Stanton, NJ Divorce Law Firms & Lawyers

You threw several things into the same question, so let’s break up your concerns into separate inquiries: 1. Does a party have an obligation to disclose to the other party in a divorce that he/she has a pension that is or may be subject to division in a divorce?  As part of the divorce process (regardless of whether you are pro se or represented by counsel), you are obligated to file a case information statement, disclosing all of your assets and liabilities, regardless of whether you claim that any item is immune or exempt from distribution in a divorce. So, if you and your ex were in a divorce proceeding, you need to look at the disclosure he/she made in the case information statement filed with the court as to all assets to see if the pension plan is listed and if listed, whether it was claimed exempt from distribution. If claimed exempt, the next question is what did you do to try and determine if that claim was true?  2.  If a party has savings bonds in his / her name and received them before the date of the commencement of the marriage but during the marriage, those savings bonds earned interest, does the other person have an entitlement to share in the interest income from those savings bonds in the divorce? The example you provided is different from a pension plan where someone is working during the marriage and pension benefits are being acquired from that employment setting. The interest income on a savings bond is passive (the growth on the bond has nothing to do with the work effort of either party during the marriage and if it was acquired before the marriage by that party with his / her separate monies or if acquired by a gift from a family member, etc, presume that the interest income is not in the pot for distribution.  3. If your former spouse failed to disclose the existence of a specific bank account as part of his / her asset disclosure in a divorce, can the other person get a piece of that asset post-divorce from the court if it is discovered? Maybe. You would have to file an application with the court claiming that he lied as to his asset disclosure, and you now have specific proof that the account was in existence during the marriage and at the time of the divorce filing and he lied to you about its existence and now you want him to provide the underlying account records so that you can get your share. If you have clear proofs that he had an account in existence at the time of the divorce filing and he lied to you at the time about its existence, you can ask the court for relief.   

Thank you for your question. I understand how worried you must be about your family matter. The short answer is possibly. Grounds for a New Jersey annulment are: Bigamy, Duress, Nonage, Incapacity, Impotence, Incest, or Fraud. An example of fraud is that one spouse is an immigrant and uses the other spouse to stay in the country. I understand that you need answers and need to protect yourself. I strongly suggest that you schedule a consultation with a family law attorney who has experience with immigration as soon as possible, so that you can understand the implications for you and your spouse.