What to do if he walks out?

[sad_Kelly]

I am from the state of Idaho. My husband walked out about six hours ago. His last words to me were that he was filing for divorce tomorrow and that all the bank accounts would be frozen. A little bit of background - I set up a checking, savings, and money market in my name about a month ago, he has no access right to them. The money market money is from a settlement I got from a workers comp injury. Also, my husband does not work, has been on unemployment for six months and has a hard time keeping a job. I have pretty much supported him for 10 years. He also has an addiction to the internet including the dark sides of it. Can he just freeze my accounts as of 9am tomorrow morning and he also said that I was in for a big court battle. I have no clue where he is and where to start. Should I contact a lawyer - I do work and make pretty good money, but intend on keeping our three year old. Will I have to pay alimony? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dorenephilpot]

He can file for divorce, and he can get a restraining order, to try to keep you from dissipating the marital assets. However, it's very unlikely that he would be able to get all money in all accounts frozen on a moment's notice. And he's not entitled to all the money, only the portion that is considered part of the marital pot (usually half, no matter who earned it).

Sounds to me like he's a big talker.

It's unlikely you would be ordered to pay maintenance on him unless he were disabled and unable to work -- unwilling to work is a different matter and most likely would not get much sympathy from the court.

If you get custody of the child, he will be ordered to pay support, based on the level of income he would earn, if he were to get off his duff and get a job.

I would get an attorney if I were you. It sounds like you can afford one, and it sounds like he's going to try to be as nasty as possible. You have both property and custody/support issues, and you're going to need some legal handholding to get through this.

Hope this helps address some of your fears.

 

[LegalBeagle]

Also, since you put the money from the workers comp injury into your own account and kept it seperate from the marital funds, you might be able to keep 100% of it.

Also, I concur with Dorene, you need to act now and seek out an attorney. Do not sit around and allow him to call the shots and threaten you. It sounds like he will ne nasty.



[Edited by LegalBeagle on 03-29-2001 at 12:51 PM]