Wife Fake Neck Injury To Avoid Getting Divorce From Husband

Added: 2026-05-19

[00:00:03]Now session Patrick Henderson versus Diana and Amy Henderson.

[00:00:08]The record is before the court for a continued pre-trial conference subsequent to mediation. Parties have engaged in mediation for approximately 10 minutes.

[00:00:18]Um Obviously someone is not uh mediating in good faith.

[00:00:23]May I add that the hearing is being conducted via Zoom. The president is attorney Matthew representing the plaintiff Patrick Henderson.

[00:00:30]And Mr. Henderson is present. Uh the defendant Diana Henderson also is present. Good morning everyone.

[00:00:35]Good morning, Your Honor. Good morning, Your Honor.

[00:00:37]Okay, what the court's going to suggest since uh this is if I recall it's a pretty short-term marriage.

[00:00:43]Your Honor, may I say something, please?

[00:00:47]Yes, Ms. Henderson.

[00:00:48]Um I had not one but two surgeries on my neck in the last month, less than a month. I'm on very heavy pain medication and do not think I'm able to answer legal and okay agree to legal things at this time.

[00:01:07]Okay.

[00:01:09]I had another surgery due to a complication to the first surgery last week.

[00:01:15]Okay, obviously the court has to move this matter along.

[00:01:18]Obviously you could have talked with Mr. Henderson.

[00:01:20]>> to the doctor tomorrow. I did talk to him about it. Mr. Henderson refuses to postpone the litigation.

[00:01:27]All right.

[00:01:29]Uh What the court will propose this morning is that the court take the proofs and to establish jurisdiction there's been a breakdown of the marriage.

[00:01:36]There's no minor children. That Ms. Henderson is not present. The court will preserve [clears throat] all saying issues and what the court will do with them is schedule a trial date.

[00:01:43]Okay. Yeah.

[00:01:43]>> Your Honor. If in fact the two parties feel that litigation is uh will be futile, I'm not I don't intend to waste the parties' time.

[00:01:51]That's right.

[00:01:52]>> has an objection to that?

[00:01:54]Uh yes, Your Honor, I do object to that.

[00:01:56]Um and I want to uh spell out a timeline for the court.

[00:02:01]Uh Ms. Henderson was initially served in in September by certified mail. No, I was not.

[00:02:07]>> personally served um No, I was not.

[00:02:10]Hold on, Ms. Henderson. Ms. Henderson, please do not interrupt interrupt, please. Ms. Henderson, I'm aware that the default was entered. The court ordered us to file a motion to set aside the default by February 16th. She's not done that, but she's here. So, I can't just ignore her at this point in time, but Ms. Henderson, there are court rules you need to comply with. Okay.

[00:02:27]>> At least she's here, so the court's not inclined to just enter a default judgment at this point, Mr. Vido, if that's what you're suggesting.

[00:02:33]Your Honor, she's just her her intent is to delay these proceedings and make a mockery The court's going to schedule a trial date today, Mr. Vido.

[00:02:42]I beg your pardon?

[00:02:44]The court will schedule a trial date today.

[00:02:47]So, we're going to move this matter forward so Ms. Henderson can get divorced.

[00:02:51]I want to be divorced from this man.

[00:02:53]>> Mr. and Ms. Henderson, will both please raise your right hand to be sworn.

[00:02:57]Do you both solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to give in this matter will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

[00:03:03]Yes.

[00:03:05]Mr. Henderson, do you recall um having me file a complaint for divorce in this case?

[00:03:11]Yes, sir, I did. Okay, and that was back in August of 2023?

[00:03:15]Yeah, it was back this summer. Yes.

[00:03:17]Okay. And in that um complaint for divorce, there were certain allegations that we made.

[00:03:23]Yes.

[00:03:24]Okay, one of those allegations was that you had been a resident of the state of Michigan for the last 180 days. Yes.

[00:03:30]And you'd been a resident of the county of Monroe for the last uh 10 days. Correct. Okay, you also alleged in that complaint that there were no children born or adopted during the marriage. No, sir.

[00:03:43]You you did not allege that, or are you saying there were no children? I'm sorry. Uh there are no children. No, sir. Correct. You also alleged that there has been a breakdown in the marital relationship such that the bonds of matrimony have been destroyed, right?

[00:03:55]Yes, sir. And you further allege that there remains no reasonable likelihood that those bonds can be reestablished or repaired, right?

