I know that I need to ask my attorney this, but thought I may gain some inside as he is going to be away for a few days.

WW filed for Dv on 06/04. We own 3 vehicles. My work truck, her work vehicle, and our "pleasure" 2001 Tahoe.

My question is this:

I just paid the premiums on these yesterday. She kept her work vehicle when she walked out. I let her, cause she could have petitioned the court and they would have done it anyway.

All vehicles are on a blanket policy. That is the way the insurance company does it, along with the house.

A month or so before she walked out, she began to give into "peer pressure" at her place of employment, and started to "nip" a mixed drink or two. In her 32 years she had NEVER drank at all. In my 41 years, I have NEVER, either.

A couple of weeks before she left, she had a couple of mixed drinks before she left work. Although she wasn't obviously affected, I am sure she would have still been "legally" DUI, should she have been in an accident or something.

I am concerned with this. Should she do this while our DV is pending, legally I am obligated as of now for her actions. Or am I? The vehicles and insurance are in my name, and even if it was in her name, she is still on my policy.

Has anyone ever experienced this, and what did you have to do?

hcii

hcii,

I am not an attorney, and certainly don't want to give you anything even remotely resembling legal advice, but I will tell you what I did.

After WH left (without a word, so I didn't know what was happening) I took his name off my car title, since I DID NOT KNOW what he was doing, or where he was. I didn't want to be responsible for any "incidents" which might have been his fault.

Then, a couple of months later, when premiums came due for car ins. I paid for my car, and sent him the bill for his (by that time, I had located him). I DID NOT pay his ins. He eventually did, after we got a cancellation notice on it.

I did, however, let my ins. co. know that we were separated, and that he had HIS truck, and I didn't know where he was, and wasn't responsible for any bills owed on it.

Granted, if he had had a DUI or accident while we were in "flux" like that, I don't know what would have heppened, but I would start by letting the ins. co know where all the vehicles are the status of the drivers of same (minus the fact that she's taken up a new habit now!) <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="images/icons/shocked.gif" />

Also, since you have retained legal representation, if anything happens while she is in the vehicle without you, it would be shown in court that you are "separated" and she is responsible for herself, and you have NO CONTROL over her actions!

Again, be wary of this advice, since in a Community Property state, this advice might not hold water!!

God Bless,

When we separated in November, our insurance company said we needed to have separate policies. They would let it slide until January (I was hopeful about plan B ending!), and it actually ended up being June, when the policy normally expired. Technically, the policy should have been split right away.

Among other things, we had a multi-vehicle discount that applies only when vehicles are garaged at the same place. My WW wanted to keep that. It would be just what we need for the insurance company to decide we were lying, and not pay all of a claim if there were an accident. My expected annual mileage has gone up, and I told the insurance agent that as well.

So now, I have my own auto policy and a renters policy from the same company, so I do get a multi-policy discount. WW has homeowners with that company, but the agent told me that WW was not happy about the rate increase and was going to shop around. I don't know what she ended up doing and it's not my problem.

At the time, November, there had been no divorce filing. In your shoes right now, I would immediately separate the auto insurance just like you would with credit cards and bank accounts.

Our two vehicles are titled in both names, as is the house. That will be split in final settlement, and in the meantime, the insurance agent has me listed as an "interested party" on the homeowner's. Your agent probably knows what to do about your title situation - this kind of stuff must happen a lot.

Good luck.