Marrying a real life Jerry Maguire - including financial problems

[donna345]

I am engaged to a man who is a financial advisor. We live in Florida and own our primary residence under both our names. He was hired by a major bank and given a six figure sign-in bonus in the form of a loan which required him to stay with them for four years, among other things, but did not specify a sales goal as a condition for employment. Several months into his employment they were not happy with his production and started trying to get him to sign documentation that held him down to a sales goal. He did not sign the paperwork and argued that this was not part of the deal when he was hired. They let him go, filled a U5 against him, contacted his clients Jerry Maguire style (most of who he brought with him from the previous bank), and are now litigating to get their money back.

Rather than try to work for another bank, he decided to go on his own. Most of his clients came with him but his little business is still not generating enough money to be profitable. I don't make enough to cover all the bills so he has been paying his portion of the bills from the sign-in bonus money which is quickly running out.

He hired an attorney to represent him, counter sued for defamation (for contacting his clients) and thinks he has a good chance of beating the bank since their sign-in contract has holes in it but I'm not so sure. What are the chances he can beat them? What happens if they get a judgment against him? What if he filed bankruptcy?

This process will probably take a while and we will be married by the time there is an outcome. How will this affect my credit and assets once we are married? What can I do to protect myself and my name?

 

[tpajet]

What a mess. One question I have is, if the loan stated he had to remain there for 4 years, then what were the terms if they decided to terminated him? And that's pretty bizarre - your bonus is a loan. In any event....

The chances of you beating this depend on the terms of employment when he was hired. It's going to depend on what it says about if they fire him and why they would do so. However, I think there is much more to this than you have posted so far (whether you simply missed a few things or are holding back....)

As to your other questions - You and your soon to be husband have separate credit reports. Your will only be affected by anything that you already have together, if you default on it. If they get a judgment against him, it will only show on his report.

Moving on to that, if they win their suit, then they will get a judgment against him, meaning he will have to pay. Although if he wins his countersuit, the amount of the countersuit will offset the bank's judgment. So, let's assume the worst on that half - the bank wins their case and they get a judgment against him. If you can't pay, you can't pay. They can't put him in jail for not being able to pay. However they can garnish his wages or possibly seize assets. Most likely it will be limited to garnishments, but they can also dip into the bank account. But, at the same time, if that happens then don't attach your finances to his as much as you can. For example, keep your own checking account. If there is any extra money that comes to the both of you, put it in yours. That way your income into the checking account cannot be touched.

Also I'm assuming his bank account is at that bank since he worked there. If that is the case, he needs to move it to a different bank. If it's still with them, they can much more easily dip into it. Also, when he does change over, he needs to get his money from the first bank as a cashiers check, NOT a wire transfer. That keeps the current back from getting the new bank info. Lastly if he can put some of that money into your account, it would help later.

Filing bankruptcy is not an option here. Bankruptcy wont' erase a judgment.