Legal Question in Family Law in Ohio
Marriage and Power of Attorney
My daughter's husband has been in and out of treatment for substance abuse for the last year. During this recent period, he signed over power of attorney to his father (both husband and father are actual attorneys.) My daughter has had to endure her father-in-law taking charge of all their finances, her husband's paycheck, etc. giving her the money he deems appropriate. He has ordered and scrutinized all of their bank statements for the last few years. My daughter has never mishandled the finances she had access to, or been irresponsible in any other way during ten years of marriage. Was it legal for her husband to capriciously give all of this power to his father?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Marriage and Power of Attorney
It was legal for our husband to give away all this power, but her husband's paycheck probably constitutes marital property. By that I mean the money is probably as much hers as it is his. When either spouse during a marriage makes money, it instantly belongs to them both, not just to the one.