My friend lives in California, and about 20 years ago, his wife asked for a bifurcated divorce, which he agreed to. But there’s never been a final judgment. She left a bunch of her stuff in his garage, and it takes up most of the space. Their divorce wasn’t exactly friendly, and he’s worried that without a final judgment, he can’t just get rid of her things. He’s also concerned she might come back to claim them or even sue him.
Last year, he thought about getting solar panels, but he needs to clear out the garage first. So, he got an estimate for removing her stuff and sent her a letter with the estimate, asking her to pick it up. She refused to take it or pay to have it removed.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how he can legally dispose of her belongings?
I’m a family law attorney in another state, but i have never come across this before. In my state, the court won’t finalize a divorce until child custody is sorted out and property is fairly divided. Do you have access to the actual divorce papers? They might have had a separate property settlement agreement that allows them to sort things out later. This all seems odd. He could offer her the items she “owns” and give her a deadline to pick them up. I don’t see why that wouldn’t work.
A “bifurcated divorce” is when a marriage is legally ended, but they hold off on settling important stuff like finances, assets, and child custody. It separates the end of the marriage from things like property division, custody arrangements, and spousal support. This lets people legally separate earlier and even remarry sooner, but they still need to deal with the court for dividing any shared finances or property from the marriage. (jlegal.org) By the way, Michigan, Texas, Nebraska, and Arizona don’t allow bifurcated divorces. I think my friend’s wife wanted to remarry pretty quickly, which is why she pushed for this type of divorce.
So, they were legally divorced, and later on, they figured out custody and joint finances, like who gets the house. But they never sorted out the division of other stuff. She just left her belongings there. Can he legally get rid of her things since she won’t do it herself, or does he need some kind of legal document for that?
Honestly, I’ve never heard of this before, and it wouldn’t fly in my state. Just so you know, I’m not in any of the states you mentioned. I think your friend really needs to talk to a lawyer in their county about this.
Get in touch with your attorney if they’re still practicing. It’s wild that it’s still not finalized after all these years…
Did they get through the first stage? Are they officially divorced and just waiting on the settlement, or has nothing happened yet?
Yeah, they got through the first stage. She remarried pretty soon after the divorce. From what I hear, she wanted to deal with property division and child custody after the first phase since those things can take a while. The kids are legal adults now, and they agreed that the house would go to him. I’m not sure what that all involved. The only thing left is her personal stuff that she left behind. Just to be clear, he and his ex settled on the house, and it’s legally his now.
The only way the house can be legally his is if there’s a final judgment. About her stuff sitting there for 20 years—he should give her 30 days to pick it up before he gets rid of it. Instead of spending money on solar panels, he should get a lawyer to finalize the divorce first.