Joint Banking, judgement against 1

[rogue22]

I tried looking for this in previous posts, but could find anything..

My wife and I are planning to file in 6 months as advised by our lawyer for certain reasons. I have been unemployed for over a year now and im on my last 3 months of Unemployment. We have joint banking accounts and she has always made more money than me (for the last 5 years anyways). We have one car thats in both of our names, but has a lien on it from a family member (totally legit, had nothing to do with BK). From my understanding, it could technically be repo'ed, but unlikely since they would have to pay back the lien and pay half to my wife. Because we are now having to wait 6 months, it is very likely that I will get a judgement against me. I was already served a few month back, but I have answered their complaints just to delay it.

Few questions:
1. Are my unemployment benefits exempt from the lawyer getting it? I'm not extremely concerned about this since im almost out of benefits anyways. Its a $1000 a month.

2. Since our bank account is joint and the lawsuit/judgement would have nothing to do with her, how is this going to affect our banking? Theres never more than $2,500 in it at one time and its all used for normal living (rent, food, bills, etc.).

3. Could they take her portion of the money since we're married or can they only look at what I bring in (money) since the judgement would only be against me?

4. Does the lawyer get to review our bank transactions (like a trustee will)?

[WhatMoney]

I tried looking for this in previous posts, but could find anything..
Try the search function. Using joint checking judgment as keywords I found 26 relevant posts.

Few questions:
1. Are my unemployment benefits exempt from the lawyer getting it? I'm not extremely concerned about this since im almost out of benefits anyways. Its a $1000 a month.

They are exempt if direct deposited into a bank account, but that still means a judgment holder can garnish them. You would need to file an exemption form with the court to get them released if the bank freezes the exempt UE funds.

2. Since our bank account is joint and the lawsuit/judgement would have nothing to do with her, how is this going to affect our banking? Theres never more than $2,500 in it at one time and its all used for normal living (rent, food, bills, etc.).

If your name is on the account, ALL money in the account is subject to a bank levy. It makes no difference who deposited it. You need to close the joint account and have your wife open a new one with only her name on it. Otherwise your wife's income is at risk. If you need a debit card for convenience, use cash to fund a money debit card in your name.

Otherwise, have your wife open a pay pal account in her name only, connected to her new bank account. Then have your wife add a 2nd debit card to her pay pal account, in your name. Should be pretty safe. And she doesn't need to keep much or any funds in her PP account. If you use the debit card for a purchase, PP does an instant transfer from her bank account to cover the purchase amount.

3. Could they take her portion of the money since we're married or can they only look at what I bring in (money) since the judgement would only be against me?

They can take everything up to the judgment amount. See answer above. (And it's spelled judgment, btw.)

4. Does the lawyer get to review our bank transactions (like a trustee will)?

If you don't have an account he would have nothing to review. It would take an interrogatory filled out by you, after a judgment, to inform him of accounts in your name, and then a subpoena to inspect them. He can't inspect what does not exist.

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[GoingDown]

Good info in this thread. I have linked to it in the Exempt Funds sticky section above.

[AngelinaCatHub]

Good reply 'whatmoney'. I would add, attempt at all costs to avoid the Judgment. They are nasty things. 'Hub