[00:04:03]No, sir.

[00:04:06]You did not?

[00:04:08]There's no way the marriage can be repaired at this point, sir. Okay.

[00:04:12]And you also allege that there are certain assets that needed to be divided.

[00:04:16]Yes, sir. And you ask the court to grant the divorce.

[00:04:20]Those, is that a yes? I see your head nodding. Yes.

[00:04:24]Sorry. Okay. And all those allegations, [clears throat] they were true at the time that that was filed, right?

[00:04:28]Yes. And they're still true to this day.

[00:04:31]Yes, they are. Okay. Your Honor, I have no further questions for Mr. Henderson.

[00:04:36]Thank you, Mr. Vido. Ms. Henderson, can you please state your name and current mailing address for the court? Diana Henderson.

[00:04:44]Ms. Henderson, did you hear the testimony this morning from your husband, Patrick?

[00:04:48]Yes.

[00:04:49]Was his testimony true and accurate? No, it was not.

[00:04:53]Okay, what was not accurate about his testimony?

[00:04:55]>> There was no way in August he could have been a resident of Michigan for 180 days. I did not leave until April, and he left after I left.

[00:05:05]Well, Ms. Henderson, you need to file an answer. You never filed an answer to this matter, so I never received that paperwork. I was never served, Your Honor.

[00:05:13]I was never personally served papers, nor did I receive the certified mail in August or September. I wasn't even living here. I was living at my daughter's where I go back and forth.

[00:05:25]Ms. Henderson, have you not received a copy of the the complaint for divorce?

[00:05:29]No, I never did.

[00:05:31]Okay, come down to the courthouse today to get a copy.

[00:05:34]Ms. Henderson, this matter has been pending for some time. Okay.

[00:05:38]Um Your Honor, This is what I was asking last time that we came in front of you about that, about not receiving it. The court gave me instructions to file a motion to set aside the default.

[00:05:52]And if you can't know don't know do that you need to contact Mr. Henderson. Okay.

[00:05:56]Okay, Mr. Henderson, the are you currently pregnant? No, I am not. All right, the court finds based on the testimony that has been presented that jurisdiction has been established and that there has been a breakdown in the marriage relationship to the extent that the option of marriage has been destroyed. There is no reasonable chance that the marriage can be preserved.

[00:06:15]We're going to reserve outstanding issues.

[00:06:17]Um Miss Henderson, you need to take some affirmative step yourself. Come down to the courthouse and get a copy. You can look at the whole the entire file.

[00:06:24]Okay.

[00:06:24]>> This is the first I've heard that you've not received a copy of the complaint.

[00:06:28]Mr. Henderson, somebody wants a divorce.

[00:06:29]That's it. I don't So do I, but no.

[00:06:33]Hold on. There is always the clear marriage. You were separated March 2023.

[00:06:37]The only issue is division of personal property and some debt for a storage unit. Is that Is that really the only issue, Mr. >> That's credit card debt, too.

[00:06:46]There's I think the storage unit debt has been resolved. We're not aware and nor is my client alleged that there's any credit card debt.

[00:06:53]No.

[00:06:54]>> Okay.

[00:06:55]All right, so you need to present that to You need to present that to Mr. Vedo ahead of time, Mr. Miss Henderson. In any event, the court's going to Mr. Mr. Henderson is entitled to a timely trial so the court's going to schedule this for trial.

[00:07:06]Uh Mr. Vedo, >> Tell him that about the other two times you filed and had it pulled out.

[00:07:12]All right.

[00:07:12]Yeah, we're going to we're going to give you trial dates. And we have a date of April 25th. Are you available, Mr. Vedo? April 25th, it's a Thursday. It'll be an in-person trial.

[00:07:23]Miss Henderson, check your schedule.

[00:07:24]April 25th, it's a Thursday. It will start at 8:30 in the morning. It'll be an in-person trial.

[00:07:32]Yes, I'm available.

[00:07:35]Okay.

[00:07:36]I'm available, Your Honor.

[00:07:38]All right. So we'll mail out notice that in-person trial April 25th, 2024, 8:30 a.m. That'll be in person.

[00:07:46]Ms. Henderson you need to appear personally. Uh, and if you and Mr. You can always reach out to Mr. Vido in the meantime, maybe you can reach your own agreement. That's far better off.

