• 13
  • June
    2011

For a married couple, the decision to separate often comes after serious contemplation during a measurable period of time. The decision is generally not made lightly and once agreed upon is often a final decision in the couple's minds. While it may seem final to the pair, it is not yet final under the law and their property may be considered marital property until the divorce is finalized.

So what happens if one spouse disappears? A Colorado Springs judge has had to protect the interests of one divorcing woman after she went missing and continues to remain missing. The judge denied the request of her husband this week to end his obligation to pay alimony to his missing wife.

The husband argued that the money was not being used, but simply accumulating in an account which would unfairly increase his wife's financial portion of the settlement once the divorce is finalized. The court rejected the argument but allowed the husband to sell the marital home, setting aside the profits in a trust account.

The missing person's case has raised unique family law implications. The woman has been missing for nearly three months since her March 31, 2011 disappearance, after filing for divorce but before finalizing it. While the police have begun treating the case as a homicide, without a declaration that the woman is no longer alive or a final divorce decree from the court, the husband is left in a sort of marital limbo. He has already proposed to another woman, but cannot legally move forward until his first marriage has legally ended.

Source: KKTV.com "Heriford's Husband Requests To Stop Alimony Payments, Judge Says No," Karen Morfitt, 1 June 2011