my husband and i are currently separated but to keep thing somewhat simple we filed our taxes together for this past year. i didi all of the proper forms for filing an injured spouse claim because he owed debts and his portion of our tax return was taken. instead of the irs wiring my portion to my bank account they sent a check with both our names on it to his house. he signed both our names cashed the check and now i'm out of over 3500.00. where do i stand because i want my money...oh, i am also in the army and live in a whole different state from him. what can i do??

If your husband signed your name without your consent and with the intent to defraud you, he has almost certainly committed forgery. Tell him that you will seek legal recourse if he doesn't give you what you feel is fair. Advise him to speak to a lawyer before making any decisions. Remind him that forgery is a criminal charge. Do so using certified mail.

I am not a lawyer, but have researched forgery laws in several states, and all have been fairly uniform in what constitutes forgery. The attempt to defraud is necessary, and unless your husband willingly gives you what you feel is fair, or what you had agreed upon, he really doesn't stand much of a chance in court in a forgery case. If the two of you were in separate states when the check arrived at his house, and he cashed it within a day or so, he will have to prove that the signature is yours. That seems to be a difficult task.

Thanks for your quick response... We only agreed that he would have his portion and my portion would be deposited into my acount.. the irs screwed up and mailed the check to his house and because i didn't check the box to have the check written only in my name they printed both our names on the check. but the check wasn't to be mailed it was supposed to go direct deposit thats why it wasn't checked and now the irs states that theres nothing that they can do but they did send me a copy of the forged check...

In my opinion,the IRS is telling you that the check is all the ammunition you need to use the court system to get your agreed upon portion. Look at dates. If you weren't in the same state, could your husband have gotten your signature on the check in the time frame indicated. Contact his bank and let them know that they cashed a forged check.

This problem will not take care of itself. You must take action, or forget about the money.

Something to remember is that any divorce action will be with the same man who said one thing and did another. In your case, it looks like things will get ugly. If so, you may as well start now.

Thank you for the advice...i really appreciate it