[00:07:55]Otherwise, the court will make final decision and they'll hear from both of you and then uh, you won't have much to say other than tell your story.

[00:08:02]Um, with respect to a trial brief, the court's going to require Ms. Henderson um, and for example, if you suggest there's credit card issue, you need to provide that to Mr. Vido in advance. Otherwise, we will not listen to any testimony about that trial. Do you understand that? Yes.

[00:08:15]>> There are certain court rules. You need to provide that in advance.

[00:08:18]And the court recognized that the court was still ordered you to file an answer to this complaint. If you haven't gotten the complaint, >> That's fine.

[00:08:25]If I could get the paperwork, I'll answer it, sir. You're not Okay, Ms. Henderson, hold on. Ms. Henderson, you appeared before this court back on January 26th we scheduled this. And the court ordered you to file a motion to set aside default, but you didn't do anything. You didn't tell me you didn't have a copy of the complaint. Yes, I did.

[00:08:43]And that, sir, would be reason for >> Ms. Henderson, please. Yes. You can talk to your Have your attorney talk on your behalf. Got an attorney? I'm sorry. It's not a chance for you, Ms. Henderson, to argue with each other.

[00:08:53]No, I'm not, sir. I'm I brought >> uh, Mr. to you that she didn't She didn't >> Henderson, please. Can you mute Ms. Henderson, please?

[00:09:01]Yes, sir.

[00:09:05]Mr. Vido, uh, the court's uh, suggestion The court has set a time frame for each decide to file a brief, a trial brief, so the court knows ahead ahead what's at issue. And you're saying that the third unit issue is no longer an issue, is that correct? That is correct, Your Honor. So, from your client's perspective, what is the issue? Just division of personal property?

[00:09:24]Uh, that's right. It's division of personal property. They have no real property.

[00:09:29]Um, that that's really the issue.

[00:09:34]Okay.

[00:09:35]Uh, and [snorts and clears throat] uh, So, there's property in Miss Henderson's possession that Mr. Henderson desires?

[00:09:43]Well, there is a a Cadillac um CRV or uh I'm sorry, I'd have to look at the judgment one second.

[00:09:53]Um Okay, there's a Cadillac at issue?

[00:09:57]There is a Cadillac at issue um in in our um proposed judgment that we were going to present that mediation today um that we prepared in anticipation of negotiation today. Uh we we changed some things on page four regarding the Cadillac Cadillac initially we were asking for that to be awarded solely to my client and in the proposed judgment we're asking the court to sell that uh have the parties sell that and then um split the proceeds and we were providing for a specific mechanism for that to be done through Carvana. Apparently, they've expressed an interest in it.

[00:10:36]Uh in the party >> So, we split the proceeds equally.

[00:10:40]>> Miss Henderson, do not interrupt Mr. Viterito. I'm sorry, sir. There's also a All right, Miss Henderson, Mr. Viterito.

[00:10:46]So, I'm sorry, you're suggesting the Cadillac be sold and the proceeds split equally? That's right. Um Who has possession of Cadillac?

[00:10:53]Miss Henderson.

[00:10:55]All right, Miss Henderson, do you have any objection to that vehicle being sold?

[00:10:58]>> It was bought for me for my 50th birthday by Mr. Henderson. Mr. Henderson has three cars listed on there that he wants. One is a truck that doesn't run that he abandoned in front of my son's house three years ago.

[00:11:11]>> question. You answered the court's question. You're you're opposed to it, so the court will address that uh at time of trial. So, you need to provide and Mr. Viterito believes in what, 10 days before trial for trial brief is sufficient? Yes, your honor. And I want to point something out. Um Miss Henderson came here today saying that she could not participate in mediation because she's on pain medication, she's not going to be able to understand what's going on, but clearly she understands what's going on.

[00:11:37]She's alert. She's addressing each question that's raised or that she thinks is being raised and provides providing detailed answers. So I I don't see why based on her answers during the course of this hearing, how she cannot participate in in mediation.

[00:11:54]I think it's just an attempt for her to delay the process.

[00:11:57]>> Your Honor, Okay, so Mr. Mr. Whidden, what are the other issues other than the Cadillac from your client's standpoint? From my client's standpoint, there's just the the issues of personal property. He has disability from the army. She's not entitled to that that accrued while he was in the service well before they were ever married.

[00:12:16]In fact, it accrued well before even Miss Henderson was an adult. Um so she's not entitled to any of that. So really the only issue is the division of personal property.

