Articles Posted in Indiana Divorce

For women considering an Indiana divorce, many will decide to delay until after the holidays.

With planned family gatherings, a possible road trip and other activities, it may make more sense to delay filing for divorce until after the holidays to save some stress and hard feelings that could linger.Forbes.com recently published a column that gives women some tips on what to do if they are considering divorce but aren’t sure what steps to take. Our Indiana divorce lawyers are prepared to help anyone who is considering divorce this time of year. It is a difficult decision and one that must be planned out well. There are many steps of preparation that must be taken when considering this decision.

While divorce represents a major lifestyle change — taking care of children mostly by oneself or living apart from them for the first time, dwelling in a new place, have less reliance on another person — there are major financial implications.

Not only do you split assets, you split debts. With the economy so bad right now for much of America, the real estate market depressed and investments and retirement accounts perhaps not as supple as they once were, accommodations must be made. A person must make strong plans to ensure they are able to survive the challenge.

Before you file, take the time to do this preparation. Consulting with an experienced Indiana divorce lawyer should be your first move. Getting as much worked out in advance can make the divorce process much smoother.

Statistics show that January is the month when most divorces are filed, Forbes reports. Making plans for a fresh start in January begin in December. Here are some tips for women who are considering divorce:

Collect your financial documents: Banks, credit-card companies, employers and others will be sending end-of-the-year documents via mail in the coming weeks. Gathering credit card and bank account statements and other financial-related documents is necessary. Make copies and store them in a secure area, possibly with a trusted friend or family member.

Do a credit check: Request a copy of your credit score and monitor it carefully so you will know if anything suspicious comes up. Check to make sure there aren’t any strange purchases, such as your spouse buying odd gifts.

Look for an Indiana divorce lawyer: Forbes recommends a team of professionals to help you through your divorce, including a divorce attorney, a divorce financial planner and a counselor/therapist. Interview them and settle on a group that will be able to help you at all angles.

Open new accounts in your name only: Create a bank account and open a credit card account in your name. Choose a new bank, where you aren’t currently affiliated. If you have little or no credit on your own, it may be tough, but you’ll need to establish credit, so get a plastic card.

Stay vigilant: Be attentive and keep an eye on the family assets and if you’re worried your spouse is wasting money or moving it around, consider filing a separate tax return for 2011.
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Divorce in any demographic can be a difficult thing. There are issues of where will the children live and how much will child support be. Who will get the house and who will have to pay alimony.

There are also tax consequences and long-term financial implications that an experienced Gary divorce lawyer can assist people with.Dealing with an Indiana divorce can be emotionally draining. But a skilled lawyer will be able to look at a person’s marital situation, and assess the best course of action for a split that offers a client the best chance for financial stability and long-term quality of life.

A recent Huffington Post article looks at the challenges that stay-at-home mothers face when they are preparing for a divorce and after the divorce is complete. For wage-earning divorcees, the financial implications of a divorce can be devastating, but for parents staying at home, it can be even more difficult.

The Huffington Post article suggests some tips for moms who are staying at home in order to make a divorce as smooth as possible:

Get your financial records:

Establishing a snapshot of your finances and other important material, including assets, debts, income, investments and other information should be kept in a safe place that is easy to access.

Consult a financial planner:

First meet with an Indiana divorce lawyer, but then meet with a financial planner. Ask your divorce lawyer about the benefits of meeting with a planner, who can assist your lawyer. They can summarize your financial situation and help you discover your net worth and how you may build a strategy for the divorce.

Look at the division of assets:

In Indiana, assets are divided 50/50, regardless of whose name the assets were in before the marriage. Unless there is a prenuptial agreement in place, this is how assets are divided. Don’t let that fool you. One side routinely walks away with more than half a couple’s assets. Get qualified legal representation.

Learn about alimony:

Alimony is how much money one spouse may be paid by the other after the divorce is completed. Some states have strict laws, while in others, judges have great discretion.

