Virginia
Currently in same residence with my husband. Can I legally move with the children to another town? It is 60 miles from our home in Richmond. We moved to Richmond one year ago. Need to separate but can not afford to move to apartment in Richmond. Also children's and my good friends (strong support systems) are in Newport News. Husband would oppose this. What is my legal right to access to money in the joint accounts?
You can move, but stbx can then ask the court to order the children returned - which would put you at a HUGE disadvantage in the permanent custody decision.
Realistically, you have two options:
1. Stay in Richmond - even if you have to move to a smaller apartment and/or borrow money from family and friends.
2. Reach agreement with husband allowing you to take the children out of state - and give it to the court to get a court order on temporary custody.
Since husband opposes #2, you're stuck with #1.
Legally, the joint marital accounts are 1/2 yours. However, in most states, when one party files for divorce, a default order goes into effect which prohibits you from squandering marital assets. Normally, necessary living expenses and legal expenses can be paid from marital accounts. There can be some question about what constitutes 'necessary', though.
Another approach is for the two of you to reach an agreement stating that, pending a court determination on property split, you will each take 1/2 of the money in a given marital account. I would not do that with ALL accounts, though. Technically, you would need the court to approve it and it might not be a bad idea to include that in the filing for temporary orders, as well, but in practice, if there is a written document stating that you're each going to take 1/2 of a given account, few judges would make a big deal out of it.
