Q: Was I coerced into signing remortgage papers under false pretenses by my wife?

A: The scenario you describe presents potential grounds for a claim of fraudulent inducement rather than coercion in the legal sense, as traditional coercion typically involves threats or intimidation while your situation involves calculated deception. Courts often recognize that spouses maintain fiduciary duties to one another regarding major financial decisions, and deliberate misrepresentation about the stability of the marriage to secure your signature on mortgage documents potentially violates this duty. Your discovery of messages showing premeditation strengthens a potential fraud claim, as it demonstrates your wife knowingly made false statements specifically to induce you to sign financial documents for her benefit.

Divorce courts have considerable discretion in addressing such financial misconduct through equitable distribution remedies, potentially offsetting the improper debt allocation through other asset divisions. The timing creates a compelling narrative of planned financial exploitation immediately preceding divorce, which many family law judges view unfavorably when determining financial settlements. Documentation will prove crucial - preserve all evidence of the misrepresentations, the discovered messages regarding her plans, and any financial records showing how the remortgage proceeds were specifically used to pay her personal debts.

We recommend promptly informing your divorce attorney about these circumstances to ensure proper documentation in financial disclosures and potentially file motions addressing dissipation of marital assets. Family courts in most jurisdictions consider evidence of deliberate financial deception when determining equitable distribution of assets and debts, though the specific remedies available vary considerably by jurisdiction. Given her subsequent actions of accumulating additional debt and restricting your access to shared assets, courts may view this as part of a pattern of financial misconduct warranting intervention through temporary orders preserving remaining assets during the divorce proceedings.RetryClaude can make mistakes. Please double-check responses.