Legal Question in Family Law in Oregon

Legal fees and division of tax refund.

YOUR QUESTION:

My wife's lawyer has threatened me saying that if this divorce goes to trial, that I'll end up paying for all of her legal fees and costs (including her attorney fees). He wants me to settle out of court, but I feel that would be a bad move for me. Is there any way I can avoid this?

ANSWER:

Maybe. Best bet is to hire a lawyer to protect your interests. Under Oregon law, if the case goes to trial, the court may order either party to pay all or part of the other party�s attorney fees and costs. It is discretionary with the judge, meaning that neither party has any automatic entitlement to an award of attorney fees and costs against the other party. (Note: as a precondition to obtaining an award of attorney fees against the other party, the party seeking such fees must had included an appropriate request in a pleading filed with the court prior to the trial, as required by ORCP 68C.)

YOUR QUESTION:

Also, when my wife and I were still separated (before she filed for divorce) we filed our federal tax return jointly. H&R Block e-filed our taxes and my wife wrote down her account number for the return to be sent there. Once the money was put into her account, she refused to split the money with me. The return was about $4800. She gave me $1200 and used $1000 to hire the lawyer she has now. I was the only one working in my household, so the majority of the taxes were mine. Is there anything I can do to recover my portion of that money?

ANSWER:

Yes. You must raise the issue as part of the negotiations pertaining to the division of marital property. This is so because the disposition of the proceeds from the tax refund is a marital asset, to be taken into account in the division of marital property upon divorce. Arguably, each party is entitled to 1/2 of the proceeds, and this is true even if only one spouse earned all of the income.