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Wording and missing information

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gtstylee

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NJ.
Hi, I filed for divorce, and represented myself. My wife hired an attorney. The original divorce complaint specified that she was not entitled to any alimony, share of inheritance, future monies etc.

We sat down and came to an agreement, regarding child custody, child support, visitation etc (based on a previous Child Support case she had filed against me).

Problem is, I just got back the proposed divorce decree (under 5 day rule) but it does not mention the NO ALIMONY part, or anything about the distribution of property (we have none). Also it has this wording at the bottom

ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that all issues pleaded and not resolved herein are hereby deemed abandoned; ....​

What does that mean? And do I have to have it specifically say NO ALIMONY, NO PROPERTY distribution?

Thanks
 


mistoffolees

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NJ.
Hi, I filed for divorce, and represented myself. My wife hired an attorney. The original divorce complaint specified that she was not entitled to any alimony, share of inheritance, future monies etc.

We sat down and came to an agreement, regarding child custody, child support, visitation etc (based on a previous Child Support case she had filed against me).

Problem is, I just got back the proposed divorce decree (under 5 day rule) but it does not mention the NO ALIMONY part, or anything about the distribution of property (we have none). Also it has this wording at the bottom

ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that all issues pleaded and not resolved herein are hereby deemed abandoned; ....​

What does that mean? And do I have to have it specifically say NO ALIMONY, NO PROPERTY distribution?

Thanks
Alimony shouldn't be an issue. If it's not ordered, then it doesn't exist. Since the original decree specified that there was to be no alimony, it should be covered under the 'pleaded but not resolved' clause, anyway.

Property may be another matter. There must be SOME joint property that is being split in some way. Checking accounts, etc, perhaps? Maybe a car or two? If there truly is no property, then there's no reason for the agreement to mention it. If there's anything at all, the agreement should specify how it is being split. The fact that you mention share of inheritance and future moneys implies that there IS property to be concerned about.

Personally, I like to have everything spelled out because it helps to reduce the number of problems that pop up every day on this board. Whether you really need to get it into the agreement should probably be discussed with an attorney. It will only cost you a couple hundred dollars to have an attorney review the final agreement, so it's probably worthwhile if you have inheritance and other moneys at stake.
 
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gtstylee

Junior Member
Joint property split long ago

Hi,
Thanks for such a quick reply! We were separated since Sept. 2006, so all joint checking accounts and such have been scrappd long ago. Our name is not on ANYTHING whatsoever at this point, the last thing being an insurance policy that was recently cancelled. We are both required to "obtain and maintain" life insurance for the two kids. She has her own vehicle bought under her name alone after we separated. I have no vehicle!

At this stage I have no inheritance coming to me that I know of! And no monies. Just want to be cautious, just in case I came into some money (win the lottery or some other once-in-a-lifetime event). Right now I have barely the clothes on my back, vehicle repossesed and child support payments to make. One dollar less and I am destitute!

Thanks
 

HomeGuru

Senior Member
Hi,
Thanks for such a quick reply! We were separated since Sept. 2006, so all joint checking accounts and such have been scrappd long ago. Our name is not on ANYTHING whatsoever at this point, the last thing being an insurance policy that was recently cancelled. We are both required to "obtain and maintain" life insurance for the two kids. She has her own vehicle bought under her name alone after we separated. I have no vehicle!

At this stage I have no inheritance coming to me that I know of! And no monies. Just want to be cautious, just in case I came into some money (win the lottery or some other once-in-a-lifetime event). Right now I have barely the clothes on my back, vehicle repossesed and child support payments to make. One dollar less and I am destitute!

Thanks
**A: do you have 2 jobs?
 

mistoffolees

Senior Member
At this stage I have no inheritance coming to me that I know of! And no monies. Just want to be cautious, just in case I came into some money (win the lottery or some other once-in-a-lifetime event). Right now I have barely the clothes on my back, vehicle repossesed and child support payments to make. One dollar less and I am destitute!

Thanks
If you have nothing coming to you that you know of, then it's irrelevant whether your agreement says anything about it or not. Once you are divorced, she has no rights to any inheritance you might receive in the future nor any rights to any lottery winnings, so there's no reason to state in your divorce papers that she doesn't get any share of money that you might receive in the future.

The only exception would be money which was actually earned during your marriage. For example, let's say you bought 1,000 shares of stock xyz which went to $0.00001 - essentially worthless at the time of the divorce. Then, in 2015, it is discovered that the land owned by company xyz sits on a million ounces of easily recovered gold and the stock jumps to thousands of dollars per share. Your ex would be entitled to her share of that. Or, say the government sends you a letter next year saying they audited your tax return and you overpaid. Your ex would also get part of that. However, those situations aren't very common or likely, nor would it be worth addressing them in the decree since it would all be speculation and the rules on dividing that type of windfall are reasonably clear, anyway.
 

gtstylee

Junior Member
Thank you so much! This make a lot of sense and makes me feel a lot better!

Thanks you and it is MUCH appreciated.
 

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