She's entitled to half his retirement even as deposited AFTER SHE WANTS A DIVORCE??? I mean .... a divorce in the offing seems like a pretty big change to the usual and customary, whichever way you slice it. . I missed the word "petitioner". Although that would apply to a man divorcing an adulterous wife, too, wouldn't it?
Yes on both counts. Until the Community is dissolved -- often, but not exclusively, on the Date of Separation indicated on the divorce filing by Petitioner -- Community Property is Community Property, and it's irrelevant really who wanted what. And even then no changes are usually permitted for the period the petition runs. And that's a pain for the Petitioner -- just ask WAW, who still wigs out at the merest mention of money.
But it's also there to protect Respondent. Imagine you're one of these Gordon Gekko Wall Street Wizards and you're working the Big Deal of a Lifetime that will net you a Zillion Bucks. And Mrs. GGWSW is so Last Year's Model. So you shift all your money away from areas where she'd have claims in the event of a divorce, and then file for divorce, and then the next day -- Whoopee! What a Surprise! I just made a Zillion Bucks! Gosh what a coincidence!
Devil's in the details... Which is why I so often find myself saying to WAW during this or that of her Batsh*t-Crazy-a-Thons (which seem to have gone away lately, thanks no doubt to the Good Luvvin' from Signore il Secondo), "Falls into the category of Things That Would Have Been Good To Research Before....".
Smileys - Thinker, please pardon a small hijack. I finally opened my own bank account yesterday (WAW opened her own 8 months ago, just told me last month when decided to divorce, but hasn't put very much in it) and am wondering how to determine who's share can go in what account. Trying to take baby steps here as trying not to throw gas on the fire. I make roughly five times the amount of money she does and pay all of the bills plus most of the other expenses for kid stuff, etc.
Until lately, her money has basically been our family's "play money" but now she's trying to come up with the retainer fee for her lawyer. She flipped out when I told her I had opened one and wants to know what portion she gets to put in her account versus what portion I get to put in my account. From what you're saying (if I'm understanding it) is that it's all community anyway until we have a legal sep date in place, so we should just leave everything in joint until/if that happens?
Me 47 W 44 D16, D13 T 23yrs M 20yrs WAW/MLC + Male EA "BFF from H.S." = Misery
