Been separated since Oct 2015. Moved out of NC in Jul 2016 and was recently awarded sole full custody of son in 2017. Spouse filing for divorce in NC and served me with Civil suit regarding car I have had in my possession since Aug 2015. Car is in both our names, and I paid for the inspection and registration in June 2016. Spouse closed out a joint checking account in Sep 2016, without notifying me. I used to put in the payment for auto insurance but stopped when he closed account. He NOW is claiming I left state without his permission to take car. He filed for me to pay half of car and insurance. I have paid for work done on car this past year. He promised to sign over title in Sept 2016 if I signed a legal form I receiived this form it returned w/out signing because it stated I was a resident of county in NC which was untrue past year and never was the case. So he hasn’t signed over.
I am not contesting getting divorced but I do want to have the car and title so I can get registered out of state and be legal.
Do I have to come to NC or can I do this from out of state? Do I have a case to fight to keep the car and possibly any items we acquired over our 11 years of marriage?
Either of you can sign the title to the car conveying that spouse’s interest in the car to the other, so the other spouse will own the car outright. This can be done in NC assuming the car is still registered in NC. I am not clear on what form it is that your spouse wants you to sign.
In order to ensure that the car and other personal property items from the marriage become your sole and separate property, you’ll need to file an equitable distribution action, or otherwise enter into a separation agreement with the equitable distribution terms included. Note that an equitable distribution action must be filed prior to the entry of an absolute divorce or you will be forever barred from asking the courts to equitably divide the marital property.
Anna Ayscue
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm Cary • Chapel Hill • Durham • Raleigh • Wake Forest
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