Divorce Law

Child Support in New York

Divorce Law admin

Any couple that goes through a divorce has to deal with many issues, but those that have children usually go through even more acrimony when dealing with custody and support for their children. Child support is financial support provided by the noncustodial parent. Child support includes, cash payments (based on the parent’s income and the needs of the child), health insurance for the child, payments for child care, and payments for reasonable health care costs that are not covered by health insurance. Family Court determines the amount of child support the noncustodial parent will pay. Under New York State law, parents are responsible for supporting their child until the child is 21 years old.

There are guidelines in which the court uses to determine the amount of child support that is owed to the custodial parent, based on the noncustodial parent’s adjusted gross income and on the number of children involved. The court first determines the noncustodial parent’s gross income. The court then multiplies the adjusted gross income by the standard guideline percentage for the number of children. These percentages are as follows:
17% for one child
25% for two children
29% for three children
31% for four children
at least 35% for five or more children.
Then the noncustodial parent’s share of child care, medical, and educational expenses is added to the income percentage amount. The combined amount, percentage of income plus share of expenses, is the basic child support amount.

For incomes over $130,000, the court determines whether or not to use the percentage guidelines and may consider other factors in setting the full child support payment.

The main problem that many noncustodial parents have an issue with is that many fill out long and tedious expense forms and when it comes time to determine the monthly the courts do not take into consideration the expenses of the noncustodial parent. If you cannot pay your child support you can file a “petition for modification” with the court that issued the support order. Only the court can change what you owe. Just because you think you cannot pay, do not stop paying. Continue to pay what you can while you wait for the court to make a decision. You should know that the court will only change the amount of support you need to pay if there has been a substantial change in your ability to pay.

Dealing with child support and child custody it can be very emotional, remember that in the end you want what is best for your children.

Adjusting To Your Divorce

Divorce Law admin

Parenting through divorce presents new and changing relationships for everyone. Adjusting to the process of letting go of the concept of the two-parent family and accepting the idea of new relationships takes time. Take the time to go slow when initiating a new relationship to give children time to deal with different lifestyles and eventually the possibility of an extended family. Rushing into dating may be viewed by your child as competition for your love and attention. Old fears of abandonment may surface as the fantasy dissolves that the divorcing parents will unite. As a result of the divorce, some children lose trust in adults and are slow to accept a new adult into their life. It is important to talk to your children about their feelings and their role in the new step-family. Communication, reassurance, and time will help your child make the needed adjustment.

Before dating, give your children enough time to adjust to the idea that mom and dad will be seeing other people. Make your activities with your date a part of a group function. Starting your social life with friends the children already know may also help them get the point that you are dating. In the beginning of a new relationship, meet your dates away from home to avoid having a number of different people in your home and your child’s life. Your child had lived through difficult changes and should not be asked to adjust to something else this significant unless it is necessary. Choose with care whom you let get close to your family. Before you introduce them, let your children know the nature of your relationship. Begin with a few short outings to take the pressure off forced conversation. If it looks as if the relationship will be long term, outings can gradually become longer. It is important to reassure your children of your love for them. They are less likely to accept someone they perceive as a threat to their relationship with you. It is crucial that they know that the person is not a replacement for their absent parent.

What Exactly Is A Divorce

Divorce Law admin

Sometimes married couples do not get along and find that they are never going to make the marriage work. That is when a divorce comes into mind. A divorce is a legal action between married people to terminate their marriage relationship. It is a hard time for all that is involved.

We hope that you finish this article having learned at least a little bit of new information. If so, then we have done our job.

There is something that is called a no failing divorce. This means that the incite does not get in to why the pair requests to be removed. It worn to be that the guise opening the divorce had to verify certain reasons for receiving removed. Some of these reasons included falseness or abuse. This time was regularly demanding for the pair and even a little embarrassing. The questions of what parties had been liability are personal and these topics come out in the inciteroom.

Now the law is different and it permits one of the parties to get a divorce if he or she states in incite that the marriage is irretrievably crushed. mostly the umpire will not ask any other questions about the marriage and permit the divorce to move on.

In some divorces, however, they can get awkward and there are many emotions brought out in incite. This is a hard time to covenant with and many people go through very depressing epoch. In some of the instances, one gather does not want the divorce and they will brawl it with all that they have. This will make the position harder on both parties.