[00:12:27]Okay, primarily the Cadillac?

[00:12:29]There's also a GM truck. It's an older model, I believe it's like 2000, maybe 2002, that's also in Miss Henderson's possession, but my client is his position is uh as of today that that should be awarded to um to the defendant, but obviously, you know, that's all up in the air when it goes to trial.

[00:12:56]Okay, so they're pretty minor.

[00:12:58]All right, the court will order Miss Henderson and then join you right now and and what what you say is outstanding joint credit card debt?

[00:13:07]Yes, there's credit card debt that was he had me open in my name and said, "Oh, let's charge them up. We'll pay them off." And It's not it's not joint debt.

[00:13:16]I asked you if there's any joint debt and you said yes, that you opened in your own name.

[00:13:21]Yeah, they're all in my name.

[00:13:22]>> names? No, there are not.

[00:13:25]Okay, and there's credit card debt in your name and you and you believe Mr. Anderson should pay some of that? Yes, I do. Okay, you need to present that in advance of trial. You don't provide all documentation to Mr. Vildo, then they Mr. Vildo, you've actually submitted some interrogatories. And I don't know >> And requests for admissions. Okay, and if those are not addressed And I don't know if you've addressed that in those. If so, then it's not an issue. If Ms. Anderson does not timely respond to those, they're deemed admitted.

[00:13:53]She has She has The deadline was Monday, and she has not responded to those whatsoever. And they address key issues, material issues to this case. So, she's not addressed those. So, I think those will be conceded at trial because she can't um What are we talking about, sir? Excuse me. I don't even know what you're talking about. Ms. Anderson, we reviewed the court file. You needed to check your mail. The proof of the court file you were that mailed request for admissions and discovery requests. You had a certain time frame which to respond to those. The name was in 28 28 days. If you don't respond to those, those are deemed admitted. So, you cannot at trial argue about credit card debt if you have not responded to these interrogatories.

[00:14:32]So, you need to You need to contact an attorney today.

[00:14:35]If you can't handle this yourself, represent yourself properly, you need to get an attorney today because this needs to If you don't timely respond to these interrogatories, they're deemed admitted. There's no discussion about the issue at trial. That's how it works.

[00:14:48]Okay.

[00:14:50]I see You seem to be very lucid just for the record this morning, very capable.

[00:14:55]You know about the different vehicles and so forth. But of course, you didn't expect a doubt. You cannot engage in mediation. You don't want to engage in mediation for whatever reason. That's fine. I'm not going to waste everyone's time to schedule another mediation.

[00:15:06]We'll simply schedule this for trial, April 25, 2024, 8:30 a.m. in person. Uh there will not be Zoom, but in person, Ms. Anderson. And they need to file a trial brief with the court laying out the issues at least 10 days prior.

[00:15:20]And then this is your honor The last thing I forgot to mention I'm sorry to interrupt but the other issue that will be obviously is attorney's fees for and costs for the delay that's being caused by Ms. Henderson. Obviously a trial is going to be much more expensive for my client who would not be needing that trial if she were willing to mediate in good faith or just conceded that she in fact was served and and and defaulted properly.

[00:15:45]>> never served. And so my client is going to incur all those extra fees, attorney's fees and costs because of her poor behavior.

[00:15:54]Right. Have you sent to Ms. Henderson this proposed judgment, Mr. Weddle?

[00:15:59]We just prepared it this week. I have not sent it to her. We were going to talk about it at mediation. Literally we had completed it this week hoping to extend the olive branch at mediation and get this resolved.

[00:16:13]But from what I understand she hasn't even bothered to let Mr. Walker go over that with her because she didn't want to participate in mediation today.

[00:16:23]Okay. What the court suggests, Mr. Weddle, is maybe send that proposed judgment to Ms. Henderson, let her review it. Maybe that'll give her some time to reflect upon it and maybe that might facilitate a resolution. You spelled out the terms that you're suggesting that the Cadillac be be sold, that she be awarded a pickup truck. And so Ms. Henderson the court suggests you know, take a look at this judgment and if you have some modifications you can always communicate with Mr. Weddle.

[00:16:50]Email or whatever.

[00:16:54]Would you be willing to to mail her that proposed judgment, Mr. Weddle, just for get her give her something to review and then she can even review with an attorney if she wishes.

