Family Law Lifeline

Posted on July 20, 2008 by John Steele

If your spouse is paying child support or maintenance to their previous spouse, your assets are in danger. That is what the Illinois Appellate Court recently explained in IRMO Takata and Hafley.To summarize, Husband divorces Wife 1 and marries Wife 2. Wife 1 (as part of her 11 year odyssey to go after the husbands assets) serves Husband an interrogatory (a list of questions) in which Husband answers incorrectly that Wife 2′s IRA is partially his. Wife 2 is drawn into the fight, and has to prove the IRA is hers alone. The Court finds she did not give enough evidence, and voila, Wife 1 gets part of Wife 2′s IRA. No word on if Wife 2 is filing to become Ex-Wife 2.

This extends the misery many divorced people face to their new spouses. Remember that Illinois presumes most assets (especially homes) are marital if obtained during the marriage (even if in one spouse’s name). Since a previous wife can always go after the husband’s assets for child support or maintenance increases, and a marital home purchased with a new wife is half his, that means the first wife can go after his half of the new home. The real danger is to the unsuspecting second spouse, who may have paid some or all of the down payment to a home only to see the home sold by the court to satisfy a debt to a person they never met. The court made it clear in Takata that any creditor (including a spouse who is owed money) can reach any property that is solely in the name of the new spouse. Many times, a person will receive an asset as a gift from a family member and due to their treatment of that asset, it becomes marital, unbeknownst to them. So if your not careful, perhaps the car your parents gave you risks being seized to pay your spouse’s debt. Of particular concern to me is that in Takata, it was the husband’s erroneous answer in a legal document and nothing that the new spouse did that cost her the IRA.

Despite the almost universal disapproval by family lawyers, this newest divorce trap is the law of the land in Illinois. The case contains nuances, and every person whose spouse pays child support doesn’t need to rush to the bank and close the joint checking account. But answering legal paperwork without an attorney, or not understanding what exactly what your doing can really hurt, just ask Mr. Hafley. Posted on July 20, 2008 by John Steele

If your spouse is paying child support or maintenance to their previous spouse, your assets are in danger. That is what the Illinois Appellate Court recently explained in IRMO Takata and Hafley. To summarize, Husband divorces Wife 1 and marries Wife 2. Wife 1 (as part of her 11 year odyssey to go after the husbands assets) serves Husband an interrogatory (a list of questions) in which Husband answers incorrectly that Wife 2′s IRA is partially his. Wife 2 is drawn into the fight, and has to prove the IRA is hers alone. The Court finds she did not give enough evidence, and voila, Wife 1 gets part of Wife 2′s IRA. No word on if Wife 2 is filing to become Ex-Wife 2.

This extends the misery many divorced people face to their new spouses. Remember that Illinois presumes most assets (especially homes) are marital if obtained during the marriage (even if in one spouse’s name). Since a previous wife can always go after the husband’s assets for child support or maintenance increases, and a marital home purchased with a new wife is half his, that means the first wife can go after his half of the new home. The real danger is to the unsuspecting second spouse, who may have paid some or all of the down payment to a home only to see the home sold by the court to satisfy a debt to a person they never met. The court made it clear in Takata that any creditor (including a spouse who is owed money) can reach any property that is solely in the name of the new spouse. Many times, a person will receive an asset as a gift from a family member and due to their treatment of that asset, it becomes marital, unbeknownst to them. So if your not careful, perhaps the car your parents gave you risks being seized to pay your spouse’s debt. Of particular concern to me is that in Takata, it was the husband’s erroneous answer in a legal document and nothing that the new spouse did that cost her the IRA.

Despite the almost universal disapproval by family lawyers, this newest divorce trap is the law of the land in Illinois. The case contains nuances, and every person whose spouse pays child support doesn’t need to rush to the bank and close the joint checking account. But answering legal paperwork without an attorney, or not understanding what exactly what your doing can really hurt, just ask Mr. Hafley.

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