If You Don't Ask For It, You Won't Get It

Money

Below is a short lesson regarding what happens when you do not have all of your ducks in a row when going into a court proceeding.

If you don’t ask for it, you won’t get it.

In BURRELL v. BURRELL, NO. 2018-CA-00760-COA , (Decided Jan. 7, 2020), the wife sued for divorce on adultery in a marriage of 26 years. The Husband admitted adultery and the parties agreed to have the court decide the other issues. The Judge granted the wife one half of the Husband’s pension and ordered the marital home sold and the proceeds divided equally. The wife complained that the Judge did not award her alimony. The problem was that her complaint did not ask for alimony and she and her lawyer did not seek to amend the complaint before trial. The Court of Appeals held that while the Chancellor had discretion to award alimony if he thought it was warranted, he was not in error for not granting alimony where it was not requested.

The moral of this story: check your pleadings to make sure you are asking for what you want!

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