Be careful about paying money to a spouse prior to a written agreement

If paying a spouse monies towards debts owed while a divorce is pending be sure to clearly identify the payment on the face of the check and do not pay until an agreement is written up. See Rotta v. Rotta where a Husband paid $400,000.00 to his Wife and had even written on the face of the check-"on account"; and it was considered a "gift" by the court. Apparently if you're still legally married and you give your spouse any monies that you later want credit for, you need a clearly written and signed agreement agreeing what the monies are for and that the paying spouse will get a credit towards equitable distribution should you late divorce. Otherwise, it's a gift. In my opinion, only the dissenting Judge got this one right when he stated to rule as the court did created a huge windfall to the Wife 36 FLW D1669b