What To Do If Your Divorce Sends You Into A Financial Free Fall

Behind the bright lights and the garish garage door covers, most families experience the holidays as a grim reminder of their dismal financial circumstances. Perhaps, as your marriage eroded, the holiday stress got worse each year; it may have been hard to tell which one was the cause and which one was the effect. Financial stress at the end of an old year, the beginning of a new year, and anywhere in between is nothing new; this year is worse because you are going through a divorce. This means that, except for the bare minimum required of co-parenting, you and your spouse are no longer trying to present an image of family unity; this year, you are attending holiday gatherings separately, and perhaps you have even posted a profile on a dating site. The financial chaos of divorce is so bad, though, that it completely eclipses the financial chaos of a crumbling marriage and the emotional turmoil of divorce. Even if you were wealthy during your marriage, you might find yourself living hand to mouth while your divorce is pending, especially if your estranged spouse has a higher income than you. If you lived a charmed life in a loveless marriage but now that you are getting a divorce, you are getting a taste for how the 99 percent lives, contact a Birmingham divorce lawyer.

If Your Spouse Cuts You Off Financially, the Law Is On Your Side

Marriages where only one spouse is in the workforce often leave each spouse feeling like he or she is doing 100 percent of the work. If you finally decided that you have had enough of your spouse’s lies and control, your spouse might try to show you who is boss by cutting off your access to marital funds and refusing to pay the bills on the home you shared. For several reasons, this is illegal. First, you are still legally married, so marital bills are still the responsibility of both spouses. Second, the courts acknowledge that it takes time for a spouse who was not in the workforce during the marriage to become financially independent of his or her ex-spouse.

If your estranged spouse is refusing to pay your mortgage or household bills and has cut off your access to marital bank accounts and credit cards, you should get the court to intervene. The court can issue a status quo order, where it forbids the selling of marital assets or the closing of marital accounts while the divorce is pending. It might also order pendente lite alimony, where your spouse must pay you a certain amount of money per month to cover the household expenses while the divorce is pending. Not everyone who gets pendente lite alimony while their divorce is pending also gets alimony after the divorce becomes final; it is only a stopgap solution.

Contact Peeples Law About Achieving a Soft Landing After a High-Net-Worth Marriage

A Birmingham family law attorney can help you if your wealthy spouse has cut you off financially now that you are getting divorced.  Contact Peeples Law in Birmingham, Alabama today to schedule a consultation.

Source:

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15399483/Stay-home-mom-37-issues-dire-PSA-moms-husband-suddenly-filed-divorce-no-money.html