How to Protect Spouse Assets in FL

[newwifefl]

pWhat is the name of your state? FL

Hi All,

I am a fairly new wife (married 2 yrs) with a husband who has an ex with a very aggressive lawyer. There is a court issue coming up in a few months. Almost every time there is a court issue he gets stuck with his ex's attorney fees, Primarily because his ex doesn't work and gets whatever she asks for. Last time they had a court issue he happened to be in the process of selling his home. His ex's attorney liened his house just before the sale for the atty's fees. Now he lives in the home I've owned for many years before I met him. If this happens again, can his attorney lien my house because it is our marital homestead? My husband is not on the mortgage or title. He basically has no assets of his own right now. We don't have joint accounts/debt and we file taxes married filing separately?

If so is there anyway to stop it?

 

[Ohiogal]

KEEP everything separate like you are and the attorney cannot lien YOUR property.

 

[Gracie3787]

Ditto what Ohiogal posted.

Also, unless your husband is in arrears, unemployed or proven to be underemployed, your income cannot even be legally brought up in court. You might need to produce proof though that the property was yours before the marriage, but that really isn't a big deal.

 

[nextwife]

Another recommendation: Get your own seperate, supplimental insurance policies on each other. Especially if you and he plan to have kids, but even if not, because of liability for marital debt, or medical costs he may incur that his ex will not have

 

[newwifefl]

Thank you all very much for your replies.

However, some of your comments, especially Gracies made me even more concerned. The husband my company has worked for over the last 9 yrs is being sold and his division is being discontinued. There is a very good chance he will lose his job in the next few months. And it will take some time for him to find another and it will likely not be as high of salary to start.

So in FL is there a chance they can look at my income for his child support. I cannot even begin to think of the fury that would cause me I had to in essence pay his child support. And if when he finds another job, his income is lower, do they use his new lower income or the old higher income. How do I avoid them looking at my income?

Someone mentioned getting supplemental insurance to cover debts/medical etc...what are you referring to exactly. Meaning if the kids were to incur significant medical expenses we would need supplemental medical insurance coverage to cover potential medical costs so we are not out of pocket for them?

I am very interested in knowing what else I should do to protect myself. I am very independent and have worked very hard to have what I have. And to have it taken away by his ex-wife would just be unthinkable.

 

[SingleMom67]

Is your husband using an attorney for these proceedings? If not, he should be. If he is, he needs a better one. Just because ex isn't working isn't grounds for your husband to consistently pay her attorney fees.

 

[LdiJ]

Thank you all very much for your replies.

However, some of your comments, especially Gracies made me even more concerned. The husband my company has worked for over the last 9 yrs is being sold and his division is being discontinued. There is a very good chance he will lose his job in the next few months. And it will take some time for him to find another and it will likely not be as high of salary to start.

So in FL is there a chance they can look at my income for his child support. I cannot even begin to think of the fury that would cause me I had to in essence pay his child support. And if when he finds another job, his income is lower, do they use his new lower income or the old higher income. How do I avoid them looking at my income?

Someone mentioned getting supplemental insurance to cover debts/medical etc...what are you referring to exactly. Meaning if the kids were to incur significant medical expenses we would need supplemental medical insurance coverage to cover potential medical costs so we are not out of pocket for them?

I am very interested in knowing what else I should do to protect myself. I am very independent and have worked very hard to have what I have. And to have it taken away by his ex-wife would just be unthinkable.

You misunderstood Gracie. As long as he pays his child support, even while unemployed, no one will ask any questions regarding your income.

However, if he files a motion to reduce his child support because he is unemployed, and if the court determines that his unemployment is voluntary or willful, then the court will want to impute an income to him. The court MAY want to look at your income in order to decide how much income to impute to him.

That does not make you personally responsible for paying his child support.

I will add one thing. If you think that there will ever come a time when he won't pay his child support....then it would be wise for you to keep separate bank accounts. (if you are not already doing that). Liens can be put against joint bank accounts when one of the parties has child support arrearages.

 

[nextwife]

You misunderstood Gracie. As long as he pays his child support, even while unemployed, no one will ask any questions regarding your income.

However, if he files a motion to reduce his child support because he is unemployed, and if the court determines that his unemployment is voluntary or willful, then the court will want to impute an income to him. The court MAY want to look at your income in order to decide how much income to impute to him.

That does not make you personally responsible for paying his child support.

