- 3 - marriage, petitioner and Dr. Banderas maintained and had equal access to a joint checking account, and both wrote checks on the account. Both also opened household mail. Dr. Banderas, however, assumed primary responsibility in handling the family’s financial affairs. In the mid-1990s, Dr. Banderas became involved in a contract dispute with a business associate, Alexander Doman (Dr. Doman), who was to purchase Dr. Banderas’s medical practice in preparation for Dr. Banderas’s retirement. The matter proceeded to litigation and resulted in a $832,447 civil judgment against Dr. Banderas on June 25, 1997. To collect on the judgment, the Banderases’ joint checking account was levied in 1997. Petitioner then, in August of 1997, opened a separate checking account into which Dr. Banderas’s Social Security checks and petitioner’s income were deposited and out of which living expenses were paid. During the pendency of the foregoing controversy, Dr. Banderas retired, and he and petitioner moved to Florida in early 1996. Thereafter, on October 3, 1997, Dr. Banderas filed a voluntary chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida. The bankruptcy case was closed by order of that court on July 21, 2005, afterPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 NextLast modified: November 10, 2007