Spouse Used My Credit Card for Divorce

[justalayman]

Let me distill a portion of what HRZ said, just so it is perfectly clear. The money in "your" account belonged equally to her. She can't steal what she own, so there will be no prosecution for fraud.

Fraud is a separate crime. If the wife signed op’s name it would also be forgery. Those are separate from the debt created and who is liable for it.

 

[HRZ]

The money is OPs personal account if that is what it was, may well be subject to division as community property in a divorce , but that does not give a spouse a unilateral right to access same ...and as above, forgery is forgery IF that took place.

OP good records of money moved and dates may help you reconstruct the pot values. ...the date she moved out or leased separate quarters may be important as to timeline in the sand.

 

[justalayman]

Actually the issue im speaking to is the use of the credit card. Use when not given permission is either fraud or identity theft or both, depending on how the transactions transpired.


I haven’t looked but I curious if a spouse can be held liable for a debt incurred by a spouse through fraudulent acts under the community property laws.

 

[HRZ]

IF the OP gave oral permission to use the card it may get very muddy very quickly as to the scope of permission granted...and OP doesn't yet clarify. The smoke gets thicker if wife used it for gas and they lied about it....but I suspect law enforcement will punt and call it a civil dispute ...unless there is a clear written limit to her use powers whcu she exceeded by a whole lot and even then Police may duck it.

And we don't know if bank account was just OPs and or did spouse have access by permission .

MY crystal ball says this was in her planning some time earlier...and OP needs to catch up as best he can with help from counsel

 

[Johnboy7701]

so to answer a few of the questions, we had a joint checking account in which she started draining until I took control of it and moved what was left. Credit cards were solely in my name, her only permission was to use my credit card for groceries in which I have saved all text messages from. She said before the whole spenditure that I had dropped my credit card in the garage when I was leaving to go play army for the month. Then she said her debit card split and she needed to buy “groceries” and that was it. She then said in another statement she only made TWO small charges to my account. There were probably 10-15 charges on my account and one was to a lawyer for $3600 and another for furniture to her new apartment for roughly the same. Other expenses were pulling money out of an ATM. She did use it for groceries but that was maybe only $150. So she apparently signed my name numerous times as well as used my pin to withdrawal cash. To me it sounds pretty clear of fraud and forgery, I’m hoping I get a statement back from my credit card company soon for their findings. So as of right now I’m thinking the lawyer is still representing her even though she forged my signature with my credit card that is only in my name and no other person as a secondary user. Thanks for the replies all I come back and check periodically.

 

[Zigner]

You gave her your pin and you authorized her to use the card. Really, there will be NO criminal charges about this. You will need to deal with this in your divorce.

 

[HRZ]

You may be able to reconstruct all of her uses later and dirty hands may backfire on her.

Right now you need counsel soon on how to move forward in this adversarial situation.

And anticipate major maneuvers on her part as to child support and visitation/ custody

 

[stealth2]

You're unlikely to get very far with all of this.

And be aware that your proposed move will likely impact custody and parenting time. You will likely not get permission to move the child, so you will most likely end up with a long distance parenting plan and responsibility for travel expenses/transportation. If you ARE granted permission to move the child? You will still likely be responsible for travel expenses/transportation.

 

[HRZ]

OP I would suggest you clam up about retirement plans or relocation plans except as discussed with your attorney .

 

[stealth2]

You're unlikely to get very far with all of this.

And be aware that your proposed move will likely impact custody and parenting time. You will likely not get permission to move the child, so you will most likely end up with a long distance parenting plan and responsibility for travel expenses/transportation. If you ARE granted permission to move the child? You will still likely be responsible for travel expenses/transportation.

Wow, there are a lot of "likely"s in there...... Ugh.

 

[Just Blue]

Wow, there are a lot of "likely"s in there...... Ugh.

Sometimes "likely" is likely the best word.

 

[stealth2]

Sometimes "likely" is likely the best word.

I hate redundancy.

 

[FlyingRon]

Fraud requires misrepresentation. If she was an authorized (to the credit card company), she hasn't misrepresented to them or the merchant. I doubt that lying to one's spouse would ever be criminally prosecuted as fraud. This is likely only a civil issue as part of the divorce.

 

[Johnboy7701]

Fraud requires misrepresentation. If she was an authorized (to the credit card company), she hasn't misrepresented to them or the merchant. I doubt that lying to one's spouse would ever be criminally prosecuted as fraud. This is likely only a civil issue as part of the divorce.

She she wasn’t an authorized user. Only in my name and I’m pretty confident she didn’t sign her name.

 

[HRZ]

You may have plenty of time LATER to debate the unauthorized use of CC , file soon any appropriate reposts of unauthorized usage / identity theft with local police and CC firm to preserve your options ...but I really think you need to be focused on the big picture with the help of attorney in your corner....your wife seems many steps ahead of you . You also have plenty of time to reconstruct who raided what and when .

IF she had used your card earlier by permission or apparent permission or acquiescence I think you are going to have a hard time proving newer use was criminal ....bad judgement is not criminal....don't waste a lot of energy on unproductive adventures.

BTW does her new job pay her better than before and relative to your current pay how does her pay stack up.