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Is he documenting something to start divorce with deposits to bank account? Scared.

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Karen_S

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Washington State

Hello,

I have a question about strange deposits to our joint checking account.

We have been separated for a year, and my husband filed for divorce 6 months ago. I am distraught by what is going on, and my parents asked that he postpone the divorce process due to my mental state. He seemingly agreed, and did not file for a date in the court's calender.

In the divorce papers, amongst the list of our normal bank accounts, was a new bank account he had opened. It is at "ING", and I believe there is no money in it. This was done immediately after he got counsel about how to file for divorce, so I know it was done at the advice of a lawyer. However, I do not know why he was advised to have a personal account that he was to reveal in the divorce documents. As I mentioned, this was six months ago.

We still have a joint account that has not been closed, has no funds in it, and which is not used. Last week I noticed two deposits to it, and inquired with the bank about what they were. One was a check to my husband made out for $1.10 from "ING", with the notation that it was upon the closing of the account. The other was a $14.32 check from Garden City Group, who does legal notice services, and so I assume it is the company that served me the divorce papers. The checks were dated 8/9/07 and 8/10/07.

Both of these checks seem very suspicious to me, and I am worried that it means he is preparing to restart divorce proceedings.

The reason I am concerned is it seems very strange, and I know that he wouldn't be doing this unless there was a specific reason. Here are the questions that concern me:

1) Why did he get an individual account just to list it in the divorce papers?
2) Why did he then close this individual account, and why did he put the small $1.10 funds in OUR joint account? He has not used our joint account since he filed for divorce, and the only reason I can imagine he is doing this is to document something related to divorce proceedings.
3) Why did he get a check back from the company who served the papers (though I am not positive it is them), and why would he again deposit it in OUR joint account?
4) Why are the checks dated a day apart - it seems that is too coincidental to not mean something was being done on purpose.
5) Why is he depositing them now, versus in August when he received them. Is it an indicator that he chose not to do it in August because I was too distraught (although I still am), but now he has decided that he is not going to wait any longer? Is it an indicator that he is indeed starting the proceedings back up, because he needs to have these deposits or documentations made in order to proceed?
6) What is being accomplished or documented by his depositing these checks in our joint account? There has to be a specific reason he is being told to do this, as he had chosen not to interact with our accounts prior to this.

Thank you so much for your thoughts and advice. Emotionally, I am much worse than I was at the time that he filed, so I need to be aware if he is going to again surprise me with divorce proceedings.

Very gratefully,

-- Karen
 


msiron

Member
Karen, Let him go. It's obvious he does not want to be with you. You have to deal with it and move forward in life, only then can you start to heal and move on. You have had a year to get a grip on this. It is not the end of the world.

As far as the accounts, it doesn't matter why, just be glad he wasn't wiping out thousands and trying to hide anything.

You'll do fine in life.
 

Karen_S

Junior Member
Hi,

I am not asking if he wants a divorce, I am simply asking what he is doing legally. If he is doing something to restart the divorce, it is in my best interest emotionally to know.

My emotional state is very fragile, and I am dealing with a physical ailment, and there is a lot you don't know. I need to be equipped to deal with the proceedings if that is what is happening. My question is about the two deposits, and what he is trying to document legally by making the deposits to our joint account, versus just putting the money in his own personal account.

I can only make myself stronger with knowledge, which is what I am trying to do.

Thanks so much for any advice and thoughts about the specific deposits.

-- Karen
 

fairisfair

Senior Member
maybe he just forgot about the checks.

For crying out loud, you are talking about less than $16 after all. Maybe he found them and realized that soon they would be stale dated so he stuck them in the bank.

I doubt that he is up to any serious espionage with $15.42.
 

Karen_S

Junior Member
Hi,

I'm not sure you are reading my post right. I am not concerned about the money; after all, it is a pittance and it isn't even mine; and my post is not about his taking anything - he deposited it. My only concern is why is he depositing these two divorce-related checks in our joint account, which has had no activity, instead of in his private account. My other concern is why was he advised to open up an individual account, not do anything with it, list it in the divorce papers, close it, and deposit the $1.10 funds in it into our joint account. It is quite clear that he is documenting something, and that this is something that has legal benefits, and so I would like to know.

These are honest, straight-forward legal questions, and I am only trying to educate myself. Please bring your focus away from the tangent issue that I didn't want the divorce -- that is of no consequence. What is at issue is I am trying to decipher why his lawyer has told him to do these things, and what it means.

With regard to his forgetting about the checks and simply cashing them now, that would be understandable, but if that were the case he would be depositing them into his own account, and not into *our* account, which has had no activity and which he does not use. Perhaps the significant point that is being overlooked is he is being advised to put them into *our* joint account. Beyond that, he was advised to open and close an account so that he could then put the small funds from it in our joint account. This is extremely unusual and I would like to know the basis for his actions.

The original questions were:
1) Why was he counseled to get an individual account and list it in the divorce papers?
2) Why was he counseled to now close this individual account, and why was he counseled to put the small $1.10 funds in OUR joint account? He has not used our joint account since he filed for divorce, and the only reason he would be doing this is to document something related to divorce proceedings.
3) Why would he get a check back from the company who served the papers (though I am not positive it is them), and why would he again purposefully deposit it in OUR empty joint account?
4) What is being accomplished or documented by his depositing these checks in our joint account? There has to be a specific reason he is being told to do this, as he had chosen not to interact with our accounts prior to this.

