Will my joint account with my parent be divided between my husband and I afterour divorce?
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Will my joint account with my parent be divided between my husband and I afterour divorce?
My parents are currently living in Vietnam, and I am living together with my husband in America. Since my parents do not trust Vietnam banks, they want to send their money into my personal account here (the account on which does not have my husband’s name, but my name only, which mean it is not the joint account of me and my husband). My parents want me to keep their money, because they think it is safer to keep the money in the US. The questions here are: By the time my husband and I have the divorce and this account still does not have my husband’s name, but my name only on, will the amount of money that I am keeping for my parents be divided between my husband and I? Do I need to prove that amount of money is my parents’? And how do I prove that? And if my parents come here and I add their name to my account to make it become the joint account of me and my parents before the divorce happens, will the money that I am keeping for my parent be divided between my husband and I?
Asked on August 20, 2011 Missouri
Answers:
M.T.G., Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
I can not tell if you are intending to get divorced or you are just a really good planner with regard to this matter. I would have you parents open up an account in their name only and have you be a signatory on the account, meaning that you can sign checks, etc., but the account is not yours and can not be considered marital property in the event of the divorce. Just for your own information, generally speaking, money earned during a marriage is considered to be marital property. So the fact that you put it in an account that does not have your husband's name on it does not really matter in the scheme of things. It is marital money. And if you put your parents money in it then you are going to have to keep a ledger of some sort to account for that money s it is not yours. Good luck.
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