Child support:

Like alimony, a spouse can be forced to pay child support if they aren’t granted custody. The amount can vary, based on income levels, the child’s needs and other factors. Where a child lives, in most states, is determined by the “best interests” of the child.

Make a plan:

Create goals and envision how you want to live, post-divorce. In an Indiana divorce, you may have to fight to make sure you get what you need. There may be a transitional period before the divorce is finalized and sometimes court delays slow things down.

Be prepared for the new stage in your life and allow an experienced Indiana divorce lawyer to help you. There are many aspects of a divorce that are complex and that a person who has never gone through this experience may not be prepared to tackle. That’s why years of helping people through this process comes in handy. We will work to ensure you are set up to enjoy a productive life after divorce and that starts with making sure your finances are in order.
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Massachusetts has signed into law a sweeping overhaul and limits on alimony payments, The New York Times reports.

In Indiana, assisting a client in alimony and child support matters is one of the primary responsibilities of a Highland divorce attorney. The two are not interchangeable and have different tax implications. A judge may award support based on the length of the marriage, the earnings power of one or both spouses, parental responsibilities or any number of other factors.Child support and alimony laws in Indiana is complex. And an alimony award may influence a property distribution. In cases in which spouses cannot agree on alimony, the court will decide the issue based on a number of factors.

-Physical or mental disabilities that may preclude one spouse from working.

-Whether the spouse lacks sufficient property to provide for his or her needs.

-A spouse is the custodian of a child whose needs require the custodian to forgo employment.

-Education level of each spouse.

-Whether the interruption of a spouse’s education occurred because of duties at home, including child care.

-Earnings capacity of each spouse. As well as training, skills and employability.

-Time required to acquire such skills or education.

In Massachusetts, the previous system permitted lifelong alimony payments after both short and long-term marriages. Most states limit alimony in short-term situations. Massachusetts law often required payments to continue long after a spouse retired or the receiving spouse moved in with a new partner. The new law permits most payments to stop upon retirement and sets limits based on length of marriage.

Under the new law, a marriage of five years or less may require alimony payments for half the length of the marriage. Long-term marriages of 15 or 20 years could require payments for up to 80 percent of the length of the marriage. Indiana spousal support laws permits a judge to award alimony temporarily or on a short-term or long-term basis.

The Wall Street Journal reports the law still permits judge’s to order indefinite alimony for long-term marriages. It also permits “reimbursement alimony” in cases where, for example, one spouse put another spouse through school.

Earlier this month, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled lifetime alimony is inappropriate provided a woman is in reasonable health, has a decent job and was fairly treated during the division of marital assets.

Alimony has become a hot-button topic, particularly during the economic downturn. Studies suggest men have been harder hit than woman by unemployment and stiff alimony payments can quickly lead to financial ruin. Fighting for fair alimony is best done from the start of a case. Hiring an experienced Indiana family law attorney, and fighting for fair payments from the start, is much easier than attempting to have alimony payments reduced once an award has been granted.
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Two recent articles that have hit the Internet look at the best time and the best way to get a divorce.

Seeking a divorce and a fresh start is often preferable to living in an unhappy marriage — regardless of the timing. It’s the job of an experienced Highland Divorce Lawyer, to shepherd a client through the process.

A Lake County Divorce doesn’t have to be an awful experience. Some are tough to handle, but if couples are interested in amicably splitting and are dedicated to avoiding contentious litigation, the process can be less painful and can allow for each side to move on.The first article deals with the timing of a divorce. There are some events that can drastically alter how a divorce in Indiana plays out.

Unstable real estate market: In a hot real estate market, a house can be a major asset that brings in a lot of money for the spouse who gets it. If selling the house in a soft market is necessary, however, it can become a liability.

A shaky economy: With credit tight and spouses having to buy cars or rent houses after a divorce, careful planning is necessary. And if people are suffering through a job loss, the situation can be all the more difficult.

