As long as you have not gotten absolute divorce you are still eligible to file for equitable distribution. That is splitting marital assets and debts at time of separation. Unless you have file for ED or PSS there is nothing saying that he owes this to you. I would speak with an attorney about what you need to file before a divorce is filed for and you lose any opportunity to get what you may need or be entitled to.
thank you. I understand about ED etc. He has had no income for a year and his mother and very rich sister are supporting him, so he is just being a worthless bum. I am wondering: if I file something, will a judge be punitive due to his willful refusal to work and still order him to pay me something (even though he doesn’t have it right now) or does that matter?
I believe that the judge would need to know the total of marital assets and debts at the time of separation and would award you 1/2 of that. In fact. I believe that the courts would frown on the fact that he’s spent the last year depleting the marital assets before they were split. Get an attorney and file for ED, before he files for divorce. May be difficult figuring out from a year and 1/2…but he would still be responsible for the amount, regardless of whether or not he’s working. Get an attorney.
My husband and I have been separated for a year and a half, and I have never filed for PSS/ED even though I desperately needed it because he was in trouble with his licensing board and intimidated me from filing saying that the board would find out (his marital misconduct) and that could have resulted in them coming down harder on him. So I waited and suffered. Now he has been without his license and unemployed for over a year, depleting the remainder of his assetts. He has a wealthy sister supporting him, so he is doing absolutely nothing but sleeping and surfing the 'net. He was eligible to apply for reinstatement of his license Nov. 1 but it turns out it is a long drawn out process and he probably will not be getting that big fat $12,000+/month paycheck again until March. I can’t really afford legal fees right now but is there anything that could be done to force him to get some kind of job and pay me what he can, or, if I wait until he is working again, can his slothful lifestyle be used against him to gain a higher settlement?
Thank you.