Tuesday, August 28, 2012

School Enrollment

School is about to begin; and students are starting to get their supplies, find out their teachers, and prepare for classes.

Parents who are in the process of separating or divorcing need to be mindful of the requirements of Virginia law regarding where a child can attend school.

If a parent moves out of a child’s school district, and that parent has custody of the child, the child has to change districts.  Agreement of the parents does not allow a deviation from this rule; courts do not have authority to deviate from this rule.

Therefore, if you are a parent who will have custody of a school aged child, you need to know what school districts are applicable if you choose to reside some where other than the marital residence.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Become Financially Knowledgeable

In follow up to our post last week, we remind you that it is important to be informed about finances.  You have the ability to get some documents yourself to get a start on the gathering process. If an account is a joint account, the institution in which the account is held should provide you with copies of statements for such joint accounts.  You may have to make the request in writing; you may have to go to a branch and provide identification; but you should be able to get the information.

Tax returns contain significant insight into a marriage’s financial picture.  If they are filed jointly, then you should be able to get a copy of it.  You may need to go to the IRS; you may need to complete paperwork such as Form 4506; and it may take some time, but you should be able to obtain the information.

Knowledge is an important step; it leads to informed decision making; and informed decision making is the backbone of any negotiations and/or litigation. 

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Basic Estate Planning After Divorce

Recently, cases have been issued by the United States Supreme Court and the Virginia appellate courts addressing what happens when the parties’ divorce, a court order or agreement does not require the ex-spouse to be maintained as a beneciary of life insurance or retirement, but alas the spouse dies without changing his/her beneficiary from the ex-spouse.

It is important after a divorce to take steps to protect yourself in the event of your death.  Some steps include but are not limited to: (1) make sure your will is updated; (2) determine who you want to make health decisions and other decisions for you and review your advanced health care  directive and power of attorney accordingly; (3) update your HIPPA forms with your providers; (4) be sure all beneficiary designations and POD accounts have been changed.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Due Diligence and Knowledge Based Decision Making

Part of the separation and divorce process has to do with finances: spousal support, child support, distribution of assets and/or liabilites.   Some couples have shared information and decision making about finances during the marriage; they know each other’s income, they know the overall marital estate, they have equal access to financial documents.  Other couples allow one person to be in charge of the finances, to file the tax returns, to balance the checkbooks, and to make the investment/savings decisions.  Access to information is usually limited to that one spouse.

In trying to decide how to approach a separation, what steps to take to protect objectives, how to negotiate or even how to litigate, knowing the financial estate is key.

If you are the spouse who does not have the financial knowledge of the marriage, then you need to feel comfortable asking for the financial information (which can be done by your lawyer as well).  How can you know what you are gaining or what you are waiving without that information?

Making informed decisions is important as part of a separation.  Divorce is emotional; but emotions cannot cloud having all the information on which to base a decision.  Once an agreement is signed or once a court makes a determination, the terms are set; wishing or wondering if you missed something because you were scared to ask or you felt badly about wanting the separation so you didn’t ask is not an emotion you want to experience.

Lawyers are used to asking and are used to having their clients be asked; it is a normal and important part of the process. 

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Tangible Personal Property

Throughout a marriage, couples can acquire many things: furniture, tvs, kitchenware, linens, jewelry, paintings, family photos, etc.  Some times these items serve a very functional purpose; other times they are sentimental parts of a marriage and family life.  Some items have monetary value and some items have no monetary value.  When a divorce or separation occurs, how are these assets handled?

First, from a practical standpoint, it is important to preserve the items whether by having possession of it or by making a photo/video log of it.  Second, for each item, how was it acquired: by gift from a spouse, by gift from a third party, as a purchase during the marriage, through an inheritance?  Third, what is its monetary value?  Remember, value is normally  assigned as of the date of the hearing/agreement.  It is not the value as of the date of acquisition; it is not the replacement value.  It is valued at yard sale or Craig’s list value unless you have an appraisal done that assigns it another value.

Personal property can be a last battleground; and it can be an expensive one.  It is filled with emotion.  However, it can be resolved.  Be careful how you choose to fight this battle; and consult with a family law attorney when assistance is needed.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Vacations and Summertime

It’s hard to believe another summer is almost gone; and it’s harder to believe that you should start thinking about next year’s summer sooner rather than later, especially if you have children and are separated/divorced. 

Many custody orders/agreements allow each parent time for summer vacation.  Most orders/agreements  give one parent the chance to choose his or her week(s) before the other parent; and in order to allow the subsequent parent time to plan, the first deadline to choose week(s) can be as early as March.

Summer plans further should take into consideration camps that children may do for fun, for academics, for sports.  Therefore, trying to schedule vacations in conjunction with these activities takes advanced planning. Many camp schedules start coming out in January and February and being on the lookout for these schedules can be very helpful.

So pack up those beach chairs, and get out your calendars.  Next year’s vacation will be here before you know it.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

College Expenses

Now is the time of year when many children head off to college; or you may have children who are starting to look at colleges for the upcoming application process.  Virginia law generally does not require parents to provide financial support or assistance for college tuition, room, board, books, etc.   Child support in most cases ends upon graduation from high school.

Parents who are separated and/or divorced some times are in agreement as to whether they should provide financial help for college.  However, even where parents may agree conceptually with what their responsibilities should be, they disagree about what should be put in writing.

Unless terms of paying for a child’s college expenses are in writing, the Courts cannot enforce any other agreements.  Before you execute an agreement pertaining to your separation, divorce, property, support and custody, you should consider the following:

Do you want a firm, contractual obligation by which both parents will be held accountable?  Do you want to contribute proportionate to incomes?  Do you want it to be limited to a certain amount or be based on Virginia state tuition, room and board?  Do you want the number of years limited?  Do you want to require application for financial aid, student loans and/or scholarships?  How do you want to handle the use of a Virginia Prepaid Education Plan?  How do you want to use 529 plans and how do you want to handle ongoing contributions?

College may even seem like it is far off, but ti is not too early to consider whether you as parents will take any financial role.