Legal Question in Family Law in Minnesota

Re: Divorce

If you do not have an attorney, get one immediately. If the divorce has started your husband is likely in violation of the restraining order. If not you will need to start the divorce immediately and possibly ask for immediate relief from the court. For your information, you can require your husband to account for the assets in the divorce. However, it appears that he is moving to hide them so you need to move quickly. Dennis

Re: Divorce

If you have a divorce filed, you may certainly seek to stop the dissipation of business or marital assets. You should immediately seek an ex parte (emergency) order precluding the sale of any assets until a hearing can be held. At that hearing you would argue that the sale is outside the scope of normal business operations and is intended to dissipate assets. In extreme cases, the business may be placed in the hands of a receivor to operate while the divorce is pending.

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Re: Divorce

Before a divorce proceeding is commenced, there is no restriction on what you and your husband can do with your property, unless he is attempting to sell joint tenancy property -- real estate, for example, cannot be sold without your consent, even if he is the only one in title.

Once a divorce proceeding is commenced, there are numerous restraining orders imposed on the parties that prevent the sale of property or businesses.

Merely commencing a divorce proceeding results in the automatic imposition of a generic (and somewhat ineffective) restraining order. Once an action has been commenced, however, you can obtain an emergency restraining order that will prevent him from selling property.

If you are concerned that property will be sold or dissipated without your knowledge or consent, and you have not consulted an attorney, you must do so immediately and commence a dissolution proceeding. At the same time the dissolution proceeding is filed, I would recommend you simultaneously file a motion in which you request a restraining order tailored to your specific facts.

You must realize that obtaining restraining orders cannot entirely prevent him from selling property -- some parties willingly violate restraining orders. Yet a restraining order can help by, among other things, putting possible buyers on notice that a sale is not permitted. In my cases, upon obtaining a restraining order, and even upon commencing a divorce, I often notify banks or other businesses that certain assets are subject to a restraining order and may not be sold. This will generally thwart any possible sale.

Finally, you should be aware that, even if he has already sold or dissipated property, all is not necessarily lost. If someone dissipates property in contemplation of an impending divorce, the court can impute to that party the value of the property they have dissipated. While that may provide some relief, you are certainly well advised to address the problem before it starts, rather than attempting to later rectify the problem.

I know this is a difficult step, since I surmise that, for whatever reason, you may have been reluctant to start a proceeding. Perhaps you are dependent on him for support, and are fearful of what may happen if you take the first step. Nothing about this process is easy, and it can seem your world will come apart at the seams if you take action. But sometimes you must act... for yourself.

If you need additional assistance, my contact information is below.

Good luck.