Divorce or annulment?

[shebthegirl]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Kansas

I have been married less than a year. My husband, prior to our marriage, assured me his finances were in order (he'd been less than responsible in his past). I even saw documents where he had paid off a loan, made his house payments, filed his current taxes, basically to calm my fears-and everything looked good. Now in the last few months I have found that he has not paid property tax on his house since 2002. And the IRS just this month started garnishing his wages (75%) for an amount he will not disclose to me. Finally he said he owes them something like $40,000 from prior years. I feel defrauded. Seems as tho he moved quite a bit, and never had his mail forwarded, to avoid being caught.

Now I am trying to find a job, but they are scarce. I was taking prereq courses for Respiratory Therapy, which I was to attend in the fall. But now this happened, and I know schooling is out of the question. I need to get a job to support myself. I realize also that even if I got temporary support, he would just run. Also, I recently discovered, thru a conversation I had with him, that at one time he had 7 felony charges against him for a domestic at his ex's. He claims they were reduced to misdemeanors, but there was physical violence and damage to property. He has a temper whenever I disagree with him about anything, so I've been very careful to just agree to whatever he says. Should I get a restraining order? The home we live in belongs to my elderly parents-it's right next door to them, so I can care for them. We pay no rent (upkeep on the property and my caring for my parents is, basically, rent) Can I have the locks changed? He works out of state, and his employer furnishes an apartment for him there, so he has a place to live.
Do I file for divorce, or try for an annulment based on fraud? I have always done without in order to keep a good credit score-the stress of his constant (past) financial irresponsiblities, and trying to keep him from getting US into debt is unbelievable. He brought over $75,000 worth of negative debt into this marriage, all without my knowledge. I did not marry this man for money-I knew he was not well off. But I had absolutely no idea that marrying him would be financial ruin. All this debt, and his comment to me on his last day off, was he "wished his boss would lay him off so he could collect unemployment!"

[thedoctorisin]

Legally, it is easier to get a divorce than an annulment. And there is no legal benefit to having an annulment instead of a divorce.

If you are Catholic, there is no religious benefit to having an annulment instead of a divorce. Either way, you will still need a separate Catholic annulment.

[mistoffolees]

Originally Posted by thedoctorisin

Legally, it is easier to get a divorce than an annulment. And there is no legal benefit to having an annulment instead of a divorce.

While I agree that an annulment is unlikely in this case, there are some differences in things like property settlement and alimony (where applicable).

If she got an annulment she might be able to claim she had no responsibility for any 'marital' debts solely in his name, for example. Tax cases are probably tougher. If she filed 2007 taxes with him, by filing as married, she is taking on some involvement in his finances, so we'll have to wait for Ldij to say whether an annulment would clear her of the tax problems. It sounds like that won't be an issue from the timing, though. In any event, she should file for 2008 as Married filing singly.

In this case, since the debt was his BEFORE the marriage, it shouldn't count as marital debt and she should not be responsible. She will simply be responsible for half of any marital debt.

In any event, that's a moot point since she's not going to get an annulment because he owes taxes.

As for the restraining order, she's out of luck. You can not get a restraining order because your husband hit a previous wife. If he threatens or harms her, then she can see about a restraining order, but until then, she should consider other options (such as moving out).

She can change the locks, but he can change them right back, so there's probably no point - particularly since there's nothing there that suggests that he's a danger to her. However, since the home belongs to your parents, it should be fairly straightforward for you to request possession of the home when you file for divorce - and it will be granted.

[LdiJ]

Originally Posted by mistoffolees

While I agree that an annulment is unlikely in this case, there are some differences in things like property settlement and alimony (where applicable).

If she got an annulment she might be able to claim she had no responsibility for any 'marital' debts solely in his name, for example. Tax cases are probably tougher. If she filed 2007 taxes with him, by filing as married, she is taking on some involvement in his finances, so we'll have to wait for Ldij to say whether an annulment would clear her of the tax problems. It sounds like that won't be an issue from the timing, though. In any event, she should file for 2008 as Married filing singly.

She has no responsibility, of any kind, for any tax year that she did not file a joint return with him. So, if 2007, or 2008 were clean, with no balances due and no potential fraud then she doesn't have anything to worry about tax wise. His past issues are his past issues.

If there are any issues for 2007 or 2008 (balances due or potential fraud) then neither a divorce or annulment will absolve her.

In this case, since the debt was his BEFORE the marriage, it shouldn't count as marital debt and she should not be responsible. She will simply be responsible for half of any marital debt.

In any event, that's a moot point since she's not going to get an annulment because he owes taxes.

As for the restraining order, she's out of luck. You can not get a restraining order because your husband hit a previous wife. If he threatens or harms her, then she can see about a restraining order, but until then, she should consider other options (such as moving out).

She can change the locks, but he can change them right back, so there's probably no point - particularly since there's nothing there that suggests that he's a danger to her. However, since the home belongs to your parents, it should be fairly straightforward for you to request possession of the home when you file for divorce - and it will be granted.

She is going to have to file for divorce and ask for sole possession of the marital home.

Since he has a place to live, where he works, odds are that he won't fight leaving the marital home, as long as there is no problem with him getting his personal property.

[shebthegirl]

Thank you all for the information. You've been very helpful.

[mistoffolees]

Originally Posted by LdiJ

She has no responsibility, of any kind, for any tax year that she did not file a joint return with him. So, if 2007, or 2008 were clean, with no balances due and no potential fraud then she doesn't have anything to worry about tax wise. His past issues are his past issues.

If there are any issues for 2007 or 2008 (balances due or potential fraud) then neither a divorce or annulment will absolve her.

The first part I knew. The last sentence answers the remaining question I had.

Since he apparently handled the finances, does she have any protection as innocent spouse if she signed a joint return in 2007 or 08?

[shebthegirl]

I actually married him in 2008; our astute tax preparer had me sign an "injured spouse" form when she filed our taxes, as his unfiled returns came up when we took our information in for her to prepare the 2008 returns.

The tax garnishment is from years prior to 2007-I know he filed a 2007 return. He claims- in a conversation with the the tax preparer-to not know what years he did not file in, or what years he owes for. All I know is they are prior to 2007.

Also, his house (he had years prior to marrying me and rents out) is going up for tax sale in April. He owes over $5,000 back taxes on the house. The house is worth maybe $20,000, but the loan he has against it is closer to $60,000! He uses the rent payment to make the loan payment, but has not paid taxes on this property since 2002.

I can say that it has been an ongoing financial nitemare ever since I married him. He presented to me that all financial issues he had were cleared up prior to my marrying him-because, tho I've been living at little over poverty level for years, I've always met my obligations and have an excellent credit rating.

Since the marriage, he has been sued for a bill from 5 years prior (which we paid), then this tax mess on his house came up (which is still sitting out there-that's up to him to clear up-IMHO), then the mess with the IRS.

I have contacted legal aide to hopefully find an attorney who can help me with this mess. But things are moving slowly (waiting for a call back) and my greatest fear is that he will continue to spend, spend, spend and rack up even more debt-while we are married.

Meanwhile, I continue to search for employment, which is difficult living in a small town in todays economy.