Clients assume that experienced divorce lawyers must have seen “everything.” We have but that doesn’t always mean we can predict when or how the business of starting a divorce “kicks off.” As I was putting this essay together, I read the saga of a fellow in western Pennsylvania who came home drunk one night last week. His unhappy spouse responded by stating she intended to file for divorce. He told her she would not be getting the house. Then he went outside, fired up his backhoe and began to destroy the back of their Butler County home. This case began with his arrest and the filing of a protection order. Man accused of using excavator to destroy home with family inside
In California, Connecticut and New Jersey, the filing of a divorce action can act to freeze assets. In Pennsylvania you need to file for an injunction to get relief and that will come at the court’s discretion. Clients will often ask, “What should I do? I don’t want to be at the gas station one day and find my account is empty.” On the other hand, there is some ancient law still out there suggesting that if you grab an asset for yourself, you may be inviting a “partition” of all assets on a 50/50 basis. If you file for divorce and then execute the “grab”, the partition rules don’t apply. Suffice it to say, it can be complicated.
The related issue is how to notify Mr. or Mrs. NoLongerRight of the unhappy tidings. Some lawyers advocate filing immediately and letting the sheriff or constable do the talking by serving the divorce complaint. There are times when that may be necessary, but a spouse served with papers while at work or coaching Junior’s soccer game is not going to respond well. My preference was always a letter indicating the news coupled with an invitation to respond directly or through counsel. But if the spouse or the assets present a flight risk discussion should be had about taking “half” of joint accounts or filing to freeze assets at the same time as you file for divorce. We like to think that even surprised spouses will act maturely or at least not have a backhoe in the backyard. You just never know. We have also been in matters where a spouse comes home to find not just the cupboard but the bedrooms bare. No spouse. No kids. No furniture. The spouse trying that dramatic move often is found and served with an order directing the kids and the furniture all come back. It’s about the most expensive way one can choose to start the game.
These decisions are fact-sensitive and should be thoroughly discussed with counsel. Immaturity or overreaction tends to beget immaturity and overreaction. That costs money and it often takes weeks or months for the parties to calm down. You may want vengeance. You may even deserve vengeance. But it comes at a price, and it may trigger the enmity of the judge to whom your case is assigned. Most judges and many lawyers try to mitigate the “drama” of separation and divorce. Ticking off your lawyer is one thing but if a judge senses you are “outta control” in your first encounter, that sobriquet tends to stick to your case for its duration. Judges have busy schedules and often don’t remember every detail of each case. But when the clerk is asked “Which case is this?” and the answer comes back “The dude with the backhoe” the legend lives on; and not in good ways.