Michigan divorce update: Who is your beneficiary?

Posted on May 22, 2013 in Attorneys, Blog, Michigan Divorce Law

Changing pension or life insurance beneficiaries after divorce. A lesson to lawyers – The Judgment of Divorce may not be enough! In almost every Judgment of Divorce, the parties either award or waive an interest in the former spouses’ pension plan(s) or life insurance plan(s). However, if the benefit is governed by ERISA, a waiver [...]

Retirement and divorce. Avoiding a 10% penalty

Posted on April 18, 2013 in Blog, Divorce, Michigan Divorce Law, Prenuptial Agreements, Property Division

In almost every divorce case, at least one party is a beneficiary of a retirement account and in many instances, a retirement account is a marital asset that can be divided without a 10% early withdrawal penalty. In simple terms, if a portion of a retirement plan was contributed to during the course of the [...]

The dangers of commingling assets. What was mine is now ours?

Posted on March 25, 2013 in Blog, Prenuptial Agreements, Property Division

When dividing property in a divorce, a primary consideration is whether the property is ‘marital’ or ‘separate’. As a general rule, property acquired by reason of the marriage or “during the course of the marriage” is marital and is likely subject to division in the event of divorce. Conversely, property acquired before (or after) marriage [...]

The Veterans’ benefit myth. VA benefits and divorce

Posted on March 22, 2013 in Alimony, Attorneys, Blog, Child Custody, Child Support, Divorce, Michigan Divorce Law, Prenuptial Agreements, Property Division

There is a myth regarding Veterans benefits and Veterans disability benefits. The myth is that Congress clearly intended to protect veterans’ benefits from being awarded to anyone other than the veteran, including children and former spouses. The foundation of the myth likely stems from Title 38 of U.S. Code section 5301(a)(1) which exempts veterans benefits [...]

The emotional divorce

Posted on March 4, 2013 in Alimony, Attorneys, Blog, Child Abduction, Child Custody, Child Support, Divorce, Domestic Violence, Michigan Divorce Law, Prenuptial Agreements, Property Division

There are two paths in every divorce, the legal path and the emotional path. The legal path tries to be objective. There are statutes and case law that spell out in particular how a court should decide issues of custody, property division, child support, and alimony. A qualified divorce lawyer understands the statutes and the [...]

Alimony and tax considerations.

Posted on January 24, 2013 in Alimony, Attorneys, Blog, Child Abduction, Child Custody, Child Support, Divorce, Domestic Violence, Michigan Divorce Law, Prenuptial Agreements, Property Division

Addressing potential tax issues in your negotiations can avoid problems in the future. For example, many lawyers believe that alimony payments are always tax-deductible to the person paying and taxable as income to the recipient. This is not the case. In order to qualify for the taxable or tax-deductible status certain requirements must be met. [...]