During a divorce, you aren't just breaking up a marriage; you are also splitting up your finances. This is often where things get messy, and knowing how to protect yourself is important if you want to retain as much of your finances as possible. One issue that couples end up running into problems with is joint bank accounts. Both individuals have full access to these accounts, and it’s common for one to pull all the money out of the account after the decision to divorce has been made. If you are concerned about this scenario occurring, learn how to protect yourself now.

Freeze Your Joint Accounts

With experience with divorce in Fleming Island, we recommend that you freeze any joint bank accounts as soon you decide to divorce. When a bank account is frozen, both parties listed on the account must agree on any transaction that is made using the account. This means that it would not be possible for just one member of the account to withdraw all the money and place it in a new account. Kenny Leigh and Associates has six offices serving Jacksonville, Gainesville, Fleming Island, Daytona, Boca Raton, and Fort Walton Beach in both the North Florida and South Florida areas. 

By freezing all your accounts, you guarantee that your money is not going to be going anywhere without your consent. If you are concerned that your spouse is going to remove money from your joint account, you should freeze the account before letting her know about plans of a divorce.

Getting Your Money Back After a Divorce

In most states, when you file for a divorce both you and your spouse are not supposed to move assets around without permission. That means if you have a divorce case open and your spouse withdraws the money from a joint bank account, you can take legal action to get the money returned to the account, or to make them responsible for the missing amount from the account. In many instances, you will have to go to your lawyer, or to the court and make a complaint about assets being moved around, but you shouldn’t have a problem getting the money back as long as there is an open case for divorce already.

It’s important to realize that this only applies if your Fleming Island divorce case is already open. Without an open case, either spouse is free to remove the money from the account without any repercussions.

Understand the Tax Differences Between Alimony and Child Support

If you are going to be responsible for alimony or child support it is important to know how the government sees both of these items and how they will affect your taxes. When you pay child support the person receiving the payment does not have to claim this money on their taxes. It’s also important to note that you are not allowed to deduct this expense on your taxes, either. Alimony works in the opposite way, though. All alimony payments are tax deductible and you can freely claim them on your taxes each year. When you know the differences between these two types of payments you can avoid missing out on those additional deductions on your taxes and save a little more money.

Now you know exactly how to protect any joint bank accounts from being emptied out. If you decide that a divorce in Fleming Island is inevitable, take action to protect your account as soon as possible. You may also want to consider putting safeguards on the account from the beginning that protects the account from liquidation. Kenny Leigh and Associates has six offices serving Jacksonville, Gainesville, Fleming Island, Daytona, Boca Raton, and Fort Walton Beach in both the North Florida and South Florida areas.