During the second part, we must switch to a more serious side to fully communicate the subject matter in a way for all to understand.

Some incite systems will want to make assured that the pair is liability the right thing. They will in some luggage order the pair to obtain counseling. This is typically only for the pairs that there is plan for. This is not for everybody and it is important to do only if one or both of the parties involved thinks that there is a attempt for reconciliation.

People regularly epoch give up on their marriage too hurriedly. In some luggage, they never genuinely give the other guise or the marriage a attempt. There are hard epoch in all marriages and some people influence to try and work it out, while others lean to just want to give it all up as hasty as they can.

It is forever best to do what makes both parties exultant and able to move on and get back to living the remainder of their life. leaving through a divorce will be one of the toughest clothes a guise can live through.

If you need help with this subject, or do not know how to begin, there are several free resources on related websites to give you a boost.

Are you lonely and bewildered about a relationship breakup and want help to get your ex back

Divorce Law admin

You already know how grueling it is to just wake up and roll out of bed in the morning. You leave your radio off on your way to your job because every song is a painful reminder of him. You can’t even bear to eat at the same restaurants you took her to. And if that isn’t bad enough, you have to deal with the loss of friends and family that are on “their side”. But here’s some good news… Most relationships CAN be salvaged! You may find it difficult to believe that almost every break up for whatever reasonbetrayal, plain old lost passion, loss of interest, a stolen heart and worse…even the worst situations you could conceivelike men serving prison terms have salvaged their relationships. Yes, even Ex-convicts have reunited with girlfriends and wives after being away for years! It doesn’t matter if you were the one that got left or did the leaving your pain is real and can be healed. Find out everything you need to know to feel better within twenty-four hours. It’s true you could be feeling significantly better one day from today. The Magic of Making Up System can… Show you how to take COMPLETE CONTROL OF THE BREAK UP and make your ex become extremely attracted to you and want to have sex with you every day of the week! Yes it is realistic with “The Instant Reconnect Technique” (my favorite technique). You can use these secrets right now to make your ex Come CRAWLING BACK TO YOU on their knees while they are begging you to take them back! However, I must STRONGLY CAUTION YOUthe advice and techniques are VERY unconventional. Relationship counselors get REALLY ANGRY because they are charging a lot of money (sometimes for months and even years) and you could do just one of the procedures in the book And next thing you know… youre back together with your ex. I just don’t believe that any amount of sitting in a classroom can make up for the REAL WORLD experience that you will learn. Human psychology plays a big part in the approach to getting back with an ex. Unconventional techniques and relational psychology is a large part of the Magic of Making Up. It will lead you toward a recovery just like thousands of other separated people have experienced. Your pain could be gone, faster than you can begin to imagine, forever, if youre willing to follow the system. How would it feel to wash away your pain, to remove the knot eating you up from the inside? “Do you want all the magical behavior controlling advice to get your ex back?”

The Khul’ Divorce in Egypt

Divorce Law admin

Under the rules of divorce in Islamic sharia, a husband has the prerogative right to divorce his wife any time, any place, with or without any reason. Under certain conditions, the wife may request from the religious judge a judicial divorce in case of harm or maltreatment (darar), as stated by the Maliki School of jurisprudence.

Based on the wide interpretation of the Maliki School, the wife may seek divorce if she can convince the judge that she is suffering a harm from her husband, a provision that is not allowed by the Islamic Hanafi School of law.

In general terms, Islamic sharia allows the wife to seek divorce under the following conditions: (1) impotency; if the husband is unable to consummate the marriage; (2) his apostasy from Islam; (3) his imprisonment for a long period of time; and (4) if he contracts an incurable skin disease.

The additional harm as a cause for divorce in Maliki interpretation of sharia, allows the wife to bring evidence to the judge showing that the husband used systematic maltreatment, and is unable to provide maintenance to her.

Such provisions in Islamic sharia created hardship for thousands of women who were seeking divorce, but unable to prove the harm factor to the satisfaction of the judge. Women were unable to get out of their un-happy marriages because their husbands refused to consent to the divorce, and the judges were not persuaded with the evidence presented by the women. To remedy this situation, the Egyptian government enacted a law allowing judges to approve the divorce through a process known as Khul, or repudiation, without the consent of the husband.

