I received a financial gift from my mother. I returned it to her 5 years ago. Now that we’re divorcing, my husband says half of that money belonged to him

A number of years after this reward was made, my husband raised the spectre of divorce. At the moment, I returned the steadiness to my mom in Europe. Now that we’re going via a divorce 5 years after the day I returned the cash, my soon-to-be ex-husband says he has a proper to half of that cash from my mom. We dwell in California. Is he right?

Quickly to be Free

Additionally see: Trump goes golfing as stimulus, defense spending bills left in the lurch

Dear Soon,

Under California law, gifts received during marriage from a third party made specifically to one spouse are NOT considered marital or community property. However, you deposited the money in a bank account under both your names so the money was technically co-mingled and, as such, transformed from separate to marital property. Given that this was money in a joint account, you had every right to send the money back to your mother.

There are more egregious examples of wasting marital funds: “A cheating husband can pay for his girlfriend’s $5,000-a-month luxury apartment,” according to the law firm Claery & Hammond. “A vengeful spouse can promote her husband’s $75,000 traditional automotive for $1,000 on Craigslist. A husband can head to Las Vegas and blow $20,000 on playing and strip golf equipment, or a spouse can get a ‘Mommy Makeover’ days earlier than submitting for divorce. The probabilities are countless.”

The Moneyist:My boyfriend’s ex-wife claimed her 2 sons as dependents on her taxes, and received their stimulus checks, but they live with us

You could have one other consider your favor: Your marriage survived a further 5 years. There might have been completely satisfied occasions throughout that interval, and a few {couples} do throw the “D-word” after they’re going via a rocky patch. According to Ben Carrasco, a lawyer in Austin, Texas: “Spouses are discouraged from difficult transactions that passed off nicely earlier than the wedding’s breakdown in an effort to achieve a bonus through the property division course of.”

The burden of proving {that a} switch of marital belongings didn’t qualify as waste will possible fall on the social gathering who transferred the property, Carrasco says. However he says the timing of any such switch can also be crucial: “The courts will deal with the time within the couple’s marriage when it turned clear that the wedding was in jeopardy and that any main transfers have been being made in anticipation of separation and divorce,” he writes. So it’s not fairly as clear minimize as your husband suggests.

To chop an extended story quick — too late! — your husband seems to be utilizing the identical aggressive tactic that enabled him so as to add his identify to your checking account.

The Moneyist: I earned $100,000 in 2019, but far less in 2020. Why did I not get a stimulus check? How is that fair?

You can email The Moneyist with any financial and ethical questions related to coronavirus at qfottrell@marketwatch.com