Been sued for divorce and need to hire a lawyer?
by: Alaska Legal Services Corporation
Been sued for divorce?
No money to hire a lawyer, but ineligible for free legal help?
You may be able to obtain some money for legal fees from your spouse.
Background
Many times, people who are sued for divorce by their spouses, or people who want to sue their spouses for divorce, find themselves without money to pay a lawyer to represent them.
Private attorneys are often unwilling to take on cases without some money up front, and Alaska Legal Services Corporation often can't help because the person's interest in substantial marital property exceeds our "asset" guidelines.
If you have tried to get assistance from private attorneys with no success, and Legal Services can't help because you and your spouse own too much property, you may try to get money for legal fees from your spouse.
Alaska Statute 25.24.140 provides in part as follows: Orders during action. (a) During the pendency of the action, a spouse may, upon application and in appropriate circumstances, be awarded expenses, including (1) attorney fees and costs that reasonably approximate the actual fees and costs required to prosecute or defend the action;
Under this statute, the court may order your spouse to pay you an amount sufficient to retain a private attorney, if it finds that such an order would be equitable. The court would probably look to your spouse's ability to pay and your own financial circumstances before reaching its decision.
Last Reviewed On: 09/17/04
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