March 2009 - Posts
Often times, legal and financial aspects of divorce make the divorce process seem overwhelming and bothersome. During this fragile time for you proper decision making is key. You will need to be very familiar with specific laws pertaining to divorce in your state. You will need to get organized. You will need plans. Most of all you will need to hold yourself together emotionally.
Gaining knowledge about legal and financial aspects of divorce can lighten your load of stress. Your new found knowledge will also help you in your newly single life.
Financially speaking, the best thing to do when considering divorce is weigh all of your options. You and your spouse can discuss what can be done financially to make sure that both of you will make it fairly. Make a chart or list of all debts and obligations. Everything becomes more clear on paper, rather than simply adding things up in your head. There is no time like now to get organized.
Legally speaking, your knowledge of laws will give you ease in planning for divorce. There are many state specific laws that will either help or hinder your divorce process. Knowledge is key in everything we do, especially a major life changing event such as divorce.
Know your facts. Be prepared.
Situations concerning divorce are usually filled with high tension and irritability. You just want your divorce finalized. You just want to close a chapter in your life. In order to gain composure through difficult times like this there are two very important weapons in your arsenal for negotiation : Patience and Persistence. Negotiators that come out on top know that by staying cool, calm and collected they will gain an advantage that proves to be very favorable for them.
Negotiation tests both spouses. Agreements are only made when both parties decide the judgement is fair and just. If possible try and make your wishes known to your spouse and in turn ask that their wishes be shared with you so that you know exactly what you are looking forward to. Any negotiations that can be made before court may help ease some tensions. Remember - patience and persistence. Divorce just like other things we handle in everyday life is a troublesome affair.
Make your foundation for negotiations. Be patient and persistent. Be prepared for court by using this checklist.
~ Understand the issues you face
~ Build credibility and trust
~ Understand what it is that your spouse wants and relate that to your own wants and needs
~ Acknowledge and accept what it is that your spouse wants, even if it isn't what you intend
~ Recognize your spouse's weaknesses
Collaborative Law is a big trend lately in divorce. It is a process where both spouses and both attorneys meet together and make negotiations to resolve custody and financial matters. The sole purpose of a collaborative divorce is to remove the nasty details involved in litigation to make everything go more smoothly.
In collaboration your attorney is working at all times to get you the best outcome possible while allowing both parties to reach a resolution and compromise. In meditation, the mediator is a neutral problem solver. Mostly the spouses are not individually represented, nor have final review counsel.
This may be an option for you if you wish to have a divorce be as painless as possible. As always, you should consult your attorney regarding what is your best option.
Source : West Virginia Code
During a divorce may questions can arise when it comes to things like taxes. Here are some tax facts that may assist you in your divorce proceedings.
In most divorce cases, the spouses agree to choose a spouse that may claim the child or children involved. In most cases parties choose to alternate years of legally claiming the children as dependants. Some disgruntled spouses file their taxes in a hurry and claim the children even if it isn't their year to do so. When the other spouse files and tries to claim the children, the IRS will immediately reject the second return. These things are never overlooked. It is very important to be clear about which spouse will be filing which years and it is best to have this negotiation prepared before your divorce goes to court so that it is legally binding.
Your filing status will determine the tax rate of each spouse. Usually a divorced person would file "Individual". If children are involved, whoever has physical custody of the child for over half of the current year may file "Head of Household". Qualifications for Head of Household include the physical custody of the child for over half of the current year and the filing spouse must have provided more than half of the costs to maintain their residence, must be unmarried, and the residence must be the home of the qualifying child.
In 1997, President Bill Clinton signed the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 and it became legally official. This act permits taxpayers to exclude up to $250,000 ($500,000 if filing jointly) of gain realized on the sale or exchange of a principle residence. If you have owned and occupied your residence for at least two of the five years prior to the sale of the residence may take advantage of this exclusion.
Source : West Virginia Code