Starting over financially after a divorce can be extremely difficult for some. When you had shared assets, such as a mortgage, it can be overwhelming to understand what steps you must take to ensure you’re financially stable following a divorce. Especially since it’s not something you prepare for.
It’s important to reclaim your financial independence. It can be difficult to maintain your own wellbeing when your financial foundation has been shifted. Following these tips may help you regain you financial stability.
It’s difficult to think about your finances following a divorce, which can stem a lot of emotional turmoil for many of us. But regardless, it’s important to get a handle on your finances. Shomari Hearn of the Palisades Financial Group in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, says, “The first step to getting a handle on your finances following a divorce should be to evaluate your living expenses, any outstanding debt you may have, and your income, including any alimony or child support.” Laying out your financial responsibilities in relation to your income will help you establish a footing with where you stand financially and is a great place to start. You may recognize that some of your spending habits need to be reevaluated in your new financial situation, and having a grasp on that is important.
Monica Mizzi, of Legal Templates, explains how a financial plan should be set up following a divorce. Think of your short-term, mid-term, and long-term financial goals – and plan out what steps you need to take to get to each, “including gradual milestones to keep you motivated and on track.” It might be difficult to think of these goals following a divorce, but it is important. What do you need to do now in your life to keep financially stable? What financial goals would you like to meet within a few years? And what financial goals do you have planned for the future? Knowing the answer to these questions will help you make informed decisions on your spending and saving.
A financial planner can help you figure out what your next moves are going to be in life in order to establish financial independence. Especially if you’re new to managing your own finances. Sometimes, there’s one party in a marriage that took care of all the finances (paying bills, figuring out where to spend money, where to cut back on spending, etc.). A financial planner can help educate those who don’t have the strongest understanding of finances.
Sitting down and creating a new budget is a great tip following a divorce. New Jersey attorney Jef Henninger advises his clients to “use the divorce process as a reset button on their lives.”
“Since you are laying everything out there anyway, this is the best time to examine your spending and saving habits…seek professional advice if you need it but use this as an opportunity to start over and change your habits,” says Henninger. It makes plenty of sense. Your budget used to include another’s income and spending habits. Now that that other is no longer in the picture, your budget has to change.
If you’ve been left the home, it’s a good idea to remove your former spouse from the title of your home by refinancing and executing a quitclaim deed. It’s recommended by experts to consult with a mortgage company on your next steps.
It may be extremely important to do away with any joint accounts following a divorce to protect both parties. If you leave joint accounts open, a resentful ex-spouse may make purchases without your approval, which can put your credit at risk.
Most of the time, couples will place the name of their spouse as the primary beneficiary on insurance policies, retirement accounts, 401Ks, IRAs or life insurance policies. Now that your primary beneficiary is out of the picture, it’s best to choose a new one.
It’s important to keep documentation of your divorce decree for financial records, especially if you’d like to apply for a new home loan.
Divorce can be an extremely emotional transition for many, and for many it can create financial instability. We hope theses tips can help any struggling divorcees achieve their own financial stability.
A prime example is a high profile case reported in the New York Post .Tracey Hejalian-Amon is the wife of a wealthy estranged husband, Swiss businessman Maurice Alin Amon. The couple has been married for eight years, and Hejailan-Amon has filed for her divorce with a Manhattan judge because she wants to have the case heard in New York.
The couple has multiple residences, which are in Monaco, France, Switzerland and New York. Hejailan-Amon’s lawyer argues that she spends enough time in the New York apartment that it should be considered her legal residence.
The main reason for filing in New York is the legal advantage of trying the case under New York divorce laws over trying based on Monaco divorce laws. Under Monaco divorce laws, spouses can take back the gifts that they gave to the other spouse during marriage. The gifts that Hejailan-Amon received included a $15 million Fifth Avenue apartment, jewelry, cars, art and furnishings, totaling in value around $70 million. Under NY divorce law, the $25 million art collection the couple acquired during marriage would likely be considered community property and be subject to property division.
In addition to keeping the gifts, Hejailan-Amon is seeking $235,000 a month in alimony.
In a case involving considerable assets, establishing the jurisdiction where the case is heard may be one of the most important legal strategies involved in the case. The Manhattan judge said she would rule within 60 days on whether the divorce could proceed in New York.
If you face issues regarding divorce or have questions about various legal strategies, Attorney Chris Palermo will be glad provide you with reliable legal guidance and help you make informed decisions.
Years ago, test tube babies were a concept of Science Fiction novels. But today, a couples can remove eggs from the female, remove sperm from the male, and have the eggs fertilized, which creates an embryo. Medical staff can cryogenically freeze the embryo, which can then be thawed at a later time and implanted in the uterus of the mother or surrogate mother, where it grows as a fetus.
This scientific capability opens up a whole new area of family law. Disputes over frozen embryos have already arisen in various divorce cases.
One such case, Kass v. Kass was tried in a New York court. The dispute involved a wife who wanted to implant the embryo in her own uterus and the husband who didn’t want to become a parent. Both parties signed an in vitro fertilization (IVF) consent form prior to having the eggs removed, fertilized and frozen. The crux of the agreement was that both parties had to give their consent before the frozen embryos could be released from storage for any purpose. If the couple were to divorce, then the stored embryos would be addressed as part of the property settlement and released based on the court’s judgment.