I will add one thing. If you think that there will ever come a time when he won't pay his child support....then it would be wise for you to keep separate bank accounts. (if you are not already doing that). Liens can be put against joint bank accounts when one of the parties has child support arrearages.

It is always and forever wise to have your own accounts.

Since you CANNOT know if he might have a sudden unexpected circumstance that would prevent him paying CS, just keep everything seperate and away from him and do NOT co-mingle accounts. You cannot KNOW that there will never come a time, any more than, if he had no prior kids, and you and he were the ones with kids together, you can KNOW he wouldn't suddenly get sick or disabled and unable to contribute financially.

If you have significant assets, talk to an estate planning attorney about whether creating a trust and moving certain assets into the trust makes sense. That way, income your trust generates isn't yours, it is the trusts. Of course, income that the trust pays you is tours.

 

[LdiJ]

[/B]

It is always and forever wise to have your own accounts.

Since you CANNOT know if he might have a sudden unexpected circumstance that would prevent him paying CS, just keep everything seperate and away from him and do NOT co-mingle accounts. You cannot KNOW that there will never come a time, any more than, if he had no prior kids, and you and he were the ones with kids together, you can KNOW he wouldn't suddenly get sick or disabled and unable to contribute financially.

If you have significant assets, talk to an estate planning attorney about whether creating a trust and moving certain assets into the trust makes sense. That way, income your trust generates isn't yours, it is the trusts. Of course, income that the trust pays you is tours.

That's a bad idea tax-wise. If its a revocable trust the income remains hers (pass through) and if its a non-revocable trust the income tax rates are much higher than individual income tax rates.

 

[Gracie3787]

Thank you all very much for your replies.

However, some of your comments, especially Gracies made me even more concerned. The husband my company has worked for over the last 9 yrs is being sold and his division is being discontinued. There is a very good chance he will lose his job in the next few months. And it will take some time for him to find another and it will likely not be as high of salary to start.

So in FL is there a chance they can look at my income for his child support. I cannot even begin to think of the fury that would cause me I had to in essence pay his child support. And if when he finds another job, his income is lower, do they use his new lower income or the old higher income. How do I avoid them looking at my income?

Someone mentioned getting supplemental insurance to cover debts/medical etc...what are you referring to exactly. Meaning if the kids were to incur significant medical expenses we would need supplemental medical insurance coverage to cover potential medical costs so we are not out of pocket for them?

I am very interested in knowing what else I should do to protect myself. I am very independent and have worked very hard to have what I have. And to have it taken away by his ex-wife would just be unthinkable.

Will your husband be able to have anything in writing from his employer explaining the exact reasons for his job loss? He needs to try to get it in writing, he can take that into court to prove that the job loss was completely involuntary. When he does begin looking for another job, he'll need to keep a very detailed log of all jobs applied for. Come to think of it, he'll have to do that anyway for unemployment benefits.

As long as he can prove that the loss was involuntary, and he is doing a very thorough job search, the court *shouldn't* be able to bring your income up. However, I agree with another poster in that if at all possible, your husband will need an attorney because it can make a difference if he ends up with a Judge/hearing officer who ignores the laws.

Also, who filed for the modification, and what is the change of circumstances being used?
If his ex filed with aa questionable change of circumstances, he might not have to pay her attorney's fees and might be able to request that SHE pay his fees, but that depnds on who filed and why.

 

[MrsK]

Will your husband be able to have anything in writing from his employer explaining the exact reasons for his job loss? He needs to try to get it in writing, he can take that into court to prove that the job loss was completely involuntary. When he does begin looking for another job, he'll need to keep a very detailed log of all jobs applied for. Come to think of it, he'll have to do that anyway for unemployment benefits.

As long as he can prove that the loss was involuntary, and he is doing a very thorough job search, the court *shouldn't* be able to bring your income up. However, I agree with another poster in that if at all possible, your husband will need an attorney because it can make a difference if he ends up with a Judge/hearing officer who ignores the laws.

Also, who filed for the modification, and what is the change of circumstances being used?
If his ex filed with aa questionable change of circumstances, he might not have to pay her attorney's fees and might be able to request that SHE pay his fees, but that depnds on who filed and why.

This.

Furthermore, if his job loss is involuntary, and he can not get a job with equal salary, he COULD be entitled to a reduction since it isnt his fault he is losing his job.