The point of divorce is to divide and financially separate each party from the other—completely if there are no children; children are subject to the continuing jurisdiction of the court until emancipated or through college. This blog covers the complexities of situations where the parties have a parcel of real property in another state or country, addressing the question: Can a trial court divide this real property, and if so, how is the judgment enforced?
Indiana follows the one pot ... Read More
13
Jun2017
10
Apr2017
The benefit of a high net worth divorce is there is generally money to divide to allow the divorcing spouses to live a comfortable lifestyle after divorce; however, this type of divorce litigation often presents with the form of complex financial, tax, and legal questions.
If so, these are necessary to be answered with relative precision before and at trial so the parties can best litigate their legal positions and the trial court has sufficient evidence to divide the marital estate in just and reasonable manner.1 This ... Read More
06
Mar2017
Fortunately, Indiana has a strong and growing economy with little debt. For this reason, along with its central location, many marital estates are in excess of one million dollars. Divorcing parties in this situation are fortunate in that they likely have enough money to properly account for the basic cost of a divorce which is a complex legal transaction (including tax issues, determining finances through a financial declaration, attending a parenting class, and valuing and dividing assets that were often not contemplated to ... Read More
08
Feb2017
Future Inheritances and Non-Vested Stock Options
The Dissolution Act (the laws the cover divorces) gives wide definition to marital property for a divorce court to divide. This includes property acquired before marriage and brought into the marriage; property acquired by joint efforts, and assets that accumulate during the marriage. The divorce court is to presume no matter what type of property this is before it a presumption is an equal division. However, if just and reasonable a divorce ... Read More
26
Jan2017
In most marriages, there are good and bad times. At some junctures, most couples contemplate the “what if” of a divorce. However, while by statistics and commonly accepted social norms, divorce is just a part of life, there are many “unsaid” considerations that the statistics and societal norms do not account for. This blog explores 5 key legal and social considerations you should make before considering or filing divorce—that you may not hear from any other person but should ... Read More
22
Nov2016
Time shares and boats bring many families a great amount of joy during the marriage. However, they sometimes bring back the memory of a divorced or failed relationship and most litigants do not want the timeshare. Upon divorce, time shares are often a great deal of contention in the property settlement because in most locations, they are slow to sell and have on-going dues associated with them. Typically, neither party wants the time share. This blog addresses three (of the other) ways to address time ... Read More
15
Sep2016
tThe Indiana Dissolution Act encourages parties to reach agreements; and in fact, parties to a divorce can agree to a division of assets that a trial court judge could not order under the law that guides judges. This is because of the constitutional right to contract, strongly enforced by Indiana trial courts, the Court of Appeals, and Indiana Supreme Court.
This means that having buyer’s remorse and later wanting to go to a contested divorce trial or further negotiate is ... Read More
31
Aug2016
One of the most uncertain times in life is deciding to get a divorce and end a marriage. The list of items that must be done to effectuate this is lengthy and runs from locating tax returns to potentially finding a place to live. During this time, it is also easy to feel overwhelmed by everything and anything. This blog provides three key steps to make and/or gather for a smooth divorce—so you can focus concern with productive actions.
... Read More
13
Jul2016
In today’s digital world, complex financial transactions and the ability to sort out fact from fiction is difficult in all arenas. This is especially true in the context of divorce. A neutral investigator may assist the attorney and client in these tasks to ultimately help move the divorce along consistently with the trial objectives and presumptions in property and custody statutes.
In the past, the “private” in “private investigator” has conjured up sleazy images for attorneys and litigants, evoking the thought of ... Read More
20
Apr2016
What They Are and Why They Matter to You
Everyone that has been divorced, ended a relationship, or has had any contact with a divorcing person knows divorces are difficult to impossible for several reasons. At the most basic level, a divorce reflects love and hate and conflict and uncertainty for the future.
This blog post explores the most common dynamics in divorce so you can identify it and be aware of such in your divorce or that of a friend, family member or for general educational purposes. The ... Read More