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Collaborative Divorces Can End Marriages in a Peaceful Manner

Mon, 07 Dec 2020 13:27:08 GMT

Some people who are filing for divorce aren’t ending their marriage because they hate their spouse. Instead, they realize that they have grown apart and that it is time to part ways. If you are in this position, you might find that a collaborative divorce can help you end the marriage in a faster manner.

A collaborative divorce means that you and your ex work together to come to the terms of the divorce. This can be done in a few different ways, but those ways still have the same outcome — you set the terms of the divorce settlement.

An informal process

Collaborative divorces are pretty informal compared to other forms of divorce. Instead of having to battle things out in court, you and your ex would meet in a neutral location. Your attorney and your ex’s attorney would both be present at the negotiations.

You and your ex will be able to work on any aspect of the divorce that needs to be decided upon. It is important to remember that you have to keep things positive during this process. Collaborative divorce won’t work if either you or your ex start bashing the other person or trying to make things difficult for the other party.

Many benefits

Typically, collaborative divorce allows you to end the marriage in a less expensive and shorter way. Since you aren’t airing out the dirty laundry in court, there is a certain level of privacy that occurs with collaborative divorce. Remember, if you go through a divorce trial, the trial transcripts are public records unless they are sealed.

Collaborative divorce also gives you more control over the items you feel strongly about. Since you and your ex are negotiating directly, you can work toward getting the assets and things that you want and your ex can do the same. With this in mind, you should make a list of the items that you aren’t willing to let go. Just remember that you likely won’t get everything to go your way since collaborative divorce is based on mutual negotiations.

Even though collaborative divorce is usually a process that is less stressful than a divorce trial, you still need to make sure that you take steps to protect yourself. Know your rights and make sure that they are respected throughout the process. Having your attorney with you can ensure that your rights are respected and that your negotiations stay on track.

How to Protect Your Children During a Contentious Divorce

Tue, 01 Sep 2020 13:31:23 GMT

If you decide to divorce, you won’t be at a loss for things to do. Every decision you make will affect your future, so it’s critical that you keep a clear mind and move forward as efficiently as possible.

While you’re preparing for the process and caring for yourself, it’s a must that you also turn your attention to the well-being of your children. Even if everything goes as planned, divorce can affect your children in a variety of ways. Throw in conflict between you and your soon-to-be ex-spouse and you’ll soon realize that there’s a lot on your plate.

Here are some of the many ways to protect your children during a contentious divorce:

Stay involved: You have a lot going on, but you should still stay involved with your children. Do the things that you’ve always done together. If you push them to the side now, it’s even easier for them to feel left out.
Show a united front: It’s easier said than done, but showing a united front with your spouse will give your children peace of mind. You don’t have to go overboard. Just make it clear to your children that the two of you will always be there for them.
Answer their questions: You never know what your children will ask about your divorce. However, even if you’re stunned, you must answer any questions that come your way. The worst thing you can do is leave your child hanging, as this gives their mind the opportunity to wander.
Talk about the future: Just as you have questions and concerns about the future, your children will feel the same way. Talk to them about what’s changing, what’s staying the same and what you can do to make things as easy on them as possible.

It’s difficult enough to protect your children during an amicable divorce. Throw in a bundle of tension and stress, and you have a volatile situation.

Once you have a strategy in place for helping your children through your divorce, you’ll feel better about your ability to focus on yourself and protect your legal rights .

Reasons Why More People Should Consider Getting a Prenup

Fri, 05 Jun 2020 13:41:18 GMT

Some people dismiss prenuptial agreements as a couple planning to fail in their marriage. In reality, creating a prenuptial agreement prior to marriage or agreeing to terms in a postnuptial agreement during a marriage can protect the marriage and benefit the spouses, as well as protect you in the event of a divorce.

There are a number of reasons that you may want to consider a prenuptial agreement during your engagement as a way to protect yourself and your upcoming marriage.

Prenuptial agreements remove the contention from divorce

Contested divorces with angry spouses who can’t agree on terms can cost the couple a large amount of money. While you may not want to think about your marriage not working out, it is a statistical possibility.

What better time to set terms for the distribution of your personal assets and the hearing of parenting responsibilities for any children you may have than when you are on excellent terms? You will need more reasonable and willing to see each other’s perspectives as you negotiate.

The terms you set will allow you to divorce quickly and more cheaply if your marriage does encounter hardship later on. Additionally, having the specific terms for how you split your assets and debt in writing will remove the mystery around asset division that can sometimes be a personal motivator for divorce.

You can protect certain assets with a marital agreement

One common source of contention in a divorce is disagreement about what spouses should share and what isn’t part of the divorce. You can earmark certain assets, like your retirement account, as separate property as part of a prenuptial agreement, thereby preventing its division.

