The courts won’t accept an artificial reduction in income as a basis upon which to decide future support obligations of one spouse to another. Most courts are pretty sophisticated in being able to spot that. And if that is one spouse’s divorce planning, if that be the goal of a high-income spouse, that goal being […]
Financial Issues
Do California judges order permanent and indefinite spousal support?
Do California judges order permanent and indefinite spousal support? Read on to learn more about spousal support in California.
How can a divorcing spouse protect their inheritance?
Property that is acquired during the marriage, by gift or inheritance by a third-party is nonmarital property. The problem that usually occurs is that the gift or inheritance is commingled with marital property so that you can no longer directly trace it to the nonmarital source. For example if a spouse inherits money and deposits […]
Does a premarital or prenuptial agreement override normal property division rules?
If there is a valid prenuptial agreement, it will control how property will be divided. If the prenuptial agreement excludes certain property from becoming marital property then property that is excluded will not be marital property. If the prenuptial agreement contains a waiver to a monetary award or other form of equitable distribution such as […]
Can the court order one spouse to transfer marital property to the other spouse?
If property is titled only in the name of one spouse, then generally a court cannot order one spouse to transfer the property to the other spouse. However there are three exceptions, a court can transfer an interest in a pension, retirement account or other type of deferred compensation from one spouse to the other. […]
How does somebody determine how much spousal support they need, what if they over or underestimate?
When it’s difficult to look into the future, and it commonly is, and see where a recipient spouse might be given two or five, or seven years to rehabilitate themselves, it might be best to enter into a more short-term agreement or advocate to a court in the absence of an agreement, that there be […]
What is the difference between marital property and nonmarital property?
Marital property is any property that was acquired during the marriage. By acquired I mean paid for with marital funds. How something is titled doesn’t determine whether or not it is marital property. As long as it is paid for during the marriage with marital funds, it is marital property. So, for example if one […]
Do spousal support payments end if the recipient remarries or moves in with a new romantic partner?
Spousal support payments do not end based upon the cohabitation of the recipient spouse. But there is a presumption of decreased need when a recipient spouse cohabits. Oftentimes the dispute is whether there is a cohabitation or whether there’s merely some co-tenancy or co-occupancy of premises. Now the cases and the statutes, both in California […]
What is the difference between an equitable distribution state and a community property state in Maryland?
In a community property state, community property is presumed to be jointly owned and as a result it is divided equally during a divorce. Maryland is an equitable distribution state so title doesn’t determine whether property is marital or not. Also marital property does not have to be distributed equally, only fairly and equitably. The […]
How does a judge determine the amount and duration of alimony someone will receive?
The determination of the amount really depends upon what type of alimony, oftentimes called, “spousal support,” use those references synonymously – is looking at. There are two different phases that most courts will look at, certainly, in California, and that is temporary spousal support and long-term spousal support. Temporary spousal support is that which one […]
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