In IL, you may be entitled to part of any retirement accounts he had, should divorce become real (and, sadly, it sounds to be the case). A friend of mine divorced her husband a few years ago and she got part of his 401k.
If you were in the Northern IL area, PM me and I can give you the name of a really good lawyer. My friend went with her on recommendation from one of my sisters, whose friend used them. I’ve given her name to others and all of them have been very happy with the service they got.
Half. I don’t think there’s any need to calculate. Once you’re married, you’re working together to make it and you contribute both monetary and non-monetary gifts in the process. Obviously, I wasn’t making the coin that he was, but at times, I was out of work; at times, he was. Once he had heart surgery and I took amazing care of him…I mean round-the-clock, loving, well-researched care of him. When I was sick…well whatevs. My point is that there are many ways in which both spouses contribute and the only physical “reward” that is available is money/property. We have no common property or kids, luckily.
This is the only part of the OP I can address with some authority: no, all banks are not like this.
My credit union has a policy which IMHO very much goes too far the other way. They will not allow me to remove my ex-wife’s name from our joint account even though (a) I am the primary account holder, (b) her name on the account isn’t even her name any more, and (c) she would gladly come in and tell them it’s all right to do it. Nope, not gonna do it. Period.
Consequently, I have to open a brand new account in order to get the ex’s name off, which they were going to charge me a fee to do until I mentioned I was planning to go to a different credit union. (“Fee? Oh, we can waive that.”) Still, I have to go through every thing I have auto-drafted and direct deposited to change my account info.
I don’t know how nice or nasty this is going down, and its really none of my business.
Do your legal stuff blah blah blah that others have advised. But don’t panic yet in terms of him screwing you over.
He MAY have just grabbed it all to prevent YOU from screwing HIM. Not saying you would…heck he may think the probability is low (but non-zero). He may well be reasonable and be willing to give you “your fair share”. But its a hell of lot easier to give somebody else theirs than try to get yours from theirs if you know what I mean.
Perhaps, but perhaps she has him by the brass ones on something else. Maybe she has fluffy or his bowling trophies.
Its the MAD theory of divorce. Don’t panic, don’t give up anything, and don’t piss off the other side if you can help it. Good advice anytime actually.
That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t sound like there’s anything to prevent you or your ex-wife from just withdrawing all the money and putting it into a personal account. The fact that the joint account would technically still be open wouldn’t change a situation like the OP is in.
I didn’t mean to suggest that it would. I was providing an answer to the question “Are all banks like this?” which I took to mean “Will all banks allow one party to a joint account to close the account?”
Get a lawyer now. And get an immediate order for spousal support. Get someone who does a lot of family law. Talk to friends who have been divorced and liked their lawyer. Don’t hire a lawyer who won’t bring an immediate motion for spousal support. The fact that he took all the money should be helpful in getting the order.
Wouldn’t matter. She could make her half disappear and go after half of his half.
Until the divorce is under way (petition filed and the other parties served) people can legally screw the other person to no end.
I JUST learned this the hard way…
Case in point; Last week my estranged wife came to my place of employment and stole my vehicle from me with about $1200 worth of personal items in it (digital camera, work tools, etc…). The petition had been filed but she wasn’t served yet. She hid the car from me and claimed that their was nothing inside of it. She was caught on security film taking the truck, the cops saw it, they know where the car is and she acted suspiciously nervous when they confronted her about the contents of the vehicle. Nothing could be done. Civil matter. Even though the petition that was filed previous to her actions stated that she wasn’t to do this sort of thing.
Lawyer up and let the good times begin.
In my case I can only hope that she’s holding the property so that she has more control over the equitable division when it comes that.
You have no idea whether she’s even entitled to spousal support, but nevertheless it’s pretty hilarious to see you recommending she get a lawyer. The irony is that getting a simple divorce is one of those legal situations where you don’t necessarily need to have a lawyer.
Hazle, I’m not asking about the specifics of your financial situation, but it’s worth pointing out that the size of your marital estate may be a substantial factor to whether or not you want to hire a lawyer to fight for your share of it.