A prenuptial agreement helps you get on the same page with your spouse

Prenuptial agreements don’t necessarily just discuss how you want to protect or allocate assets but also your expectations for marriage. For example, you may be able to include clauses that protect you from infidelity or abuse by creating practical consequences for those marital misbehaviors.

You can even use your prenuptial agreements to discuss such basic marital needs as the distribution of household work and how you will split expenses. Shared expectations and mutual understanding prior to marriage can set you up for a successful and fulfilling long-term relationship.

Social Media Mistakes to Avoid When You File for Divorce

Wed, 18 Mar 2020 14:17:32 GMT

Social media has made it easier than ever for people to remain in close contact with family, friends, colleagues and other acquaintances. It can also put a lot of strain on marriages , including airing spouses’ dirty laundry or facilitating extramarital affairs.

When you go through a difficult time emotionally, having instant access to your social support network can seem hugely beneficial. Unfortunately, social media presents as much of a hindrance as it does help in the event that you go through a divorce .

Social media can help you connect with support, but it can also help your ex gather evidence to manipulate how the courts view you. Avoiding the most common mistakes that people make on social media during a divorce can help protect you and your rights.

Don’t talk about the divorce or disparage your ex

Whether you’re in a private group on Facebook or direct messaging with someone on Instagram, you may feel tempted to really blow off some steam about what you have gone through recently and your feelings about your ex. Such conversations are safest when had face to face. Anything you type out online could wind up in the hands of your ex. Even private conversations with someone you trust could become a screenshot that your ex uses as evidence against you in court.

You also want to avoid making dramatic statements about the divorce itself. Have you noticed how celebrities seem to issue these joint, bland statements saying that they’re working to resolve the issues in their marriage and move on? Those statements are really the only kind of safe public acknowledgment you can make about the divorce until everything is over.

Don’t try to show off or prove you’ve moved on

If you’ve already filed for divorce, you might want to share your happiness and the changes occurring in your life with your extended network. Particularly if you’ve just gotten the better job or met someone you have real feelings for, you might want to make an announcement about your good fortune.

Unfortunately, financial good fortune could influence issues such as child support or the division of your assets. Statements about a new relationship, particularly before the courts finalize your divorce, could lead to claims of infidelity and possibly alter how the courts perceive you in the divorce proceedings. It is usually best to err on the side of caution and keep your personal business off of social media until the end of your divorce.

Finding Hidden Assets During a Divorce

Fri, 20 Dec 2019 14:27:37 GMT

People get divorced for a variety of reasons, such as growing apart, infidelity or disputes over money and children. But a common theme is the loss of trust between the two partners.

When mistrust exists in a marriage, it’s possible that one or both spouses might try to hide assets in an attempt to put themselves in a better financial situation after a divorce.

How do spouses hide assets?

Finding marital property can be difficult, especially for high-net-worth couples and those where personal finances are comingled with a business or partnership. Assets are generally concealed in four ways :

Claiming the asset was lost
Denying that it exists
Transferring it to a third party
Creating false debt

Past tax returns can reveal red flags

Proving that your spouse is hiding assets can be challenging, but there is usually a paper trail. Looking through past income tax returns can shed light on their existence:

Schedule A: Looking at itemized deductions can expose assets or income that is not otherwise disclosed.
Schedule B: Identifies interest and dividends, which can be compared to an inventory of assets potentially revealing new or undisclosed property, or the disappearance of other resources.
Schedule C: This form reveals profits or losses from business interests and includes depreciation schedules, which can disclose assets purchased through a spouse’s company.
Schedule D: Capital gains or losses are outlined here, including real estate, stocks and bonds. This form helps identify new assets or the disappearance of others.
Schedule E: Potentially hidden assets can be revealed in the form of rental properties, partnerships, royalties and S corporations.

Taking inventory is vital to your future

Finding all jointly-owned assets is essential when marital property is divided during a divorce. New York is an equitable distribution state, meaning a judge will “fairly” divide marital assets, but that doesn’t mean it will be an equal split.

While you should check other possible hiding places, such as safe deposit boxes, file cabinets and other locations within your home, an experienced family law attorney here in New York can help locate all marital property and increase your chances for a favorable outcome.

The Family Home Can Be a Big Puzzle During Divorce

Thu, 29 Jun 2017 14:31:58 GMT

According to an old adage, home is where the heart is. This is true in many divorce cases, where the spouses cannot agree on who gets to keep the family home. Understanding all options related to the marital home is critical when dealing with property division during divorce in Bronxville and other parts of New York.

One option is for one of the parties to purchase the house from his or her future ex. Coming to an agreement on the property’s fair market value is the first step. The second step is refinancing, which may not be possible if the spouse interested in buying the house cannot qualify for the home loan.

A second option is to sell the house and then split the profits. The area market will dictate what the home’s value is, so this will likely not be an area of dispute for the couple. Rather, the challenge the couple may face is accepting the fact that selling their marital home is necessary. The final option is to keep the house and operate as co-owners. In this situation, every contingency related to maintenance and taxes, for example, must be included in detail in a post-divorce co-ownership agreement, which is essentially a contract for real estate ownership.

