Your Spouse Has the Right to Veto Your Financial Decisions Until Your Divorce Becomes Final
When a court finalizes your divorce, either by signing off on an agreement you and your spouse have arrived at during mediation or by the judge’s decision at the end of the trial, the final order of dissolution of marriage specifies what financial obligations, if any, one spouse still has to the other. The court might order one spouse to pay alimony to the other for a set period, or even indefinitely, or it might require one spouse to maintain a life insurance policy with the other spouse as the beneficiary. Until the judge issues a final order of dissolution of marriage, though, you are not free to make major financial decisions without the consent of your spouse. It can be annoying to have your finances scrutinized during your divorce case, but a South Florida divorce lawyer can help you get your divorce finalized quickly and help you keep as many of your assets as possible.
How Much Can the Court Interfere in Your Financial Dealings While Your Divorce Is Pending?
Submitting financial disclosures to the court is an early stage of the divorce process. If one spouse was in a better financial position than the other when the couple filed for divorce, the court might order one spouse to pay alimony pendente lite; the order automatically expires when the divorce becomes final, at which time the court may or may not issue a new alimony order to replace it.
In order to determine equitable distribution of marital property, the court must also know how much separate property each spouse owns. The court can stop from disposing of your marital or non-marital property while your divorce is pending. Furthermore, if the court determines that, in the two years before you or your spouse filed for divorce, you intentionally lowered your net worth, such as by leaving the workforce or disposing of marital or non-marital property by giving it away or selling it at a loss, this is marital misconduct, which will count against you when the court decides on equitable distribution.
Court Orders Husband to Obtain Wife’s Consent Before Buying or Selling Marital Property Outside the United States
In 2017, Jaime Dum Lerner and Vicky Levy Dum were in the process of getting divorced. The couple resided in Florida, but they also owned property in Panama, Venezuela, and Curacao, a Caribbean island which is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Jaime also had citizenship in Venezuela, and before Vicky filed for divorce, he had dissipated marital assets by buying property in Venezuela and titling it in his name alone. While the couple’s divorce was pending, the court issued an injunction requiring Jaime to obtain Vicky’s consent before buying or selling property; the injunction was to be valid until the divorce was finalized.
Let Us Help You Today
If you and your spouse own property in more than one country, a Boca Raton divorce lawyer can help you divide that property in an equitable way. Contact Schwartz | White for help today.
