The Lovely Harvey has an ex-employee whose husband just got arrested for thieving from an elderly relative whom he had taken fiduciary responsibility.
The ex-employee, is also a man.
They rushed out to get married as soon as it was legal.
Now the ex-employee is fretting about how his accounts might be frozen as his husband's were against the near half million dollars that were allegedly embezzled from the elderly person's accounts.
"How can they do that?!?" he wonders.
Well, it's Florida, Jake. Doesn't matter whose name it's in, you're married it's joint.
And if your spouse is accused of stealing or embezzling, your accounts are his accounts too.
Welcome to the big leagues!
Oh, wait, you just wanted the benefits of being married without the liabilities, didn't you?
I think we tried to warn you.
Heh... Yep, hoist on his own 'petard', if you will...
ReplyDeleteThis is also why having accounts in foreign countries (if you can get them to let you open accounts; the US government is so heavy-handed that a lot of foreign banks don't want US customers, and this has forced some American expats to renounce their US citizenship) is a Good Thing.
ReplyDeleteThere are ways around that, but one needs to plan ahead to use them - and not many people do!
DeleteThe most common to to set up a trust or Corporation to hold funds or assets so you control them but they aren't 'yours'.
There are also some 'less traditional' account available in the US that don't show up on your credit report, etc, which makes it hard for anyone else to find - but again, they are unusual types and you have to know how they do (or don't) show up. Contrary to what I've heard people claim, they aren't just for 'the rich', but for anyone who takes the time to research them and who can hire an expert who knows the law to set them up.