recovery of assets in abusive marriage

[Sw3tflower]

Calif
I am meeting with a Family Law attorney next week to discuss my finances and divorce.
My husband has been financially controling and abusive during our 27 year marriage. He started an LLC using all our home equity, retirement funds and college funds without my knowledge. He stopped paying for my health insurance. I am totally dependent on him. We have no shared checking or saving accounts (my account has $1), no shared credit cards (I have no credit cards, he has at least 6) He does not give me any money. He has deposited many checks made out to both of us into his personal account without my signature. I had a personal CD (I started before we got married) I had planned to use for my retirement. It is gone, having been used for food, personal expenses and helping my daughter get through college.
Am I entitled to get back any of that money? If so, should I bring proof of this financial abuse to the meeting? Or does abuse and control of finances not enter into the divorce (except as a reason for getting one).
Can I ask for support?
Since an LLC is involved, can I get the money he used to buy and support the LLC back since that money was community property (equity, pension plan etc)?
ThankyouWhat is the name of your state?

 

[LdiJ]

Calif
I am meeting with a Family Law attorney next week to discuss my finances and divorce.
My husband has been financially controling and abusive during our 27 year marriage. He started an LLC using all our home equity, retirement funds and college funds without my knowledge. He stopped paying for my health insurance. I am totally dependent on him. We have no shared checking or saving accounts (my account has $1), no shared credit cards (I have no credit cards, he has at least 6) He does not give me any money. He has deposited many checks made out to both of us into his personal account without my signature. I had a personal CD (I started before we got married) I had planned to use for my retirement. It is gone, having been used for food, personal expenses and helping my daughter get through college.
Am I entitled to get back any of that money? If so, should I bring proof of this financial abuse to the meeting? Or does abuse and control of finances not enter into the divorce (except as a reason for getting one).
Can I ask for support?
Since an LLC is involved, can I get the money he used to buy and support the LLC back since that money was community property (equity, pension plan etc)?
ThankyouWhat is the name of your state?

CA is a community property state. Therefore you are entitled to 1/2 of the marital assets, and are responsible for 1/2 of the marital debt.

Your biggest problem however, is that it sounds like the business has sucked in all of the marital assets, without producing any significant financial results. This is sadly, not uncommon.

You would be entitled to 1/2 of the value of his share of the LLC. However, if the LLC has sucked in money, without producing results, 1/2 of its value may be zero.

On top of that....and I am sorry to scare you, but since you have been kept in the dark so much about finances, its possible that there are some huge unpaid tax liabilities out there as well. If you signed joint tax returns, you are equally liable for any unpaid tax.

So...here is my advice. Contact the IRS and ask for account transcripts for the years that the LLC has been in existence. DO NOT sign any tax returns that your husband asks you to sign without taking a copy of them to a tax professional for advice.

You also need an attorney, so you need to call on family to help you hire one.

However the most important thing is that you need a job...any job that will bring in an income for you.

 

[Sw3tflower]

thankyou

thankyou for your advice.
The attorney has offered his services after being approached by a Domestic Violence group.
I called the IRS and was granted 'Innocent Spouse' for unpaid 2006 personal taxes which he still owes.
I am calling them again tomorrow to request the LLC transcripts.
And yes....he has huge tax problems for unpaid payroll taxes (2002-2006). They involve his corporation. Can I get transcripts for that too?

 

[EvilEmpryss]

I may be way off base on this, but I would think there may be some liability on the bank's part for accepting two-party checks with only one signature into an account that did not have both your names on it.

My mother was a banker, so her work experience and my customer experience both agree on this. I have never been able to deposit a check made out to me and my husband into my personal checking account without the bank insisting I get my husband's signature on the check - and usually the deposit slip as well to prove he knows where it's going!

So, if your husband wasn't just forging your name on the check, you may want to bring this up to your attorney. A judgment against a bank could provide a nice buffer for your new life.

 

[Bali Hai]

I may be way off base on this, but I would think there may be some liability on the bank's part for accepting two-party checks with only one signature into an account that did not have both your names on it.

My mother was a banker, so her work experience and my customer experience both agree on this. I have never been able to deposit a check made out to me and my husband into my personal checking account without the bank insisting I get my husband's signature on the check - and usually the deposit slip as well to prove he knows where it's going!

So, if your husband wasn't just forging your name on the check, you may want to bring this up to your attorney. A judgment against a bank could provide a nice buffer for your new life.

Her new life won't mean jack until she GETS a life!!

I suggest you stop advising people to take the EASY way out!!! WHY??? Because there ISN'T an easy way out!!!

 

[LdiJ]

thankyou for your advice.
The attorney has offered his services after being approached by a Domestic Violence group.
I called the IRS and was granted 'Innocent Spouse' for unpaid 2006 personal taxes which he still owes.
I am calling them again tomorrow to request the LLC transcripts.
And yes....he has huge tax problems for unpaid payroll taxes (2002-2006). They involve his corporation. Can I get transcripts for that too?

I was talking about transcripts for personal joint returns.

Unless you are a member of the LLC the IRS won't give you any transcripts regarding the LLC, nor would you be liable for any of the LLC's tax issues.