Divorce Solutions

Nov 27, 2018

Question #326:My husband and I are divorcing after almost 25 years of marriage. About 12 years ago he inherited about $45000 which we used to redo our kitchen. How will that affect the financial split ? We live in upstate NY.

If the property is held in both your names, your husband made a gift to you of half his inheritance And should not be able to claim the entire contribution . If the property is held in his name only which he acquired prior to the marriage or with funds he had prior to the […]

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Nov 27, 2018

Question #324:I live in the state of Ohio and got married in June 2014. My father had died in 2013 and we just recently sold his house and October 2014. My wife and I are now getting a divorce after seven months of marriageand I am about to inherit funds from the sale of my father’s house and I was wondering if she is in titled to any of that money?

If you keep the proceeds of the sale in a SEPARATE Account only in your name, and do not commingle it with your joint funds, it should be treated as Separate property, not marital property, and she would have no claim to it. Good Luck! Leonard Weiner, Esq./ Divorce Solutions

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Nov 27, 2018

Question #306:My mother in law lives with a man and has for many years. They was married at one time and after about a year divorced. A few years later they started living together again but did not marry. She lives on a family farm that she owns. She raises sheep and cows. He has nothing to do with that at all. He is not in good health and may have to be put in a nursing home and she is wondering if she is responsible for his care. Thanks for any advise that you could help out with. Appreciate the help!!

In order to properly respond to your question I would have to review the divorce settlement agreement and the Court Order. It would be advisable to have them enter into an agreement spelling out the financial responsibilities or lack thereof of each party in their relationship. If you are living in the NYC metro area, […]

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Nov 27, 2018

Question #294:I have been married for approx. 3 months. Prior to the marriage I was a widower and retired with a city pension. My home is in my name and since the marriage I have continued to solely pay for the mortgage and expenses on the home. I made home improvements that were completed and paid for by me solely prior to the wedding. My question in divorce, is she entitled to my pension, part of my home or my investment accounts that are solely in my name and she has hers In her name? The only commingled funds are a checking and savings account with funds from wedding gifts. Her income exceeds my current income without calculating my pension. Thank you.

Any property you owned prior to the marriage and kept in your name is separate property, not marital property, and your spouse would not have any claim to it. Only contributions to your pension made after your marriage are subject to a marital claim. The profits or capital gains made on investments in your investment […]

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Nov 27, 2018

Question #283:I owned 50% of my house prior to marriage. The remaining 50% was transferred to me as a gift. If I was to get a divorce now, will the second 50% be considered marital property? There is no co-mingling of marital funds in paying for the upkeep of the house, so her contribution is zero. Additionally, both of us reside in the house now. Will she have any legal right to my house? Additionally, I brought another property during the marriage. Again no co-mingling of marital funds involved and is under my name only. Does she have any legal claim to the second property? I am in NYC. Thanks for your time.

Any property you acquired prior to the marriage and kept in your name is separate property and not subject to any claim by your spouse. Any gift you received during the marriage which is kept in a separate account or held in your name only is also separate property and not subject to a claim […]

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Nov 27, 2018

Question #276:I have been married for 16 years since 1996, we have one 11 year old child together and we have had custody of his son since he was 3 years old, he is now 21 and will be graduating university in a few months. I have been on permanent disability since 2004 for a spinal disease & a chronic pain condition. My husband makes about 106,000K, I make on Social security disability aprox 19,800.00K. We live in a home my mother gave to me in 1990, it is worth aprox 439,000. 1999 we took out a home equity mortgage in my name for 59,000K for adoption, the balance is still $59,000. He will NOT pay this down. He has asked me to put his name on this house and to leave 1/2 to HIS son (from a previous marriage). He has screamed DIVORCE one too many times So, I cannot put his name on this house as I have NOTHING ELSE, no savings, not even life insurance. When he divorces me I do not want to have to give him 1/2 of what this house is worth and have to make a new life, who knows where. He says he is leaving because he hates our neighborhood in Queen NY, (he was raised & lived in Brooklyn most of his life) I want to stay here until my mother passes she is aging and needs me now more than ever, His parents are both deceased many many years now. He wants to live on Long Island and is willing to leave his family to live a life on L.I. He has about $250,000K in HIS 401K account. My question is, because I cannot work anymore, and my income is not enough to run this home, will I be entitled to alimony and will I be entitled to keep my home without having to sell and give him half. Thank you