Thank you again for any advice related to the two check deposits.

-- Karen
 

>Charlotte<

Lurker
The original questions were:
1) Why was he counseled to get an individual account and list it in the divorce papers?
2) Why was he counseled to now close this individual account, and why was he counseled to put the small $1.10 funds in OUR joint account? He has not used our joint account since he filed for divorce, and the only reason he would be doing this is to document something related to divorce proceedings.
3) Why would he get a check back from the company who served the papers (though I am not positive it is them), and why would he again purposefully deposit it in OUR empty joint account?
4) What is being accomplished or documented by his depositing these checks in our joint account? There has to be a specific reason he is being told to do this, as he had chosen not to interact with our accounts prior to this.
How could anybody possibly know the answers to any of these questions? As has already been stated, we can't read his mind. We have no way of knowing why he's doing these things.
 

las365

Senior Member
You seem to be assuming that his actions are part of a standard divorce strategy that attorneys tell their clients to pursue. Apparently it is not, or else the people who post here aren't in on the secret.

It seems doubtful that depositing these small sums is part of a scheme of any kind.

To get answers to questions about your personal financial situation relative to your impending divorce, you need to get your own attorney and discuss the details of you and your husband's community property and finances, what you are entitled to, and how to go about trying to make sure that you get it.
 

Karen_S

Junior Member
Hi,

I will clarify. I am not asking what his motivation is. He is following legal advice. I am asking, specifically, what the legal advice is that he is following in terms of his documenting these things with deposits to our joint bank account, versus his private account. I am also asking what advice lawyers give that would entail the opening of an individual account for the soul purpose of listing it in the divorce papers, not doing anything with it, closing it, and depositing the $1.10 funds in it into a joint account from the marriage.

My only question is about the legal advice he is following.

Thank you again,

-- Karen
 
Karen, if you think he's up to something, he probably is. What I don't know because I'm not an attorney. I wish you could get more help from people on this board, but I guess they don't know either.

That said, I agree with msiron. He wants it to be over. Don't ask your parents to try and stall the divorce again. Let him go. You'll be happy again, just probably not with him.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
Hi,

I will clarify. I am not asking what his motivation is. He is following legal advice. I am asking, specifically, what the legal advice is that he is following in terms of his documenting these things with deposits to our joint bank account, versus his private account. I am also asking what advice lawyers give that would entail the opening of an individual account for the soul purpose of listing it in the divorce papers, not doing anything with it, closing it, and depositing the $1.10 funds in it into a joint account from the marriage.

My only question is about the legal advice he is following.

Thank you again,

-- Karen
Karen, it is standard for someone to open their own account once they file for divorce.

My gut reaction to what is happening here is rather simple. He wasn't using his own account for some reason, and his initial deposit was being eaten up in service charges so he decided to close it.

He deposited the pittance in your joint account, possibly because again, service charges had caused it to go into the negative or were about to cause it to go into the negative.

If you aren't using the joint account you really need to close it. If it goes into the negative its simply going to be expensive for both of you.
 

Karen_S

Junior Member
Thank you for your note, sotiredofit.

I do know he is doing something specific, and that he would not do anything without finding out the proper legal way of doing it first.

I appreciate your kind thoughts in recognizing that something is happening.

I understand that there is nothing I can do to prevent the divorce, but I also know that because I am having a difficult time with it, and am also dealing with a difficult physical ailment at the same time, the best way for be to become strong enough to deal with everything at once is to educate myself about what will be happening through the proceedings. To allay the fear, I need to feel like I am going to be surprised by as little as possible. So thank you so much for confirming my need to recognize what might be happening.

Happy day,

-- Karen
 

Karen_S

Junior Member
Karen, it is standard for someone to open their own account once they file for divorce.

My gut reaction to what is happening here is rather simple. He wasn't using his own account for some reason, and his initial deposit was being eaten up in service charges so he decided to close it.

He deposited the pittance in your joint account, possibly because again, service charges had caused it to go into the negative or were about to cause it to go into the negative.

If you aren't using the joint account you really need to close it. If it goes into the negative its simply going to be expensive for both of you.

Hi LdiJ --

Thank you for your thoughts. In our case, he has other individual accounts which are fully funded, and his income is such that there is no risk of his going into the negative or of his needing to close an account. His personal accounts are active accounts and he had no need to open another. When he opened it, he purposefully opened it using the information from our married life (i.e., his old email address, versus his new email address, etc.), and the opening of it was specifically under the advice of his legal counsel. He was also given counsel to list it in the divorce papers. All of this seems very unusual to me, and so that is why I was inquiring.

Another point would be that it IS such a pittance, and he would normally just cash the small checks and use it for pocket money. The fact that he purposefully deposited it, instead of cashing it, is significant. Added on to the fact that he deposited it into our joint account and not into his personal account, it seems to amount to something done with a specific purpose in mind.

Thank you for your concern about the cost of our joint account still existing. It has been changed to an account with no fees, so that we don't risk eating up money for no reason. It is very kind of you to point it out, as so many things can fall between the cracks during a separation and divorce, and go unnoticed for a long time.

Thank you again, and happy day,

-- Karen
 
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