27 Apr What Are My Options if I’m Facing Financial Issues during My Divorce?

Going through a divorce can create many challenges for you. Some of these are emotional in nature — dealing with the dissolution of a marriage can be stressful and traumatic. Some challenges may be logistical in nature, especially if you’re adjusting to life as a single parent. Often, you will also face financial challenges as well.

There is a term called pendente lite, which means “pending the litigation” in Latin. It represents the time period between when the divorce complaint was filed and when the case is finalized. New Jersey law uses the doctrine of pendente lite to ensure that both spouses, to the best of their abilities, try to maintain the status quo of the marriage during the divorce proceeding.

Some of the matters covered under this doctrine are relatively straightforward. For example, neither spouse may alter the terms of insurance policies without the written consent of the other spouse. However, some matters addressed by pendente lite are much more complicated. This is particularly true of financial issues.

Married families typically arrive at a process for how they will pay their bills. Some couples choose to designate certain bills for each spouse to pay. For example, the husband may be responsible for paying the mortgage every month while the wife pays the other monthly expenses. In these situations, it’s a little easier to determine who is responsible for paying each bill during the divorce.

In other families, both spouses may choose to deposit their paychecks into a joint account and pay all bills from this one account. In these situations, reconstructing each spouse’s monthly budget to ensure a fair and equitable distribution of financial responsibility for bills can be more challenging. The doctrine of pendente lite will be used to create a financial arrangement for paying bills based on each spouse’s respective incomes.

These situations become extremely challenging when one spouse stayed at home with the children. In these situations, the spouse who worked will typically be responsible for paying all the bills and provide access to funds so that the other spouse and children can maintain their standard of living during the divorce.

If your spouse fails to provide this financial support, you have rights. Mr. Bloom can file a Notice of Motion for Pendente Lite Relief. In addition, Mr. Bloom may seek a court order to freeze all bank accounts and assets until the divorce agreement is finalized. Through these actions, you should be able to receive the financial support you need to support yourself and your children until spousal support and child support payments are established as part of the divorce agreement.

If you’re facing a divorce and you’re worried about how you will pay your monthly expenses, we can help. Please contact the Law Offices of Jeffrey M. Bloom using the form at the top right side of the page or call (855) 208-3650 today to schedule a divorce consultation. Mr. Bloom serves clients in West New York, and throughout Hudson County and Bergen County, New Jersey.