Question: My husband and I lived together for several years before we married during which we purchased rental real estate and a home in our joint names even though I put up all of the money from inheritance I received from my father’s estate.

After we were married, we refinanced the properties and both signed the mortgage. Fast forward five years to now and our marriage is breaking up. My husband is now claiming that he should get half of everything. I think this is unreasonable, yet I don't want to get into a long-term court fight that costs more than the assets we are arguing over. There must be some legalese that will get me out of this mess.

Answer: We're not sure you can avoid a court proceeding unless you and he are able to settle. Based on our research, depending on where you live, some courts have ruled that when premarital property is titled in the names of two individuals who then marry, the property is converted into marital property and is subject to being divided.

Certainly, when you and he refinanced after the marriage and both signed to be responsible for the notes, you gave the world a good indication that you and he were partners; however, the way in which the asset is divided may well depend upon the values of the contributions made during the marriage. This means that you have a tracing and accounting problem and need an expert to assist you. Bottom line: Litigation could have been avoided if you had negotiated and signed a co-ownership agreement when the property was purchased or, better still, titled the property only in your name.

Question: Without going through the nasty details, after a rather short marriage, I discovered that my wife is bisexual and has had several relationships with both men and women. Needless to say, I have been very concerned about HIV and AIDS. She has refused to take the test.
I left her and want to know how I can force her to take the test for my protection.

Answer: After we researched your question, we were surprised to see that some states require those who apply for marriage licenses to receive information about HIV/AIDS, including where counseling and testing can be arranged. At one time, Illinois required mandatory testing before marriage, but later abolished the law.

If you are involved in marital litigation, under the discovery rules in most states, you may be able to ask the family court to require your wife submit to a physical examination which, under these circumstances, might include HIV/AIDS testing. If you are not involved in marital litigation, but have a good faith basis to bring a civil action against her for intentional infliction of emotional distress, you can ask the civil court for similar relief as courts have the authority to require testing based on the facts of each case.

But be prepared for possible arguments that she is entitled to be free from unreasonable searches and seizure under the Fourth Amendment.

Question: My husband was required to pay me $500 per month alimony. Because I did not have the money to pay the balance of my fees, my lawyer suggested that I assign my alimony to him for ten months. My ex made payments for two months and stopped. My lawyer took him back to court, but my ex then went bankrupt and is now trying to discharge his obligation to pay me alimony. Is my alimony in danger as I heard that bankruptcy won’t touch support payments?

Answer: You appear to have a problem, and you need a bankruptcy lawyer to represent you. While alimony is support for bankruptcy purposes and not dischargeable, when you "assigned" your rights to this stream of payments to your divorce lawyer, you may have changed the nature of the payments into a dischargeable debt. By taking the assignment, your lawyer has put you into a dangerous situation.