QUESTION
Are the items we purchased considered his or ours?
Asked on Jun 13th, 2016 on Divorce - Wisconsin
More details to this question:
Husband and I are divorcing. We have been married for less than a year. We have lived together for 3. I have stayed home the whole time caring for our son, while husband works. Most of our big purchases were made while living together but not yet married. He supported him, me, our son, and my daughter. Most of them from tax returns where he claimed me as a dependent (still prior to marriage).
1 ANSWER
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You may have a problem, assuming that he was not legally entitled to claim you as a dependent. Then the proceeds of the refunds (I assume you mean refunds rather than returns) are fruits of a crime, and the courts will generally refuse to get involved in dividing the 'take' among the wrongdoers. In general, possessions acquired during the marriage, and debts incurred during the marriage (assuming you live in Wisconsin or another community property state) are the joint property and obligation of both spouses. There are exceptions. It is possible that a resourceful lawyer could find a way to convince a court to rule that this would apply to property and debt acquired while living together but before the marriage. I have no certainty that this could be done. But I advise you to retain an experienced family law attorney. It's almost always worth the investment.
Answered on Jul 14th, 2016 at 5:46 PM