6 Financial Tips for Navigating Divorce Asset Negotiations
1) Understand the tax implications of each asset As each party negotiates dividing the marital assets, one of the biggest mistakes is not considering the tax consequences of each asset. For example, $1,000 in a bank account is not the same as $1,000 in an IRA,…
Problems with QDROs (Qualified Domestic Relations Orders)
One of the most significant problems with QDROs is not having them prepared before the divorce is final. The reason this is such an enormous problem is that after the divorce is final, the former spouse has no rights to something that was not legally…
How to Calculate Social Security Benefits When You’ve Been Divorced
For simplicity, let’s assume that the wife is the lower wage-earning spouse in the examples below. If a couple has been married for 10 years or longer and they get divorced, the wife is still entitled to half of her ex-husband’s Social Security Retirement…
Divorced-Spouse Social Security Benefits: 8 Rules with Examples
When Social Security was first instituted in 1935, most women did not work. So in 1939, as part of a sweeping series of amendments, the system made spousal benefits available to any “wife” who either had not earned a benefit or whose benefit was less…
Can My Ex Inherit My Assets?
Can your ex inherit your assets? We all know divorce can be emotionally and financially challenging. But many of us don’t know how to protect ourselves from financial disaster that can occur long after divorce. What if a tragedy takes place post-divorce and you suddenly pass…
Employee Stock Options in Divorce
Employee stock option division in divorce is a confusing and complex area troubled with tax complications and imprecise valuation methods. But as more and more companies use stock options to lure and reward employees, these assets have become a larger part of the marital…
Dividing the Burial Plot
There is often an overlooked asset that needs to be divided or assigned to one of the spouses in a divorce settlement—and that is a cemetery burial plot. A burial plot is treated for most purposes as being unlike any other piece of real…
Financial Fraud in Divorce
Concealment is the cornerstone of fraud. Fraud can be defined as “any intentional or deliberate act to deprive another of property or money by guile, deception or other unfair means.” The principal types of fraud are the misrepresentation of material facts of the concealment…
Qualifying Income in Divorce
Divorce and mortgage financing concerns are often a touchy subject. Particularly when one spouse is dependent upon income awarded from the divorce for mortgage qualifying purposes, and also when contingent liabilities are present; such as a jointly held mortgage on the marital home. Having…
High-Conflict Personalities in Divorce
There are four basic characteristics of HCPs: Preoccupation with blaming others All-or-nothing thinking Unmanaged emotions Extreme behaviors Their behaviors are so habitual that the HCP is in denial of them. While these characteristics seem daunting, it’s not impossible to work with these people for…