Family Law attorneys have been waiting impatiently for the release of the Minnesota Supreme Court decision in the case of Curtis v. Curtis. The decision, which was filed Nov. 16, 2016, represents the first decision by the Supreme Court in a long while on a substantive spousal maintenance issue and while it addresses the tax issue raised by the district
“The decision presents an instructive example of how a reversal may be obtained, when a trial court’s alimony award is not supported by sufficient factual findings.” Appellate court reversals of trial courts’ alimony awards are rare. The determination whether to make such an award is highly fact-driven and, in most cases, the trial court will write an alimony decision that
Old photographs, family antiques and the autographed basketball. Sentimental value plays our heartstrings, but does it help clients get their special items at divorce? The short answer is generally no. North Carolina’s equitable distribution rules don’t address sentimentality. So what’s a practitioner to do when a client really wants a particular item? You can start by learning how the client
Historically, antenuptial agreements have been seen as the antithesis of romance. What could be less romantic than planning for an ending that could be less than happily ever after? However, with a divorce rate at nearly 50 percent for first marriages and 60 percent for second marriages, many people are reconsidering the use of antenuptial agreements as a way to
During the very difficult process of divorce, coaching from a qualified professional can provide support and problem solving assistance to successfully augment legal representation. Attorneys practicing matrimonial law often complain that they spend a lot of time “handholding” their clients, which can distract the attorney from the primary functions of investigating and valuing assets and income, and preparing the financial
Attorneys who practice family law are often forced to deal with the challenging mental health issues of their clients and opposing parties. Some mental health issues can be addressed by referring a client to a psychologist for talk therapy or a psychiatrist for medication. Others, such as personality disorders, are much more difficult to address. Often, a client will refuse
Under Minnesota Statute 518.552, there are eight factors to be considered when determining spousal maintenance. Of these eight factors, defining the standard of living the parties established during the marriage is one of the more challenging ones. It is worth the effort and diligence to accurately assess and quantify the standard of living by means of a lifestyle budget to
Most family law attorneys would agree that of all the major disagreements that take place both during a divorce proceeding and post-divorce, issues that involve parenting minor children are most common. When parents share joint legal custody and parenting time, as most parents do, temporary changes to the parenting time schedule, vacation scheduling, participation in extracurricular activities, medical treatment, religious
Most people think of retirement assets, such as 401(k) plans and IRA accounts as funds to draw down on to supplement other retirement benefits, such as social security benefits and public or private pension plan payments. In divorce actions, these types of retirement assets usually are equally divided between the parties as 401(k) and IRA funds are taxed on withdrawal
Pursuant to the Tennessee child support guidelines, a parent’s child support obligation is calculated based upon the monthly gross income for each parent. This method has been used since 2005 when Tennessee legislature passed the income shares model, which takes into account both parent’s earnings, as well as work-related child care expenses and health insurance premiums paid on behalf of
Family Law attorneys have been waiting impatiently for the release of the Minnesota Supreme Court decision in the case of Curtis v. Curtis. The decision, which was filed Nov. 16, 2016, represents the first decision by the Supreme Court in a long while on a substantive spousal maintenance issue and while it addresses the tax issue raised by the district
“The decision presents an instructive example of how a reversal may be obtained, when a trial court’s alimony award is not supported by sufficient factual findings.” Appellate court reversals of trial courts’ alimony awards are rare. The determination whether to make such an award is highly fact-driven and, in most cases, the trial court will write an alimony decision that
Old photographs, family antiques and the autographed basketball. Sentimental value plays our heartstrings, but does it help clients get their special items at divorce? The short answer is generally no. North Carolina’s equitable distribution rules don’t address sentimentality. So what’s a practitioner to do when a client really wants a particular item? You can start by learning how the client
Historically, antenuptial agreements have been seen as the antithesis of romance. What could be less romantic than planning for an ending that could be less than happily ever after? However, with a divorce rate at nearly 50 percent for first marriages and 60 percent for second marriages, many people are reconsidering the use of antenuptial agreements as a way to
During the very difficult process of divorce, coaching from a qualified professional can provide support and problem solving assistance to successfully augment legal representation. Attorneys practicing matrimonial law often complain that they spend a lot of time “handholding” their clients, which can distract the attorney from the primary functions of investigating and valuing assets and income, and preparing the financial
Attorneys who practice family law are often forced to deal with the challenging mental health issues of their clients and opposing parties. Some mental health issues can be addressed by referring a client to a psychologist for talk therapy or a psychiatrist for medication. Others, such as personality disorders, are much more difficult to address. Often, a client will refuse
Under Minnesota Statute 518.552, there are eight factors to be considered when determining spousal maintenance. Of these eight factors, defining the standard of living the parties established during the marriage is one of the more challenging ones. It is worth the effort and diligence to accurately assess and quantify the standard of living by means of a lifestyle budget to
Most family law attorneys would agree that of all the major disagreements that take place both during a divorce proceeding and post-divorce, issues that involve parenting minor children are most common. When parents share joint legal custody and parenting time, as most parents do, temporary changes to the parenting time schedule, vacation scheduling, participation in extracurricular activities, medical treatment, religious
Most people think of retirement assets, such as 401(k) plans and IRA accounts as funds to draw down on to supplement other retirement benefits, such as social security benefits and public or private pension plan payments. In divorce actions, these types of retirement assets usually are equally divided between the parties as 401(k) and IRA funds are taxed on withdrawal
Pursuant to the Tennessee child support guidelines, a parent’s child support obligation is calculated based upon the monthly gross income for each parent. This method has been used since 2005 when Tennessee legislature passed the income shares model, which takes into account both parent’s earnings, as well as work-related child care expenses and health insurance premiums paid on behalf of