Although the marital home can be a major source of contention, other assets can also be complicated to split. These include retirement accounts and other potentially high-value assets. An attorney in Bronxville can help with pursuing a personally favorable divorce settlement that reflects one’s property-related wishes.

Source: nerdwallet.com, “ How to Untangle Your Finances in a Divorce “, Bev O’Shea, Hal Bundrick and Dayana Yochim, June 23, 2017

Financial Preparation Critical During Divorce Process

Thu, 15 Jun 2017 14:34:20 GMT

Even the best-laid plans for a marriage may end up going awry in Bronxville. After all, spouses and the situations they face can change over time and lead to irreconcilable differences. When divorce is inevitable, being prepared financially is critical.

When starting out on the road to divorce, a spouse’s natural inclination may be to try to keep as much for himself or herself as possible in the way of assets. After all, feelings of resentment, bitterness and anger can easily cause one spouse to deprive the other spouse of as much as possible. This is particularly true in marriages where high-value assets or a large number of assets are at stake.

The problem with trying to go for everything is that this can end up being costly in the long run. Not only can it fan the flames of acrimony for an extended period of time but also it can be expensive financially. Both situations are not personally beneficial, and they can be particularly harmful if the divorce involves children as well.

If possible, two spouses who are getting divorced in Bronxville may want to try to go through mediation or collaborative divorce, which allows them to negotiate a divorce settlement. This allows them to try to find common ground when dealing with matters such as property distribution and even alimony. If they are unable to see eye to eye, however, they will have to go to trial and rely on a judge to determine the outcomes of their marital dissolution for them. The judge’s decisions may ultimately not align with one or both parties’ true wishes.

Source: seekingalpha.com, “ Financial Tips For Women Getting Divorced “, Russ Thornton, June 12, 2017

Property Division Can Be Addressed Through Collaborative Divorce

Thu, 25 May 2017 14:40:43 GMT

Divorce is hardly an easy process to navigate, both emotionally and financially. Making matters more complicated is the presence of many assets that are subject to property division , or the existence of high-value assets. However, collaborative divorce may offer a viable option for couples in Bronxville who wish to avoid the acrimony that usually characterizes divorce proceedings.

In a traditional divorce proceeding, the discovery process often involves gamesmanship. This ends up increasing the length of the litigation as well as the financial cost of the proceeding. It can also take an emotional toll on both parties.

However, collaborative divorce is a totally transparent process, which means that formal discovery does not exist. The two spouses agree that information and documents will be retrieved by the spouse who has the easiest access to them. Then, this information will be circulated between the two spouses and a team of professionals, including their separate attorneys, a neutral financial expert and a neutral mental health expert.

In collaborative divorce, every team meeting is dictated by an agenda that all parties receive ahead of time so that there are no surprises. In addition, at the end of each meeting, the discussions are summarized in the form of minutes, and the parties reach agreements. Then, the spouses are given particular assignments to complete before their next meeting, during which additional agreements related to matters such as property division can be reached. An attorney in Bronxville can provide guidance on how to navigate a collaborative divorce proceeding in a manner that will be personally favorable in the long term.

Source: jaxdailyrecord.com, “ The collaborative process can lead to divorce without drama “, Laura Giovannetti, May 22, 2017

Property Division, Alimony May Impact Financial Stability

Thu, 18 May 2017 14:43:59 GMT

Staying on top of finances after a divorce in Bronxville can be tricky for a number of reasons. First, the emotional roller coaster of divorce can make budgeting seem unimportant right away, and second, dealing with finances independently can be daunting for someone who is used to relying on a spouse to handle such a task. A couple of tips may help with managing finances after a divorce involving matters such as property division or spousal support has been finalized.

Having insurance is critical after divorce. All existing insurance forms need to be reviewed, and beneficiaries need to be updated if necessary. Understanding the particular insurance benefits available through any policy is particularly important to ensure that they will actually be helpful in the long run.

Considering the tax implications of the decisions made during divorce is also critical. In some cases, a divorcee’s tax strategy might need revising, as the dissolution of a marriage can affect his or her tax situation in many ways. For instance, these impacts might include falling under a different tax bracket due to a change in income, getting spousal or child support, one’s investment strategy and the process used to handle tax returns in the future.

Managing finances can be difficult no matter what stage of life a person is in or how many assets he or she has. Divorce only complicates it. An attorney in Bronxville, however, can work to ensure that one makes the right decisions regarding property division and spousal support — for example, at the divorce negotiation table — to achieve the most favorable outcome financially, one that will remain personally beneficial for years to come.

Source: wickedlocal.com, “ Finding financial stability after a divorce “, Alan F. Auteri, May 9, 2017