Leasing a Vehicle

[buster2209]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Pa

I am currently getting a divorce and, as a result, I have no car.

This could end up going to court to divvy up the assets so I have a question..

I need a car so want to go buy one. If I do this, wont my wife be entitled to half of what's it worth seeing as we are still technically married?

Also, if I lease a car isn't that classed as an liability and not an an asset thus she can't legally take it?

Also, she has a car that she bought before we were married yet finished paying it off after we were married. Am I entitled to half of it?

 

[mistoffolees]

First, if you buy a car with a loan, it won't have any equity at the time of your divorce, so it probably won't matter much.

In any event, the way it works is that the person who keeps the vehicle gets the debt on the vehicle. Similarly, the person who takes a leased vehicle would be responsible for the payments. (if someone else signed the papers, they are responsible to the bank, but the person who keeps the vehicle must make them whole).

If you buy a vehicle outright, it also doesn't change anything. If you have the assets to buy the vehicle, you're simply trading one asset for another. If the asset is marital, it would have been split, so you'd split the value if the vehicle. If the asset is separate, then the vehicle would be separate.

Leasing a vehicle is probably safest, but in the end, it won't matter.

 

[ecmst12]

If she used marital funds to pay off the car, and you were married for a significant amount of the time when she was paying it off, you may be entitled to a few dollars, probably not anything worth arguing over. It would only be a percentage of the actual value now, which is probably a lot less than you think it is. Unless she added your name to the title, the car is hers and she will be allowed to keep it.

Buying a car is not like buying a house, but it would still probably be safer to lease it. She won't be ordered to make any payments for it of course.

 

[buster2209]

Then onto my next question....

Would money I have earned at my job be counted as a marital asset?

 

[LdiJ]

Then onto my next question....

Would money I have earned at my job be counted as a marital asset?

If it was earned during the marriage, yes.

 

[mistoffolees]

If it was earned during the marriage, yes.

If it was earned during the marriage AND before filing for divorce.

 

[buster2209]

Onto my next question then....

Assuming no out of court settlement can be made, what is the procedure for the discovery of assets?

Also, say I purchase a vehicle whilst we are married on credit, will she then be entitled to half of it once it is paid off even though we will be divorced by then?

 

[mistoffolees]

Onto my next question then....

Assuming no out of court settlement can be made, what is the procedure for the discovery of assets?

Also, say I purchase a vehicle whilst we are married on credit, will she then be entitled to half of it once it is paid off even though we will be divorced by then?

No. She would be entitled to 1/2 of the equity (value minus debt) at the time of divorce.

 

[LdiJ]

Onto my next question then....

Assuming no out of court settlement can be made, what is the procedure for the discovery of assets?

Also, say I purchase a vehicle whilst we are married on credit, will she then be entitled to half of it once it is paid off even though we will be divorced by then?

No, if you are awarded the car and you are the one who makes the payments after your divorce, the car will be your separate property once its paid off. Since the car would have no equity to speak of at the time of the divorce, you will automatically be awarded the car.

You haven't been married for very long, so you should have a pretty good idea what marital assets are out there.

 

[ecmst12]

Anything you buy during the marriage will be handled in the divorce decree so no, you will not have to pay her anything extra years later UNLESS the decree says so for some reason (unlikely unless it's about a house that has to be sold or something).

Income that either of you earn during the marriage is marital, savings that either of you have now that you earned during the marriage would be subject to division in the divorce. How long were you married?

 

[buster2209]

I was married for two years so there isn't a lot of assets.

So, if I buy a car on credit and she is awarded it for whatever reason, she also has to service the debt?

If that's the case, then buying one on credit doesn't seem like a problem because anything on credit is surely a liability and not an asset?

 

[mistoffolees]

I was married for two years so there isn't a lot of assets.

So, if I buy a car on credit and she is awarded it for whatever reason, she also has to service the debt?

If she is awarded the car, she would normally be required to pay the debt by the divorce court (there are exceptions, though, particularly when one spouse has a much higher income than the other).

HOWEVER, if your name is on the loan and she stops making the payments, the bank will come after you. In order to protect your credit rating, you'd need to pay the money and then sue her to recover it.

 

[LdiJ]

I was married for two years so there isn't a lot of assets.

So, if I buy a car on credit and she is awarded it for whatever reason, she also has to service the debt?

If that's the case, then buying one on credit doesn't seem like a problem because anything on credit is surely a liability and not an asset?

The odds of her being awarded a car in your name, that you just recently purchased (therefore having no equity) are slim to none. In the first place she shouldn't WANT the car because of the debt, and in the second place its not logical.

 

[Bali Hai]

If it was earned during the marriage AND before filing for divorce.

Correct.

People conveniently forget this and need to be reminded, including the judge in my divorce case.

 

[ecmst12]

For a 2 year marriage, you won't be entitled for anything for the value of her car.