My Spouse Physically and Financially Abandoned Me, How Do I Get Help With a Divorce When I Have No Income?


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“I have been married for a decade to a Brazilian man, who I supported while he attended and graduated aviation school. Until 2007, I had been the primary breadwinner for our household. He now works for Republic Airways Holdings, Inc. (an airline) and has physically and financially abandoned me. In February left me with a $1,000 check to cover $1,500 rent and a 4 bedroom house, full of furniture to move. I have not seen or spoken with him since.

I suffered a severe debilitating back injury the June prior to him leaving me. I did some contract work for my employer who transitioned me to a contract employee that September, so I could work from home. They stopped providing me work two months later and I have been unemployed ever since. The car my spouse and I financed was repossessed because I could no longer afford to the payments (he was not contributing to the payments). My spouse knew of all these issues.

After falling into a severe deep depression and out of sheer desperation, I started seeing a therapist in November 2010 who promptly put me on anti-depressants since I could do nothing but cry all the time. My spouse removed me from his health insurance in Feb 2011 and I have not received any back therapy since then. Fortunately, my psychiatrist continued to see me for free because of the severity of my depression.

I’ve discovered my spouse is now living in a luxury furnished apartment in Kansas City, while I have been struggling to keep from being homeless. I am now living off of my elderly parents who are paying for the storage of all the belongings my spouse and I acquired during our marriage. My question is, how do I get help with a divorce? I have no income, no transportation and my back injury keeps me from sitting more than an hour at a time without pain. I have tried to find work via home opportunities through the internet, but have been unsuccessful to date. I called the Legal Aid Society and they said they cannot help me because I have no minor children.”

Try contacting both the city and state bar associations for both your state and city, and the state and city in which your ex lives. That said, because there are no children, it should be fairly simple to file the divorce paperwork yourself, so you might also want to pick up the Nolo Press book on divorce, from your local library or bookstore.