1. Don’t Let Emotions Dictate Your Financial Decisions People often want to take out their hurt feelings on their exes. However, it’s important that you don’t let emotions interfere with your finances or the business at hand. In the long run, being spiteful could hurt […]
1) Understand the tax implications of each asset As each party negotiates dividing the marital assets, one of the biggest mistakes is not considering the tax consequences of each asset. For example, $1,000 in a bank account is not the same as $1,000 in an IRA, given […]
For simplicity, let’s assume that the wife is the lower wage-earning spouse in the examples below. If a couple has been married for 10 years or longer and they get divorced, the wife is still entitled to half of her ex-husband’s Social Security Retirement Benefits […]
When Social Security was first instituted in 1935, most women did not work. So in 1939, as part of a sweeping series of amendments, the system made spousal benefits available to any “wife” who either had not earned a benefit or whose benefit was less than […]
Can your ex inherit your assets? We all know divorce can be emotionally and financially challenging. But many of us don’t know how to protect ourselves from financial disaster that can occur long after divorce. What if a tragedy takes place post-divorce and you suddenly pass away? […]
Employee stock option division in divorce is a confusing and complex area troubled with tax complications and imprecise valuation methods. But as more and more companies use stock options to lure and reward employees, these assets have become a larger part of the marital asset […]
There is often an overlooked asset that needs to be divided or assigned to one of the spouses in a divorce settlement—and that is a cemetery burial plot. A burial plot is treated for most purposes as being unlike any other piece of real or […]
Concealment is the cornerstone of fraud. Fraud can be defined as “any intentional or deliberate act to deprive another of property or money by guile, deception or other unfair means.” The principal types of fraud are the misrepresentation of material facts of the concealment of […]
Divorce and mortgage financing concerns are often a touchy subject. Particularly when one spouse is dependent upon income awarded from the divorce for mortgage qualifying purposes, and also when contingent liabilities are present; such as a jointly held mortgage on the marital home. Having a […]
There are four basic characteristics of HCPs: Preoccupation with blaming others All-or-nothing thinking Unmanaged emotions Extreme behaviors Their behaviors are so habitual that the HCP is in denial of them. While these characteristics seem daunting, it’s not impossible to work with these people for favorable […]