Khul was practiced in early Islamic period; it allows the wife to obtain a final divorce by means of a financial settlement paid by her to the husband in compensation, without having to prove of harm or maltreatment. Frequently, under the terms of Khul, the wife is required to pay back all or part of the “mahr”, which is the amount of money or objects of value that the husband gave his wife when the marriage contract was signed. Also, she has to relinquish her right to the amount of “mahr” he promised to give her in the future. In addition, the husband must agree to the Khul. In other words, should the husband refuse to consent to the Khul, the wife will be unable to get divorce. Faced with that difficulty, the legislators in Egypt enacted a law in which the judge was given authority to separate the married couple based on Khul without the approval of the husband and without having to prove maltreatment.

On January 2000, former President, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, issued in the Official Gazette [al-Jaridah al-Rassmiyyah] Law No.1, of 2000, granting women the right to file for a “no-fault” divorce (Khul) on the basis of “incompatibility,” without having to provide evidence of harm. Under the provisions of the new law, the wife may obtain a definitive judicial separation from her husband if she desires so; the only condition she has to satisfy is to forfeit her rights to alimony and her deferred “mahr” (muakhar) as well as repay her advanced “mahr” (muqaddam).

First section of Article 20 of the new law provides the following: “A married couple may mutually agree to separation (al-Khul); however, if they do not agree and the wife sues demanding it [i.e., the separation], and separates herself from her husband (khalaat zawjaha) by forfeiting all her financial legal rights, and restores to him the “mahr he gave to her, then the court is to divorce her from him (tatliqiha alayhi).”

Before the judge rules on Khul, he has to order the couple to undergo a process of reconciliation, and after asking two mediators [hukkam] to pursue conciliation efforts between them for a period that may not exceed three months; and after the wife decides explicitly [tuqarrir sarahatan] that she abhors living with her husband and there is no way to continue married life between them, and that she is afraid to transgress Gods limits of this abhorrence.

It is important to note here that while a woman is required to submit to burdensome and time-consuming court-ordered conciliation, men seeking divorce, on the other hand, are never required to make any efforts at reconciliation. The reconciliation process is rooted in the biased notion that women are not capable of making rational decisions on issues related to divorce. According to one prosecutor in Cairo, mediation was necessary because “a woman may be hasty in filing for a divorce and may not have a strong keenness in keeping the family together. The court has to play this role and intervene. Men are more wise and rationale than women. A womans emotions can overcome her rationality”. (See Divorced from Justice: womans unequal access to divorce in Egypt, Google eBook, p.28).

Section 3 of Article 20 states that the separation order of the judge is “an irrevocable divorce [talaq bain]”; and the courts decision is not subject to any form of appeal. Article 20 of the Egyptian law of 2000 does not accord legal weight to the husbands consent to the terms of Khul divorce. This is based on the Sunnah literature, embodied in the Islamic canonical collections of the sayings and deeds of the Prophet of Islam, and especially the collection of Sahih al-Bukhari, which contain an authenticated version of Muhammads handling of the Habiba separation case in which he ruled to separate her from her husband without asking the husbands permission.

Although Article 20 of the Egyptian Personal Status Law, which grants women the right of Khul is considered a significant accomplishment by womens rights activists, it is harmful to womens financial rights because the wife is forced to give up her mahr, alimony and other gifts provided by the husband during their marriage. Poor women, particularly in rural areas, suffer most of this financial loss.

DISCLAIMER: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, it is not intended to provide legal advice as individual situations will differ and should be discussed with an expert and/or lawyer. For specific technical or legal advice on the information provided and related topics, please contact the author.

An authorization to republish this article is hereby granted by the author provided that authors name is attached to the article.

Washington State Divorce Legal Issues

Divorce Law admin

People approaching Washington divorces are often surprised by the deficiency of clear rules. People ask their lawyers, ” How much alimony do I have to pay?” ”How much child support will I owe?” How long I will have to pay?” How much of my pension does she get?” With very few exceptions, Washington Divorce Online has found that the law itself cannot give you very precise answers to these questions.

