Help! Desperate for a lawyer and some answers please

Hi everyone. I'm new here and absolutely astonished at the stories, the number of rats and the similarities. I too am married to a Tunisian rat and desperate to divorce him and get rid of him for good but I am having a really impossible time getting a straight answer from any lawyer in Tunis. I get different answers about how long the procedure will take from 15 days to over 4 months, I have to phone them because most only want to deal with fax or phone and do not wish to communicate via email, have quoted from 750 to 2000 dinars and in some cases even when I phone they hang up even though I speak French fluently and they are responding in French.

I suspect my husband married me to get his card here in France. I am an Irish/Canadian national living in France for 7 years and we met in Tunisia. Through a lot of effort after our marriage I got my husband his visa and now he has a 5 year card valid until 2015 but as a family member of an EU national. My husband works but spends all of his earnings on himself - cigarettes, booze, horse racing tickets and if there is anything left or if and when he wished he gives me money for the household yet I have paid all of our taxes, rent, bills and he owes me over 3,000 euros. I have been unemployed for 1.5 years and have been without unemployment benefits for 6 months yet he still refuses to pay for our bills. Just last week he left with all of his things at which point I went to the police to register he had left our marital home. He left the keys except for the mailbox so he can show a proof of address because he has an appointment at the préfecture on 29 December to change the address on his resident car. He has now started as of yesterday paying half of the rent to prove he is doing so just in case and is getting advice from the Tunisian consul here.

I really really need to get rid of him but I am so stuck and desperate. The French authorities tell me I cannot divorce him here because we are not French, our marriage was in Tunisia and it is not recognised here. No one here will help. In Tunisia as explained no one will help because I think mainly I am not there, I get different answers or no answers to my questions about procedure, cost and time. Does anyone have a honest lawyer they can recommend, please please please??? I am really really at my wits end as I have been at this for 2 weeks and I have spent so much money of my savings on phone calls to Tunisia to no avail.

I want to know that I can divorce him quickly or just walk away knowing that we have no children, no comment assets and got married under separation of assets. If I cannot find a lawyer to help can I just walk away and not worry about repercusions if I decide to try to divorce him at a later date say from Canada?

Awaiting your advice. Many thanks. Michelle

Ohhh bloody hell Mod!!!!!

I'm in UK and divorcing mine here. Straight forward stuff. I don't know the law but i'm sure you will get some answers from people who can help.
I'm sorry for your difficulties and can only hope things get better for you xxx

Welcome to TLR Michelle. Thanks for sharing your story. Sounds like an absolute nightmare. I don't know anything about divorce in Tunisia, but maybe some members who have gone through the process , will come on and give you advice. If not, have a look on Tunisia.com, as there are lots of divorce threads on there. Your rat sounds selfish, and has used you for his own gain like most of them do. I really hope you are able to divorce him quickly, and get rid of him.

Thanks Marilyna for your words of encouragement. Once I make some headway I can keep everyone up to date should they need to go through the same thing.

Michelle, I really wish you luck with this, these rats can really stress you out big time.

Hi Mod, have you tried tunisia.com forum? There are many members there, who reside in France and may know a bit more about divorce laws and how to go about it. Wishing you all the best. xxxx

Hopefully Mod you have taken my advice and looked at T.com. There's much more knowledge there about these kinds of things x

the story is disheartning. i wish you well..and good luck.

I hope things work out quickly for you. Can't imagine how you must be feeling. I know I'm new here but this is a great forum for support.

Hi everyone

Many thanks for kind words and support. I am feeling much better now 2.5 months since I parted ways from my rat husband though still feeling stung by the whole situation. There are certainly days when it is easier than others and I am in disbelief but time does heal eventually. I have not divulged the full story because I am still in the midst of this mess. However I have found solutions and can help with others needing to get rid of (divorce) lying rat husbands and game players. I will be in Tunisia in one month for the divorce and can up date you once home and the process is done. I have read a lot about divorce in Tunisia (the actual laws, spoken to my lawyer) and generally informed myself on how it works so I can help if anyone has questions.

Hi mod, it's great to hear you are feeling much better and you are reaching the end of the nightmare. Hope it all goes well for you and it's great you are willing to share information for those who might need it.

Hi Mod,

Good to hear you are feeling better, and you have managed to part from your rat husband. Hope things go according to plan when you are back in Tunisia.

You can divorce him from the UK if you have your marriage cert. But unless you do it or register it in Tunisia then you will still be married to him there lol.

If I were to get a divorce I would not care a jot if we were still married in Tunisia because believe me I will never, ever get married again and certainly not to a Tunisian! Once Tunisian hubby is enough and I have no intention of divorcing this one

once bitten twice shy

Agree with all. One Tunisian husband is enough for a lifetime! Although having said that I know there are some decent Tunisian men just that mine was FAR FAR FAR from it. Will have to control my urge to grab him by his groin and sqeeze when I see him in court

I will pray that you have the strength to restrain yourself when you are in court. Thinking of you.

Lol the mental picture of you in court, with your hand on his crown jewels squeezing hard, made me giggle!!