Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: Suing a spouse while separated, before filing for divorce.

The issues can and should be raised in a action for dissolution of the marriage. You stated that they were both joint accounts and therefore, the dissolution action (or action for legal separation) are the only actions that it is appropriate to make the request for reimbursement. If your getting no response from him, it is time to file. It is also time to open a bank account separate from him so that the bank will not take your money to cover his check. Good Luck, Pat McCrary

Re: Suing a spouse while separated, before filing for divorce.

It is a seperate debt owed by your husband since it was incurred after the date of seperation. However, the only way to recover the money is to finalize the divorce and include the debt as a seperate debt owed by your husband. If you need help with the paperwork and would be willing to appear on your own behalf at court I would be able to help you for a reasonable fee. If you are interested you can contact me by email a [email protected]. I wish you the best of luck and definately recommend you go to the bank and open seperate business and personal checking accounts so that this doesn't happen again. I would also speak with the bank manager because unless your business and personal accounts are actually linked i.e. the bank has authorization to transfer funds between acounts without your permission what they did may have been illegal, so definately sit down with the bank manager and find out exactly why they transferred funds from your personal fund into your business account without your permission. You may even be able to dispute the overdraft charges and work something out with the bank to get your checks paid. Anyhow, good luck with that and if you want help with the paperwork let me know.

John Hayes, Esq.