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
In this article, we address divorce and transfer of Individual Retirement Account (IRA) Assets. We focus on the Traditional IRA because the rules for transfers are more restrictive than for a Roth IRA. (If you follow the rules for transferring ownership interests in Traditional IRA assets for Roth IRA assets, you should qualify for the tax-free … Read more
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
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
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
One of the situations that we see in many family situations is where one spouse is the primary caretaker of the financial obligations for the family. That person may have been in charge of paying the bills, setting up the investment accounts, making investment decisions (stocks, bonds, real estate, mutual funds, etc.), buying and maintaining … Read more