You have no property in common, you have no kids in common. You have been out of work during part of the marriage, and so has he. Unless you are talking about at a minimum several thousands of dollars in assets (in bank accounts and in spousal share of retirement accounts), it may not make financial sense to hire a lawyer to handle your divorce.
Besides, it’s not like you can’t show a court yourself that he closed the joint accounts and took all the money; that’s not a complicated thing to prove. Most states have form documents for self-represented divorces. You can look for forms for your state here. Instead of hiring a lawyer to actively represent you, you might see if you can find someone (a laywer) who would be willing to walk you through the forms for a small fee without agreeing to represent you. You also may be able to get assistance through your local Legal Aid (if their doors are still open in this economy), though you probably will have to meet the poverty guidelines to qualify for services.
As a lawyer, I’m certainly not saying DON’T get a lawyer. But I am pointing out that you may want to consider whether you can get by without one, whether you can get by with less than full representation, and whether at the end of the day this is a fight that it makes sense to have, both financially and emotionally.
Jodi and other lawyers, would it be prudent for Hazle to contact the judge who will be hearing the divorce in Belleville, advising him of her husband having closed out the joint accounts (with copies of the statements) and requesting a temporary injunction against his disposing of joint funds pending settlement of the divorce? I suspect it would, but have never been through a divorce so I don’t know.
Well, unless there’s been a divorce action filed, there’s no proceedings before the court for the judge to issue an order under. IOW, there’s no pending cause of action, so what is the authority of the judge to act? It’s not like her husband did anything illegal by closing the accounts, so on what basis could a judge just say, out of the blue, that he (husband) can’t use the money from the accounts?
The legal basis for depriving a spouse of a right he would otherwise have (the right to access the joint accounts and spend the money), is that the property needs to be preserved in order to be apportioned fairly because the parties are divorcing. AFAIK, these parties aren’t divorcing yet. So filing the underlying action (the divorce) is step one. That in turn would give you the framework (the case) in which to make whatever motions you think necessary.
This is not legal advice, I’m not your lawyer, or hers, blah blah blah etc.
I agree with Jodi - unless your marital assets are substantial enough to pay for a lawyer, and there is some reason to believe that you will be entitled to spousal support (which isn’t terribly likely since you are capable of holding a job and have no kids - unless he has a significantly higher income and you’ve sidelined your career to help him further his), you can easily spend more on legal counsel than you’ll get out.
Several years ago we footed the bill for my brother in laws divorce - $20k worth of legal bills so he could move home with a uhaul truck of junk. In his case, she was going to go after spousal support, plus money from the sale of the house (which he owed to us as we’d paid the back mortgage), which would have cost him far more than $20k and us about $10k - and was willing to invest in a lawyer to make her case - so his was a defensive move. He also had a brother willing to plow money into the divorce - a situation you are likely not in.
Hazle: Four resources that you might want to consult/peruse would be[ul][li]Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation (they have an office in East St. Louis to serve the Metro-East)[/li][li]SIU Law School’s Self Help webpage[/li][li]the Gitlin Law Firm’s Questions and Answers Regarding Illinois Divorce (Gitlin on Divorce: A Guide to Illinois Matrimonial Law is one of the standard resources on the topic in Illinois law libraries)[/li][li] Finally, the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (720 ILCS 5) is the statute that governs marriage and divorce in Illinois.[/ul][/li]
Your recent move out-of-state may affect where the divorce may be filed, if it hasn’t been filed already. I am not at all familiar with Missouri law, so I do not know its residency requirements nor whether it would be a preferable jurisdiction for any other reasons. I offer this as a point of general information because you may want to consult with a lawyer or legal aid organization about jurisdiction.
Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, your divorce case possibly has issues of dissipation and/or a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction regarding the joint account. In these circumstances, I think consulting a lawyer or a legal aid organization would be recommended.
Note: I am not your lawyer and this message is for general information purposes only. Nothing in this message is to be considered as either creating an attorney-client relationship or as rendering of legal advice for any specific matter. You are responsible for obtaining such advice from your own legal counsel. No reader should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any information contained in this message without seeking appropriate legal or other professional advice on the particular facts and circumstances at issue.