Alimony & Spousal Support

Equitable Distribution; Business Opened Post Separation; Marital Debt; Valuation Method

Dec 11, 2013

In the case of Kimmel vs. Kimmel, PICS Case No. 13-3096, (C.P. Lawrence County), the Honorable John Hodge ruled that the exceptions to a master’s distribution of a couple’s property were largely denied where the master correctly distinguished pre-marital and marital assets by identifying equitable advances of funds and post-separation withdrawal of funds used to […]

Non-Marital Assets Converted to Marital Assets: Burden of Proof

Nov 19, 2013

Christopher and Tammy Clausell purchased a jointly-titled home in 2003, using a cashier’s check for $60,000 that was derived from settlement of a personal-injury claim that Christopher had before the marriage, but that he received post-marriage. In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina, the parties received a joint grant of $98,000, of which they devoted around $78,000 […]

Child Attending College is Not Emancipated

Nov 14, 2013

In the New Jersey Appellate Case of Tobasco v. Tobasco, 20-2-1523 App. Div., the Appellate Panel affirmed a trial court order finding the judge appropriately recognized that the husband had again failed to demonstrate an inability to earn income to the Property Settlement Agreement’s (PSA) stipulated level and again failed to demonstrate the parties’ oldest […]

Lump Sum vs. Monthly Payments

Nov 12, 2013

In the Family Law Case of Yuhas v. Yuhas, PICS Case No. 13-3066, (Pa. Super. October 28, 2013), the Pennsylvania Superior Court concluded that husband’s monthly payments of disability received after the parties’ separation which were contingent on husband’s continuing disability were income and not marital property for purposes of equitable distributions pursuant to the […]

Equitable Distribution of Hidden Assets In A Divorce Proceeding

Oct 28, 2013

What do you do when one party have hidden assets she claims are separate, and refuses to divulge their whereabouts? You divide them anyway. At least that is what happened in Wilson v. Wilson (http://courts.ms.gov/Images/Opinions?CO84337.pdf), decided June 11, 2013, by the COA. Penny and Gregory Wilson had the kind of financial arrangement that one sees […]

Why Where You Divorce Matters: Equitable Distribution vs. Community Property

Oct 23, 2013

Where you divorce matters. Each state has its own unique rules governing the allocation of assets during the divorce process, and these rules can vary significantly. A court in New York and a court in California will follow strikingly different rules in dividing the assets of divorcing couples. This sharp divergence between state laws is […]

Enforceability of Marital Settlement Agreement- Spouse’s Business And Disclosure-Waiver

Oct 18, 2013

In the family law case of McConahy vs. McConahy, PICS Case No. 13-2674 (C.P. Lawrence, Sept. 16, 2013) the wife’s petition to set aside a Marital Settlement Agreement was denied because the wife was fully engaged in the financial affairs of her husbands’ farm business. The Honorable Thomas M. Piccone ruled that the wife was […]

Divorce Rates Rising for Americans 50 and Older

Oct 08, 2013

According to a survey released by the United States Census Bureau, 15.4 percent of people 50 and older were divorced and another 2.1 percent were separated in 2011. It’s the first time people above the age of 50 have had more people divorced than widowed (13.5 percent). Only 2.8 percent of Americans older than 50 […]

Role Reversal- Wives Paying Alimony

Oct 07, 2013

She got angry. “It’s so obscene,” said Holly Chiancola, 52, a Gloucester, Mass. real estate agent who is fighting the terms of a divorce settlement ordered by a judge in 2006. You used to hear about divorced men complaining that their ex-wives were unfairly cutting into their income. Now, as more women become primary breadwinners, […]

A No-Fault Divorce: Why an Affair May Not Matter In Your Divorce

Oct 02, 2013

“He slept with his secretary.” “Except for spending all of my money, she never did a thing for the kids or our marriage.” “I’m taking everything, including the kitchen sink!” Emotional reactions like these are extremely common during a divorce. However, they have no place in the divorce proceedings where the need to prove fault […]