Three weeks after signing the form, the couple became engaged in a divorce. At that time, they signed another agreement with each other that the embryos would be disposed of in the manner covered by the consent form, and neither spouse nor anyone else could claim custody of the embryos. The argument between the spouses was whether the consent applied before or after implantation. The court upheld their agreement based on New York contract law. The court could not allow implantation unless both parties agreed. In this case, it was against the husband’s wishes. Therefore, the court ruled there would be no implantation.
This case was in 1998, but a judge settled a similar dispute recently in November 2015 in a California case, based on a couple’s agreement prior to the IVF. He also ordered the destruction of the couple’s five frozen embryos.
If you have questions about IVF and need legal advice, discuss your concerns with attorney Chris Palermo. He will be glad to answer your questions and provide you with effective legal guidance.
Never feel that your situation for collecting child support is hopeless. NY Law provides a number of options that your family law attorney can take to help you enforce child support payment.
In fact, there are administrative actions you can take based on New York State Child Support that can be administratively executed without having to go to court. Your ex spouse will receive a notice that explains the administrative process, the time frame involved and instructions for complying or challenging the payment instruction action. It also explains the consequences of not responding. Money for child support can be collected through:
Depending on how long you haven’t received child support or the total amount of past-due support owed, more than one of the above actions may occur at the same time.
If the administrative process doesn’t handle the problem, then your attorney can take the matter to court. Through a court hearing, a judge has the authority to do the following:
Don’t hesitate to consult with a lawyer if you’re having problems collecting child support. Long Island divorce attorney Chris Palermo has years of experience and can advise you on the best course of action to deal with your issues.
2015 was a tough year for celebrity marriages and, if the first two weeks of 2016 are any indication, the trend will continue this year. Less than two weeks into the new year, at least two high-profile stars have decided to call it quits on their marriages.
Research shows that celebrity marriages face significantly more challenges than other relationships. A comprehensive study by the Marriage Foundation, a British think-tank, found that celebrity betrothals are twice as likely to end in divorce as other marriages. Researchers apparently followed nearly 500 famous couples between 2001 and 2010 and compared their rate of divorce to the British population as a whole. While just slightly more than one quarter (26%) of all marriages ended in divorce, one in two celebrity marriages failed to go the distance.
At the law office of Chris Palermo, Esq., we bring more than 13 years of experience to men and women in divorce and family law matters, representing clients across Long Island. To learn more about our practice, see our divorce and family law page. For an appointment, send us an e-mail or call us toll free at 1-800-483-1527. We have offices located in Huntington, Hauppauge, Garden City, Babylon and New York City.
It’s been a tough year for celebrity marriages and relationships and the going has only gotten tougher over the last few months. Here are some of the long-term couples who have hit the skids this year.
At the law office of Chris Palermo, Esq., we bring more than 13 years of experience to men and women in divorce and family law matters, representing clients across Long Island. To learn more about our practice, see our divorce and family law page. For an appointment, send us an e-mail or call us toll free at 1-800-483-1527. We have offices located in Huntington, Hauppauge, Garden City, Babylon and New York City.
For regular folks, divorce is mostly won or lost in the courtroom, or in legal proceedings. But for celebrities, it’s a completely different playing field. As some of the high-profile divorce cases from 2015 demonstrate, it can be mostly about perceived image, and it can appear to be highly orchestrated.
Take the case of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner. Though both parties repeatedly claimed that they had nothing to report and supposedly asked reporters to “respect their privacy,” they routinely appeared in public with their children in situations where they knew they would get press coverage. In fact, inside sources say that they intentionally collaborated with gossip magazine sources. Most believe that People Magazine intentionally downplayed early signs of trouble in exchange for the exclusive right to be the first to go public with the news.
With the divorce of country music stars Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert, both had press agents who continually released information to various rumor mills, alleging infidelity by the other party. The intensity of the rumors forced Lambert’s bandmate, Chris Young, to make a public statement denying any relationship with the singer. Rumors then started, presumably fed by press agents for Lambert, that Shelton was “seeing” The Voice co-star Gwen Stefani. What better way to increase viewership at the beginning of a new season, according to many.
Even as the hubbub subsided, Shelton and Stefani added fuel to the fire by having their picture taken holding hands at a CMA Awards party. Just minutes before the CMA Awards program began, the two (Shelton and Stefani) had their press agents announce that they were dating. Since then, the two have been splashed across the gossip magazines, which insiders say is strictly for the purpose of showing that Shelton came out of the breakup on top, and that Lambert was left holding the bag.
At the law office of Chris Palermo, Esq., we bring more than 13 years of experience to men and women in divorce and family law matters, representing clients across Long Island. To learn more about our practice, see our divorce and family law page. For an appointment, send us an e-mail or call us toll free at 1-800-483-1527. We have offices located in Huntington, Hauppauge, Garden City, Babylon and New York City.