Bill and Melinda Gates recently announced that they are divorcing after 27 years. Besides having to address their billions of dollars and their enormously influential foundation, this has brought attention to issues of a mature (or “gray”) divorce. Like many other couples, they waited until their youngest child is about to go off on her own. And they, like so many others, have to plan for a very different future. Divorcing later in life comes up more often than you … read more »
NY Spousal Maintenance
In the last post, A Few Notes About Spousal Maintenance, I wrote about new considerations that must be made because of recent changes to the federal tax law. Today, I’d like to circle back to explore the purpose and a little bit of the history of New York spousal maintenance laws. Spousal maintenance, or alimony, is a term for periodic and regular support payments from one ex-spouse to the other for a specified length of time. The concept of alimony … read more »
Walking the Tightrope Without a Safety Net
“But what am I going to do without my net?” Rob looked bereft. He knew, intellectually, that he wasn’t entitled to his wife’s family’s money. He knew that he and Sheila were getting divorced — after all, they both had moved on and were seeing other people. Rob also knew that he was a grown, healthy man who had been working hard and making a living for many years. He had built his catering business from the ground up. The … read more »
4 Steps for Dividing Marital Property
One of the most important steps in creating a divorce agreement is deciding how you will divide marital (or joint) property. This is called division of assets. Here are the basic steps: Identify all of the property either spouse owns. You must share detailed information with each other, including: Bank account numbers and balances as of a specific date. Be sure to include checking, savings, and brokerage accounts. Retirement accounts like pensions, annuities, stock options, deferred compensation, and bonuses. Do … read more »
What to Do After You Get Your Divorce Judgment
You’ve updated your relationship status on Facebook. Now what? There are still some tasks that you need in order to complete the divorce process and begin to build your new life. You should receive a Certified Copy of the Judgment of Divorce (JOD) from your attorney. If not, you can go down to the court to obtain one. (Make sure to take ID). The JOD is an enforceable document. In an uncontested divorce, the terms of the settlement are incorporated … read more »