Protection in Divorce Against Asset and Income Hiding

Your and your spouse’s income and asset information are needed when structuring the key divorce settlement issues:  property split and any alimony or child support calculations.  If you suspect that your spouse is hiding income or assets, or if you think he/she has the potential to do so, you will gain some protection by having the … Read more

Financial Impact of a Properly Structured Alimony Agreement

Over the years, we have seen cases in which separation or divorce instruments violate the requirements for structuring alimony payments correctly.  These situations often produce a negative financial impact for the individual that is paying the alimony and can lead to additional lawsuits and ill feelings.  In order to avoid this potential mess, it is … Read more

Bankruptcy and Divorce

There are several issues to consider when contemplating a bankruptcy filing as part of a divorce.  Certain debts are dischargeable and others are not.  The following divorce related debts are not dischargeable in a bankruptcy filing: Taxes (federal, state, real estate, etc) Child support Alimony (aka Spousal Support or Maintenance) Debts arising from a marital settlement … Read more

Community Property vs. Equitable Property Rules in Divorce

Nine states are Community Property states Arizona California Idaho Louisiana Nevada New Mexico Texas Washington Wisconsin In contrast, other states follow an equitable property distribution. Both terms are described below. Community Property Community property states consider all property as being in two categories:  separate property or community property.  Separate property doesn’t need to be split … Read more

Impact of Retirement Account Split

An area where many individuals get into tax trouble is when splitting their Qualified Retirement Accounts (QRPs) and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).  Once you have come to the revelation that your assets must be split you may be tempted to start the process by making pre-divorce transfers prior to receiving an official judgment, decree or … Read more