What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas
My wife moved out back in February, and in March we closed our joint checking. We also had an eSavings account that was in her name, but has me listed as a secondary. This eSavings account had nothing in it and was somehow overlooked and not closed. We each proceeded to open our own checking accounts with the same bank, and were able to keep our original online banking logins.
Our divorce was finalized in August. In September I took out a $10000 loan to make some home improvements, and after spending $8500 I transferred the remaining $1500 to the eSavings account. Because it's an eSavings account, no monthly statements are mailed and I was thinking it was an account that only I had access to. Well as soon as she saw the $1500 show up in this eSavings account, she went down to the bank, withdrew the money, and closed the account.
My question is this: Do I have a chance at recovering the money if I take her to small claims court? I can easily establish where the money originated, that it was from a loan to me, and was not part of the marital assets to be divided up.
In the divorce decree, the following paragraph is in the property to wife section, and my ex is using this as the basis for her decision to keep the money:
"All sums of cash in the possession of the wife or subject to her sole control, including funds on deposit, together with accrued but unpaid interest, in banks, savings institutions, or other financial institutions, which accounts stand in the wife’s sole name or from which the wife has the sole right to withdraw funds or which are subject to the wife’s sole control."
However, as I read it, she did not have SOLE control of the account, as it has both our names on it and I obviously had the ability to moved money to and from it.
My wife moved out back in February, and in March we closed our joint checking. We also had an eSavings account that was in her name, but has me listed as a secondary. This eSavings account had nothing in it and was somehow overlooked and not closed. We each proceeded to open our own checking accounts with the same bank, and were able to keep our original online banking logins.
Our divorce was finalized in August. In September I took out a $10000 loan to make some home improvements, and after spending $8500 I transferred the remaining $1500 to the eSavings account. Because it's an eSavings account, no monthly statements are mailed and I was thinking it was an account that only I had access to. Well as soon as she saw the $1500 show up in this eSavings account, she went down to the bank, withdrew the money, and closed the account.
My question is this: Do I have a chance at recovering the money if I take her to small claims court? I can easily establish where the money originated, that it was from a loan to me, and was not part of the marital assets to be divided up.
In the divorce decree, the following paragraph is in the property to wife section, and my ex is using this as the basis for her decision to keep the money:
"All sums of cash in the possession of the wife or subject to her sole control, including funds on deposit, together with accrued but unpaid interest, in banks, savings institutions, or other financial institutions, which accounts stand in the wife’s sole name or from which the wife has the sole right to withdraw funds or which are subject to the wife’s sole control."
However, as I read it, she did not have SOLE control of the account, as it has both our names on it and I obviously had the ability to moved money to and from it.