Q: My divorce got finalized a few months ago. I just found out he was hiding money. Is there anything I can do ?
He left 7 cents in the joint account where my paychecks went to and made it seem like he was broke and struggling. He had over $20,000 in one of his accounts. I’ve been having car problems, driving an hour to and from work and ended up moving a few hours away because he kept harassing me, would show up to my work, tell me I needed to give him my car or he would report it as stolen since it’s in his name. He makes 3x as much money as me. I currently am picking up work here and there and living in a motel. After the divorce was finalized he bought a $500,000 house. When I questioned him about why he drained my money when he had that much and he told me that I had to pay my share of the bills and that I should of not even got my car in the divorce and I should of left the relationship with what I had at the beginning. I was 18 and in high school when we first moved in together and he was 27. It took me 6 months just to sign the title to my car.
A: The Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 60 provides grounds for filing motions to request a new trial after a Divorce Decree has already been granted. Failure to disclose certain assets is grounds to claim fraud and possible perjury. However, the Court may not grant the motion if there is a finding that a party knew or should have known about the asset(s) in question. It is unfortunate if spousal support was waived when an ex makes 3x more. Given fraud a party may be able to reopen a whole case, depending on the underlying court documents, or at least a portion of the case. The next question to ask is it worth the cost, time, mental anguish and expense to go back to court over assets? Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes the answer is no.
A: Contact the lawyer that handled your divorce and discuss the new financial information you have discovered. Or if you did not have an attorney, use the Find a Lawyer tab to retain an attorney to review the situation and advise you.
Justia Ask a Lawyer is a forum for consumers to get answers to basic legal questions. Any information sent through Justia Ask a Lawyer is not secure and is done so on a non-confidential basis only.
The use of this website to ask questions or receive answers does not create an attorney–client relationship between you and Justia, or between you and any attorney who receives your information or responds to your questions, nor is it intended to create such a relationship. Additionally, no responses on this forum constitute legal advice, which must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case. You should not act upon information provided in Justia Ask a Lawyer without seeking professional counsel from an attorney admitted or authorized to practice in your jurisdiction. Justia assumes no responsibility to any person who relies on information contained on or received through this site and disclaims all liability in respect to such information.
Justia cannot guarantee that the information on this website (including any legal information provided by an attorney through this service) is accurate, complete, or up-to-date. While we intend to make every attempt to keep the information on this site current, the owners of and contributors to this site make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information contained in or linked to from this site.