[00:17:01]Yes, Your Honor. And and we'll send it certified because she keeps claiming that she's not getting any of the paperwork which is ridiculous.

[00:17:08]I did not get served. That is the only paperwork I have not received.

[00:17:13]>> I hate to see you incur the expense of certified mail, Mr. Weddle. It's not necessary but I'll leave it to you. Ms. Henderson is staying on the record her address is 43.

[00:17:25]That is my mailing address, yes. Okay.

[00:17:28]And you need to check your mail, Ms. Henderson.

[00:17:31]So, Mr. Vidos going to send you this proposed judgment of divorce. And if you didn't look at it, and I had to call you to strongly suggest you read it carefully.

[00:17:38]Um you might not want to discuss it today, but review with an attorney.

[00:17:43]Okay.

[00:17:45]All right. Anything further this morning, Mr. Vidos? I know it's frustrating, but we'll We've got a trial date set, and it will be a firm trial date, uh April 25th.

[00:17:53]And the trial brief, Your Honor, the trial brief is due 10 days prior, so by uh April 15th, 2024, it should be served on the other party, right?

[00:18:04]Correct.

[00:18:06]Okay.

[00:18:07]All right. Ms. Henderson, do you have any other questions? No, I don't.

[00:18:11]All right. Put this in your calendar.

[00:18:14]The court will not adjourn this, so hopefully that uh some of your medical issues you will have addressed. Uh so, you'll be prepared to proceed to trial on this date. And the court would strongly suggest take copies of the judgment to an attorney, pay consultation fee.

[00:18:28]It's going to save you a lot of grief and stress down the road. An attorney can can You can tell the attorney, "Okay, I've got these credit cards that he made me take them out in my name, da da da Whatever your position is at."

[00:18:37]View with the attorney and see what the attorney thinks.

[00:18:40]He may say you're you're climbing up the wrong tree.

[00:18:43]And he may say you want to This is probably a very reasonable proposal here that Mr. Henderson has presented to his attorney, and maybe you can agree upon that, and we can eliminate this trial.

[00:18:54]Okay.

[00:18:54]>> So, keep an open mind. All right. Thank you, Mr. Vidos. Ms. Ms. Henderson, that will conclude this matter. You can all zoom out. We'll see you on April 25th.

[00:19:02]At the conclusion of the hearing, the court established jurisdiction, found that there had been an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage, and reserved all outstanding issues for trial. The court scheduled an in-person trial for April 25th, 2024 at 8:30 a.m., ordered both parties to file trial briefs at least 10 days prior to trial, and directed attorney Bido to send a proposed judgment of divorce to Ms. Henderson by certified mail so she could review it and potentially consult with an attorney. The court also addressed the critical issue of Ms. Henderson's failure to respond to discovery requests, specifically interrogatories and requests for admissions that had been served on her with a response deadline that had already passed. Under MCR 2.312, if a party fails to respond to requests for admissions within 28 days of service, the matters are deemed admitted. This procedural consequence is automatic and can be devastating to a party's case at trial, as admitted facts cannot later be disputed. Similarly, under MCR 2.313, a party's failure to respond to interrogatories can result in sanctions, including the preclusion of evidence at trial. The court explicitly warned Ms. Henderson that if she does not timely respond to the outstanding discovery, she will be unable to raise the credit card debt issue at trial because the relevant facts will be deemed admitted against her. This case illustrates several important principles in Michigan divorce law. First, it demonstrates the consequences of a pro se litigant's failure to comply with procedural requirements. Ms. Henderson's failure to file an answer, failure to file a motion to set aside the default, and failure to respond to discovery requests have placed her in an increasingly precarious legal position that may severely limit her ability to present her case at trial. Second, the case highlights the court's obligation to balance patience with a self-represented litigant against the opposing party's right to a timely resolution. The court repeatedly encouraged Ms. Henderson to retain an attorney, review the proposed judgment, and comply with the court's orders, while simultaneously making clear that the trial date would not be adjourned.

[00:21:17]Third, the case demonstrates the practical importance of mediation in short-term marriages with limited assets. The disputed issues in this case, primarily a Cadillac, a truck, and some credit card debt, are precisely the type of matters that mediation is designed to resolve efficiently. The failure of mediation here, whether due to one party's unwillingness to participate or inability to engage in good faith, resulted in the unnecessary expenditure of judicial resources and will ultimately result in significantly higher costs for both parties when the matter proceeds to trial.