Bad credit: If one spouse has bad credit, it may be in their best interests to negotiate keeping the car or staying in the house to avoid having to try to qualify for a loan to buy a car or rent an apartment, both of which require a credit report. If the split is amicable, taking six months to build the credit score may be worthwhile.

Minor children: With less combined income after a divorce (you’re both paying for rent or a mortgage now), the children can lose out. Most parents put less toward college after divorce, yet they may benefit from being able to more easily be able to qualify for student loans.

Receiving an inheritance: Most states don’t look forward, meaning an inheritance or something that is earned after the divorce is final is not on the table for splitting.

While those are all tips about the timing of a divorce, here are some ways to go through a good divorce:

• Have you tried counseling?
• Can you treat your ex with respect?
• Will you put the kids’ best interests ahead of yours?
• Can you communicate well?
• Work to avoid the courthouse.
• Find a problem-solving attorney.
• Work on being mature or get therapy.
• Can you be selfless?
• Set goals and have a game plan.
• Be honest and don’t play games.

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As the stories of Al and Tipper Gore and Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger have taught us, many marriages seemingly will last forever, but sadly do not.

Those couples were married 40 and 25 years, respectively, and have recently broken up. And as a Wall Street Journal article points out, breaking up later in life can leave some hurdles that newer couples don’t have to tackle.The bottom line is divorce in Highland, or anywhere for that matter, can be a trying time. There are financial matters to consider, as well as dealing with the emotional stress that can come with a break-up. But consulting with an experienced Highland Divorce Lawyer can help ease the transition from married life to single life.

A U.S. Census report released in early 2011 found that fewer first-time married couples are making their 25th, 30th and 35th wedding anniversaries, even at a time when the average life expectancy is higher than ever. Though the report doesn’t say the age of the couples when they broke up, some experts say long-married couples are calling it quits.

Being married a long time can bring up questions about property division that can be tough to tackle. That’s aside from the emotional toll a divorce can take as someone who has had a certain lifestyle for decades now must figure out a new way to live. And for those who lived comfortably together, the amount of time left to earn money or possibly seek employment to live a stable lifestyle may be running out, making the divorce settlement that much more important.

Dividing years of assets, retirement accounts and other property in order to ensure the spouse is able to survive and thrive after the divorce is final is a key element of any divorce settlement. These issues can be complex and contentious, as both sides will stake a claim to what was earned or purchased during the life of a marriage, especially one that spanned decades.

A Highland divorce lawyer’s job is the assist a client in all facets of a divorce while keeping as much emotions out of the equation as possible.

The house:

There once was a time when the spouse who got the house made out great and would give anything to have that asset, which acted like a large-scale investment. Now? Not so much. Many areas of Indiana have been hard-hit by foreclosure and the glut of foreclosures have driven down the market value of other houses.

While it’s possible that a house could be sold for a profit, it could take a year or more, as the inventory for houses is high. And while it could be sold for a profit, perhaps not as much as years ago. A spouse must decide whether he or she wants to take on that responsibility.

The retirement plans:

Aside from a house, the couple’s long-built retirement plan is likely the biggest asset, which makes dividing it difficult. Pensions, individual retirement accounts and 401(k) accounts are typically divisible if they were acquired while the couple was married.

Indiana is one of 41 equitable distribution states, which means that both spouses have the legal right to claim a share in the retirement account, but that the division will be “fair and just”. In the other nine states, the spouses are equal owners of the property.

In order to divide this property, a qualified domestic relations order will likely be necessary. It lays out the retirement plan and specifies how the plan will be divided. For instance, “non-qualified” plans include stock options and may not be subject to the same rules of a QDRO.

The family business:

If a couple has spent years building a small business, a divorce can be a critical time for a business’ survivial. If it is owned by one spouse, but the other is entitled to a share, that can make decisions that affect the business difficult.

Perhaps a “post-nuptial” agreement can determine what will happen to the business in the event of a divorce or death. This type of agreement can help the company sustain itself even if there are major changes in the owners’ lives.
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