Seperated Husband Wanting Half of My Gifted Money

[Snugglebug]

well i was mostley looking for a loophole in something.

see. I am seperated from my husband and we are just finalizing our divorce. my parents bought an investment property for us to live in and we paid the mortgage as rent (prob less than rent for a place like that would have been)

well after we seperated, they decided to sell the property as they didnt want to have to manage renters they didnt know. but because my ex and i had done so much work on the house they decided to be generous and give us each half of the profit.

because we were married when we lived in the house my ex has come back at me with a huge list of debts we accumulated in the marriage (debts he built working on his show cars that i never asked for half of, or debts he mostly had already paid off while we were married) that he wants me to pay half of with the money my mom gifted me. hes not happy with the size of the portion my mom gave him and so he wants me to pay off everything, even half the income tax he had to pay when we were married (i couldnt work)...and THESE arent even outstanding debts anymore. hes just trying to get more money

so my question is, because the money, house..etc etc is all in my moms name and i dont have the money yet...and i dont want to have to go to court to fight for it with him because of his unreasonable requests...

can i just NOT accept the money? have my mom tie it up in bonds somewhere in her name for awhile? because if i dont have the money, or any money for that matter because i am technically broke....does it mean i have to pay him anything? (i never worked our entire marriage and was infact on disability for most our marriage)

wouldnt it be the same as him coming into a large chunk of money and me asking him for half of it? so if i dont have the money because i never accepted the gift...could i get away with not having to fight or comply with him over his unreasonable demands?

i know...long question, but what is your idea?

[Mr. Knowitall]

Your mom may be creating potential gift tax exposure, or at a minimum triggering a reporting requirement, if she gives each of you a huge lump sum of money. She may want to restructure her gift in a series of annual sums that don't exceed the annual gift tax exclusion ($12,000).

If she has not yet made a gift of the money and your ex- is being a jerk, she can reconsider if she wants to give him anything.

If you and your husband cannot agree on how marital debts should be divided, you'll end up having to litigate the issue. If you're not yet represented in the divorce, consult a lawyer. If you are, talk to your lawyer.