On March 30, 2010, my attorney, Mr Walter C. Thomas, Jr, P.A., signed my Marital Settlement and Custodial Agreement, attesting to his compliance with Section 6.0, Acknowledgment of Fairness of Agreement, wherein it states, "The Parties have read this agreement and have had its terms and consequences explained to them by their respective counsel(s), and they believe and acknowledge this agreement to be fair, just and reasonable."
Although Mr. Thomas attested to his meeting these requirements, he did not make me aware of the handwritten inclusion to the agreement, on page 8 of 19, that reads, "The paternal grandmother shall accompany the husband at the visitation." And I now understand how it is that I was oblivious to this change.
On March 30, 2010, at what turned out to the final mediation, where I saw this agreement for the first time, I was excluded from an hour long conference that included my now ex-wife, her attorney, and the mediator. After that, Mr. Thomas brought me in to sign a sloppily and hastily prepared final draft, laced with handwritten corrections.
Mr. Thomas had me believe that this agreement enabled me to have my children with me every other weekend and for one week each summer. but since this agreement requires that my mother be with me 100% of the time that I have my children, 24 hours of every day they are with me. And so, because of that requirement, instead of having my children with me every other weekend, I have them with me for six hours every other month. This is because that is the most time my mother can commit to spending with me and my children.
When I asked Mr. Thomas why he did not make me aware of this requirement before letting me sign the agreement, he told me, in an email message, that he presumed I was aware of the consequences of my compliance. Thus, he admitted to allowing me to sign what he knew to be an unreasonable agreement; one that he also knew I had no prior opportunity to review.
Over the next two months I attempted to communicate with Mr. Thomas regarding this matter. Several times, I respectfully requested that the Marital Settlement and Custodial Agreement be amended to remove the requirement that my mother be present in order for me to spend any time with my children. But he ignored my requests.
I reported him to the Florida Bar and his professional misconduct will be on file with the Better Business Bureau for three years.