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Joint Accounts

Joint accounts can become a pressure point in any divorce action.   As a matter of New York law, if spouses hold money in a joint account, each spouse is presumed to hold a one-half interest in the account.    The last thing a spouse wants to find out is that the other spouse has emptied the joint account and is seeking a   divorce.    Money that had been the property of one spouse can wind up paying a retainer to the other spouse’s attorney. While at the commencement of a marriage, neither party is thinking ahead to a divorce, but until the relationship is more settled, it is prudent to keep separate property separate so that the worst case scenario does not become a reality.    And, of course, either spouse, as a co-owner of the account, can empty it at will.   As noted above, under New York law, when spouses hold property in a joint account, a rebuttable presumption arises that each spouse has a one-half interest in the account.   This presumption may be rebutted by ev
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Participating in Foreign Matrimonial Actions

When a couple living in New York has connections to a foreign country, problems can arise during the parties’ divorce.   If one party goes to the foreign country and seeks a divorce there, while a family court action is pending in New York, rulings by the foreign court MAY affect the family court action in New York and may result in a dismissal of the New York action.   Rulings of foreign courts are generally recognized by New York courts, unless they offend public policy of this State.   A party who has appeared in New York can potentially lose rights to which he or she would be entitled in state court if the foreign court enters a decision in the foreign case first, leaving New York courts with nothing to litigate.   The plaintiff in New York may try to attack the validity of the foreign judgment in a collateral proceeding in New York, but if he or she has participated in the foreign action, the result in that court is likely to be followed by a New York court.   (But remember – a
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