What Restrictions Exist Regarding Property During Divorce?

Once you decide to divorce, you may wonder whether there are restrictions on what you can do with your property. Can you cash in stocks, spend money in your joint bank account without telling your spouse or run up debt on your credit card? Divorce requires planning and consulting a lawyer in your area, such as a Brooklyn division of marital property attorney. A lawyer can help ensure you do not do anything illegal and further complicate your divorce.

New York Domestic Relations Law 236 outlines what actions you must not take regarding marital property during divorce. Unless you and your spouse create a legal agreement that states otherwise, or during the ordinary course of business, or for usual household expenses, or in relation to attorney fees associated with the divorce or as allowed by court order, you cannot do the following:

• Sell, transfer, encumber, conceal, assign, remove or dispose of the following property:
  • Real estate
  • Personal property
  • Cash accounts
  • Stocks
  • Mutual funds
  • Bank accounts
  • Cars
  • Boats
  • Tax deferred funds, stocks or assets held in individual retirement accounts, 401K accounts, profit sharing plans, Keogh accounts or any other pension or retirement account
• Incur any unreasonable debts through credit card use, credit lines secured by your family home or borrow and encumber assets
• Remove your spouse or children from health or dental insurance
• Change beneficiaries on existing life insurance, automobile insurance or house or renter’s insurance policies that are already in effect