Asset Protection Lawyers Suffolk County

At Zimmer, Mathiesen & Associates, our attorneys are adept at protecting assets of spouses who need to protect their assets during a divorce. When contemplating the commencement of a divorce action, it is important to open separate checking and savings accounts in your name alone. Once a divorce is filed, the other spouse is “cut off” from obtaining any marital assets after that date. Thus, it is important to ensure that you are not placing your current earnings in a joint account, as your spouse may claim that these assets are marital. Although you are still obligated to the marital expenses (i.e. mortgage, utilities, etc.), the funds remaining should be put aside for you to use at a later time.

It is imperative to ensure that you do not “co-mingle” any money that you receive from an inheritance or as a gift. Funds that are received by one spouse, even while married, through inheritance, as a gift, or from a personal injury award are separate property. It is imperative that these funds remain in a separate personal checking or savings account in your name alone, otherwise, the Court may determine that these funds were “co-mingled” with marital funds, entitling your spouse to a portion of same. You should also make sure to inventory and particularly valuable items that belong to you which are family heirlooms or valuable antiques. If these items were received as a gift or through inheritance, your spouse is not entitled to a portion of any of these items. It is also important to note that upon commencement of a divorce proceeding “automatic restraining orders” go into effect immediately which state the following:

1. Neither party shall sell, transfer, encumber, conceal, assign, remove or in any way dispose of, without the consent of the other party in writing, or by order of the court, any property (including, but not limited to real estate, personal property, cash accounts, stocks, mutual funds, bank accounts, cars and boats) individually or jointly held by the parties, except in the usual course of business, for customary and usual household expenses or for reasonable attorney’s fees in connection with the action.

2. Neither party shall transfer, encumber, assign, remove withdraw or in any way dispose of any tax deferred funds, stocks or other assets held in any individual retirement accounts, 401k accounts, profit sharing plans, Keogh accounts, or any other pension or retirement account, and the parties shall further refrain from applying for or requesting the payment of retirement benefits or annuity payments of any kind, without the consent of the other party in writing, or upon further order of the court.