If the house your mother gave to you is in your name only, it is separate property, not marital properly and your spouse will have no claim to it. If you allow him to pressure you to put his name on the house, you will be gifting to him half of your equity in it. […]

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Nov 27, 2018

Question #275:I’ve been married almost 6 years and I’m considering divorce. We were married in Las Vegas, but reside in Arizona. Also, we never filed the document in our state. I’m still in our home but we barely speak and sleep in separate rooms. We have 3 children (2 whom are biologically his). I have received a gift (large sum of $$) from a relative who won the lottery for me to start my life over. The gift was put into my personal acct, his name is not on it and I’ve never used it to pay for anything in the home. Is he entitled to half even if it was given only to me?? Please help!

If you received the money as a gift and maintained the funds in a separate account in your name only, The funds should be considered separate property, not marital property and your spouse would have no claim to it in the event of divorce. If you were legally married in Nevada, the fact that you […]

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Nov 27, 2018

Question #268:In December I will be married for 2 years. I see this marriage coming to an end soon. During this short marriage, my parents bought a house that my husband and I live in. Both my parents name, along with my name is on the deed/title/mortgage. Not my husbands. If we get divorced, is he entitled to any part of this house? Also, I am disabled, living on disability from before he and I got married. I was and am not working. Will I be entitled to alimony or any other funding from him to help me financially?

If the house was purchased with funds from your parents and not funds you or your spouse earned during the marriage, the house would be considered “Separate Property” Not marital, and he would not have any equity interest in it. If you and or he made the mortgage payments, he may have a claim for […]

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Nov 27, 2018

Question #224:If I am seeking a divorce, and we have two houses. One we purchased when we were married, and the other was given to me in my mother’s will, in 2004. Can I keep my mother’s house and he keep the one we owned together. He hasn’t paid bills in the other house nor my mother’s house. He only pays the gas and insurance and wear and tear on the car. He uses the car for work and sometimes to take his mother shopping and etc. plus sometimes takes me shoppng, but many times I go with my shopping cart. He has two cars also, and has bank accounts with his mother as the beneficiary. I have checking accounts to pay bills, and am currently unemployed since last May. I have a tenant which helps me pay the bills in my mother’s house. He starting paying the bills which is only the electric bill in the other house, plus the phone bill, as I can’t pay everything like I used to. I do photography for very little, as it pays some of the groceries. He is threatening me that he is entitled to everything. We live in my mother’s house because the other house caught fire in October, and will be fixed real soon. Is he entitled to everything including my parents home? Alll I am asking is my parent’s home as my mother wanted me to have it, and I was raised there. He is threatening to take me off the medical insurance from work. I am diabetic and need medication to surviive. When I was working I had to pay extra money for him to get secondary medical. Any help you can give I appreciate it.

In order to properly answer your question I will have to see the Deed to both properties to determine who the legal owners(s) is (are). If you received your mother’s house as an inheritance and kept it in your name only, it is not marital property and your spouse has no ownership interest in it. […]

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Oct 30, 2018

Question #99:I live in New York, my husband of 3 years has not worked 2 1/2 years of those. His mother recently deeded him and his brother a piece of property for $1 which now they are fighting over. His brother has offered him monies for the property and we are now no longer living together, am I entitled to fight for any of these monies?

Property which is received by gift or inheritance and maintained in an individual’s name and not co-mingled with other marital property, will remain separate property, and not part of the marital estate. Therefore, in the event that you were to divorce from your husband, the property would not be included in the marital estate and […]

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