion, but make it for a motion day two or three weeks ahead of time so that you give the other side time to agree and find a way to pay it back.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by sufferer View Post
          Your lawyer made a dumb mistake and she should be responsible for her actions.Just my opinion.
          Do you have some useful advice?
          FN

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          • #6
            The lawyer made a mistake, but isn't it also incumbent on the client to be reviewing the lawyer's work and hopefully catching it?

            A lot of folks, and I'm not saying you're one of them hess, regard the lawyer as a (very expensive) magic fairy that swoops into your life and will solve all your problems while they sit back and watch Monday Night Football. It doesn't work that way.

            The problem is that there is usually not a direct link b/w the math presented in the financial disclosures and the end result that gets settled. These numbers are negotiated, often in a informal conference setting and the link b/w the math in the disclosure and the end result commonly disappears by the time an order on consent is agreed upon. And because there is no formal record of those negotations, the trail is washed away as soon a you leave court.

            So it would seem that unless a very direct link exists b/w the math and the end result, recourse to either the lawyer or the court will be very difficult to effect.
            Last edited by dadtotheend; 01-31-2010, 10:30 AM.

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            • #7
              Thanks. That makes sense to me inspite of what the mediating lawyers are telling me. I am going to fight it then! There is no disputing the math is wrong. Both lawyers agreed. But my ex wants a certain amount of money and he is threatening with charging me interest if I don 't comply to the math error.
              Apparently, the minute the ex moves out, the "interest meter" kicks in meaning that who ever has to pay out the money, can be charged interest from the date of separation!!

              I had never heard of anything so ludicrous and challenged my Ex's lawyer saying that's crazy. How does anyone know the settlement on the date of separation.

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              • #8
                I'm just kidding. It's actually a coin flip.

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                • #9
                  What :-( a Coin flip? That is what my lawyer's experience has been in her cases where this has happened. She said, it could go either way. It's a crap shoot.

                  Gawd it makes me disrepect the legal system.

                  Do you have any experience with providing for post secondary education. I want my ex to contribute to the kids RESP. And, guarantee an x$ toward tuition. It is what we had intended to do for them when we were married. Since he left with the woman he picked up from the Ashley Madison Website, he's a changed man. It's like a am dealing with a stranger and we were married for 26 years.

                  Part of me wants to run away from it all. But, I am not independently weathly and have "shared" custody.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by dadtotheend View Post
                    The lawyer made a mistake, but isn't it also incumbent on the client to be reviewing the lawyer's work and hopefully catching it?
                    I strongly disagree with this statement. If we are paying lawyers phenomenally high hourly rates we should be able to expect competence.
                    Fire your lawyer!
                    Your second step should be to contact the Law Society of Upper Canada and lodge a complaint. This lawyer should be financially responsible for their mistakes.
                    If that doesn't work (they protect each other), take the lawyer to court. The case is fact driven so you can represent yourself. The lawyer will pay to make this go away.

                    FN
                    Last edited by FreeNow; 02-13-2010, 10:06 PM.

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                    • #11
                      Do you have any experience with providing for post secondary education. I want my ex to contribute to the kids RESP. And, guarantee an x$ toward tuition.
                      This is something that needs to be included in the order for child support/custody. You cannot force the ex to contribute to the RESP. Anything that was put into there during the marriage, he gets to use 50% of it when the time comes to pay for post secondary.

                      (ie. you put 10,000 during the marriage, then separated, he contribues 0,you put another 10,000....he's entitled to use 5,000, you have 15,000 to contribute to your share of the post secondary expenses of the children).

                      Typically the costs are divided into 1/3's....the child is expected to contribute to the cost of their own education (1/3) and then the parents contribute the remainder (2/3). The 2/3 can be paid out in any way you negotiate, but it's typically either a 50-50 split (ie. child pays 1/3, you pay 1/3, ex pays 1/3) or it's proportional to income.

                      Get this part included into your custody/support agreement ASAP. Post secondary education is considered a "special expense" so it falls into that category,but there is SO much involved into it that it really needs it's own section. (ie. cost of travelling if it's not a local institution, what's included in the fees? Just books/tuition/etc? Is residence/meal plans included as the costs? Or will those be include with CS?)

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by FreeNow View Post
                        I strongly disagree with this statement. If we are paying lawyers phenomenally high hourly rates we should be able to expect competence.
                        You can expect competence, but it's your ass on the line, not the lawyer's. Phenomenally high rates don't translate into or guarantee results. To act on blind faith in competence, or to expect that mistakes won't happen, is asking for trouble. The client knows far more about his case than the lawyer. He/she must collaborate with the lawyer to maximize the chances for success.

                        Don't kid yourself. The skills the lawyer brings to the table are his/her familiarity with the process, relationships with the other participants (judges, court staff, other lawyers), and judgement and experience. That doesn't necessarily translate into intuitiveness and savvy all around. Indeed, the only reason they command such a high rate is that they have a virtual monopoly on access to the system. It's not because they are any wiser or better than the clients they serve.
                        Last edited by dadtotheend; 02-14-2010, 10:15 AM.

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