Countdown To E-Day
Mrs. Hyde Speaks Up
Less than 24 hours after promising not to make things hard on me, Mr. Hyde was again screaming at me and telling me I couldn’t leave.
“Why should you just be able to walk away? The appropriate thing to do is stay until the divorce is final or at least until the house sells.” No way in hell am I staying that long. In this economy it could take years for our house to sell. I haven’t filed for a divorce yet because I don’t have the time or money. I will eventually, but I’m not in a rush to divorce... just to leave.
He screamed at me saying I should pay 50% of the mortgage until the house sells and if I didn’t sign papers agreeing, he would call the police and not let me leave the house on Escape day, or E-Day for short.
He sent me an email at work claiming he had spoken with an attorney and if I didn’t agree to sign some sort of papers, he would have the attorney freeze our assets. He said I would still be free to leave on E-Day, but I wouldn’t be able to take anything with me.
Hearing all these nasty threats upset me and although I’m not the cold-hearted bitch Mr. Hyde claims me to be, I’m also not a complete pushover. I contacted a lawyer myself and spent some time talking through the details.
No, he can’t prevent me from leaving and while he can freeze our assets, he has to first retain the lawyer, have the paperwork drawn up, signed and then present it to a judge. Once the judge signs off on it, it then has to be served to me... and until then he can’t freeze squat.
Also, he forgot one major detail -- they can only freeze MARITAL assets, not separate property. Anything brought into the marriage BEFORE the marriage is considered separate property. Only stuff bought after the marriage date is considered marital property. So all of my stuff is still MY stuff... not OUR stuff. He can’t prevent me from taking my own things from the residence.
