How you think about your money may be a function of your mental accounting. In negotiating about division of assets, sometimes parties get anchored on assets that may have a history of some kind with one party or the other. Mental accounting can attribute an asset to
Read more →In Divorce, the house is a risky asset. When you purchased your house, by the time you got to the closing table, you had a large stack of documents and numerous consultations that informed you about what you were buying. If you had a good realtor, they
Read more →Extensive research suggests that for children of divorce, what is most damaging is the experience of their parents fighting. How children adjust and fare after a divorce is closely linked to how their parents get along with each other. Those children whose parents are civil and demonstrate
Read more →In cases involving children, it is commonplace for divorce agreements to include provisions governing the payment of college expenses. This may include terms governing any existing 529 college savings plans. The new tax act now considers qualified expenses under 529 plans to include elementary and high school
Read more →Parties that are crafting an alimony settlement should consider the future consequences of an interruption of the negotiated income stream. Alimony is dependent on the capacity to pay a stream of income from one party to another. If the alimony is sourced from earned income, then there
Read more →As a financial advisor, I think one of the most confusing aspects of money is that not all of it works the same way. This becomes much more apparent in the divorce process for property distribution. Many of my clients are surprised to find out that often
Read more →The discussion about division of assets initially revolves around the marital residence, as jointly owned real estate and retirement are perhaps the most significant marital assets subject to distribution in a divorce. The decision whether to retain or sell the residence can be laden with emotion and
Read more →Prior to the December 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), when one spouse paid alimony (or separate maintenance payments) to the other spouse in a divorce, the paying spouse could deduct the alimony payments on his/her Federal income tax form. At the same time, the spouse
Read more →Whether you grew up watching 90210, Real World or MTV Beach House, today’s modern families are evolving beyond what was even in the 1990’s considered abhorrent or abnormal family life given that these shows addressed such topics as homosexuality, bisexuality, AIDS, drugs, addiction and abortion. Same sex
Read more →HE SAID: I want my kids 50% of the time. SHE SAID: Over my dead body! Be careful what you wish for! Our court system is overloaded with parents who would rather entrust their children’s lives to a perfect stranger in a black robe, rather than figure
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