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Hello everyone, I’m Dr. Michael Mantell with another edition of Family Law Matters with Bonnie Rabinovitch-Mantel, Certified Family Law Specialist and Managing Partner of the Primus Family Law Group. Hi, Bonnie. Hi, Michael, how are you doing today? Terrific, another warm day here in San Diego.

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All right, Bonnie, ready? Here we go, this is a killer. What are the most common financial mistakes that people make during a divorce and how do I prevent them? During a divorce, you are not allowed to dispose of your assets that your spouse may have an interest in. And I say may, because a lot of people think that just because something’s titled in their name, it belongs to them, or just because they had it before marriage and then they started using it together like a home, during marriage, it’s still all theirs.

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And the problem is people go ahead and make these large transactions and then they’ve unwittingly done something wrong in the process of the divorce that could be very expensive for them in the long run. So what we as attorneys say is before you wanna go ahead and do something like that, reach out to us, ask us if it’s a good idea, either before you purchase something, because even though you’re separated, your ex would still, for example, have to sign a quick claim deed if you wanted to purchase something. That could be a point of contention.

(1:32 – 2:15)
You know, where did you get the money? Was it my money? Was it our money? So if you’re going to make any of these big decisions, financial decisions, you should check with your family law attorney and probably your accountant at the same time if you’re going through a divorce. Now, this person wrote that she has all the money in the relationship and she’s put it all into a family trust and she thinks that’s gonna protect it from the divorce. Will that protect it from the divorce? All your money that you earn during your marriage, so the paycheck you get after you get married becomes community property.

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So if you’ve got, it doesn’t matter that you put it in a separate bank account. Doesn’t matter that you didn’t use it for any of the expenses of the house. It is community property.

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And so that’s gonna be interesting for her. Yeah, so, but I think this points out that people think that they can talk to their accountant or a financial advisor who advises you, yeah, let’s put the money over here or let’s do this with it. If they don’t talk to Bonnie Rabinovitch Mantell at Primus Family Law Group, they may be getting some very, very harmful advice.

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Well, it’s not harmful advice for those specialties. It’s just that it’s not the full picture. Those professionals, just like I don’t claim to be a financial advisor and what stocks you should put your money in to make the most money, they shouldn’t be making advice that may affect your family law case.

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So usually all of us professionals kind of we work together. I mean, we have no problem having a joint telephone call and saying, hey, this is what you wanna do. Well, from this perspective and that perspective and that perspective, the best course of action is this.

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In healthcare, there’s something that we call integrative medicine. Integrative medicine. You have a whole team of people working with you.

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You have that very same thing in your practice of law. You have accountants, financial advisors, therapists, you know, physicians, private investigators. Pardon me? Behavioral coaches.

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Thank you. Private investigators. You have a team of people that you work with, but you’re not stuck to work only with those.

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If someone says, but this is my therapist or my whatever. Well, when you say we have a team, there’s nobody but us attorneys and paralegals and staff on the primus payroll. We have a resource list.

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We have other professionals that we have worked with over the years that we find to be of stellar reputation, impeccable conduct, ethical, so that we are willing to refer our clients out to these people as needed. But we are always open to new professionals. And we get a lot of that, you know, all the time.

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I mean, as we have more and more of us as primus, we have more and more experience with other individuals and that resource list grows. And we’re able to provide to our clients, you know, different possibilities as their needs, financial, emotional, familial change throughout the course. Two quick questions related to this.

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What happens if I choose not to sign divorce papers? What divorce papers? A petition does not require anybody’s signature, but the person filing the petition. So let’s say Michael, unfortunately, you and the missus decide to divorce and you are adamant that you don’t want to. She goes to an attorney or she signs the petition.

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The petition gets filed. The dissolution has started. You get served.

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You can try to run away from service, but we will find a way. And so- That’s my next, that’s the next question. Right, you- What if my spouse- You try to run away? Well, there are other ways that we will get you served.

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I mean, it’s happened that we, it will require a motion. And you know, if need be, we’ve tried you at every known address, your work, your home, your friend, wherever we think you are and we can’t find you, the court will allow us to do what is called service by publication where we could even post on Facebook or we know that Dr. Mantel is huge on Instagram. We could post on those things possibly if given court approval to let you know.

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The point is to give you notice that you are being sued for divorce. And then if you don’t participate at all, you screw it, I’m not participating. It could result in what is called a default judgment, which means that she gets a judgment of divorce and everything she’s asking for, as long as it’s not contrary to the law.

(6:36 – 7:07)
So her share of the retirements, her share of the house, her share of the debts, her share of the assets, she puts that all out, the judge will give a judgment of divorce and you would never participate. This person’s spouse or soon to be ex, what I like to call Stobex, soon to be ex, actually left the country, went to another country and he took off. He’s in another country.

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We can serve. You can serve anyway. Well, it depends what the country is.

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Obviously, Canada being another country is a little different than Uzbekistan. So obviously, if there’s a way to serve, we have to try it. Then if we can’t, we do our best diligent.

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There’s a procedure to follow to allow for publication and we assume by publication that they’ve seen it. Bonnie, if people wanna be in touch for a free 30 minutes consultation with you at Primus Family Law Group, how can they do that? Well, if you want a free 30 minute phone consultation, it’s 619-574-8000 or you can reach us at www.primusfamilylaw.com.