Ex being sued after Separation

[Patricias1000]

I'd appreciate it if somebody can help me please

I separated from my husband a month ago and now his business partner "miraculously" wants to sue him...My ex hasn't told me anything about it but his business partner came to me demanding me to give him money because my ex took money from their business to give it to me.

The thing is that I stopped working when we got married, my ex was supporting me so we were living out of his partnership business.
We had a lot of fights about money and when we decided to separate he told me that I wouldn't get any money from him because everything belonged to his business...but I knew he was lying because although they worked on it together the business bank account is under my ex's name.

At the end after a lot of discussions he ended up giving me some good amount of money like trying to get rid of me and I just accepted it for now before the divorce.

So that's why I'm afraid that he and his partner are planning the whole thing just to take the money back from me because his business partner told me that although the account was on my ex's name, the money in it also belongs to him, therefore i have to give it back or he'll sue me too.

Can they actually do that?
If yes...
What if I spend the money before?

[standing on the sidelines]

well first off do not spend the money until you get it figured out. I cannot understand why they did not have a business account under both names. If he can prove that the bank account under his name was used just for the business then it may be deemed the business account.

His partner cannot sue you alone, if you can be sued at all. He would have to follow the money and sue his partner/your ex first, because he is the one who took the money and then your ex sue you. Or they would have to sue you jointly. I have a feeling that you cannot be sued but be on the safe side and do not spend the money until it is figured out. If you spend it and they can sue you will be required to pay it all back no matter if you spent it or not.

[independentgal]

Theoretically anyone can sue anyone, but your ex's partner cannot legitimately issue a statement of claim against you. It is your ex that is the only one who can be sued. I suppose if that happened, your ex may counter-claim against you but that claim would undoubtedly fail.

I suspect they are testing you to see if they can get the money out of you. Do not fall for it. You don't have to give it back, if it is a claim your ex will make in future, then it can be dealt with to reduce his (potential) equalization payment to you, future spousal etc. You don't have to pay that SPECIFIC money back now, there is no basis for such a claim.

Go ahead with whatever you were planning on doing with the money, just keep good banking/ledger records for every expense(personal and house upkeep etc.). This is one area that I did not take care of very well and I am regretting it now. Just enter expenses and the corresponding receipt into excel or something like that to keep track weekly and it will save you lots of time in the long run if you end up in litigation for your divorce.

[singledad99]

First of all I agree with SOTS about not spending the money yet.

The whole point of this issue is whether the equalization payment was calculated fairly. If the value of the business was assessed without his partner then clearly you got too much money as equalization as the partner's share should have not been included in the calculations. If partner's share was not included in business value then they have no case. His partner cannot sue you but your ex can go back to court and ask for return of excess payment.

So the key issue for you is to determine whether or not correct value of business was used to calculate the equalization payment. I think you can determine it yourself if they provide you some evidence to their claim (but make sure you get a lawyer's opinion too). If you think you got too much then I think you should return the excess payment because its always good idea to settle things out of court.