Either you and your spouse will negotiate a settlement between yourselves or a judge will determine the arrangements for you. In Washington State divorce cases, there are now formal guidelines that the court must follow in awarding child support. However, on most issues, judges are unfettered to implement their own discretion after hearing evidence, and this discretion extends even to child support guidelines.

You take your chances when you and your spouse go to trial. It can be a roll of the dice. Most judges do their best to be fair and professional, but, like the rest of us, judges are susceptible to their own prejudices and biases. If you don’t like the judge’s decisions you will either learn to live with them or you can appeal to a higher court, but few people ever utilize the appeal process. Appeals are difficult to win because the burden is on the person making the appeal to prove to the higher court that the trial judge misinterpreted the law or abused the discretion permitted the judge by law. Even if you are one of the few who wins on appeal, all you get most of the time is a new trial. The only way to be sure that your Washington divorce meets your needs is for you and your spouse to negotiate the resolution yourselves.

When you negotiate your agreement, you negotiate a contract voluntarily. You sign it voluntarily. You cannot decide that neither of you will support your children, and you cannot subject your children to danger or neglect. But, within very broad limits you are free to decide together, how you will resolve the issues at hand.

Settlement arrangements are negotiated in the shadow of the law. That means, you negotiate with an eye on what you think would happen if you were to go to trial and let the judge decide. Experienced lawyers often think they can predict what would happen at trial. Washington State Divorce lawyers tend to develop a consensus or sense of industry standards about the results of trials. They may agree that the judges “always give the wife half the house” or ” a third of the husbands pension.” They might agree that in a particular case $200.00 a week for child support would be unlikely. Lawyers who have appeared many times before the same judge may acquire useful generalizations. Much of this may be true indeed, but the truth is that you cannot depend on it. You may get a particular judge, or you may get that judge on a bad day, or your lawyer may be wrong. Although most lawyers will sovereignly foretell the outcome in court, few will guarantee you the conclusion. You need to treat such predictions with healthy ske pticism.

Divorce – Positive Side and Benefits

Divorce Law admin

Divorce is a problem faced by several couples around the world. It is result of wrong decisions taken by the couples involved or misunderstandings caused by lack of trust between partners. There are several problems which both of persons involved in a divorce face in their life before and after that. However, it does not mean divorce is always bad. There are situations where divorce is the only solution to all problems between two partners, and only after splitting up most of those problems can be solved.

If there is no more trust in holy relation of marriage, then the charm, harmony and enthusiasm of relation is vanished. The reason behind lack of trust can be an extra marital affair or lack of care and responsibility for each other. Here we need to focus over the reasons causing extra marital affairs. There can be more than one possible reason:

1. When the decision of marriage was against wishes of either or both the partners. In that case a sense of dissatisfaction is always there, in some cases the care and affection shown by any one of the partners removes this sense of dissatisfaction and makes the relation harmonious. But in other cases, the problem increases with time, and at a point in life the relation becomes unbearable, where solution is divorce only.

2. There are some cases where couples give more priority to their individual careers; in that case marriage becomes less prioritized responsibility for them. They take marriage as a hindrance in path of their blooming career, somewhere its true too. Divorce can be a solution for them which can be helpful in attaining their career goals.

3. Love relations before marriage is also a decision factor, when people don’t get their dream love as life partner, and they meet him/her after marriage, in such cases old love becomes more closer and important for them. No doubt their dream partner can be more understanding and loving for them than their current partner. So, people involved with a marriage take decision of separation with mutual agreement.

There are other situations too where separation is the most suitable solution for all problems in a relation.

Collaborative Divorce — breaking up doesn’t have to mean breaking the bank

Divorce Law admin

The collaborative process, started by Minneapolis family lawyer Stuart Webb in 1990, provides alternative dispute resolution using a team of professionals working jointly for the couple, rather than in adversarial roles. It is just now hitting the radar screen in Illinois, where practitioners estimate that about 300 divorces have been handled this way in the last several years. The state averages about 35,000 divorces a year, records show.

Both parties agree not to enter litigation. Couples often hire attorneys trained in collaborative law and bring in shared accountants, financial planners, business valuation experts, child psychologists and even life coaches to help the couple. Unlike impartial mediators, the attorneys can advise their clients as advocates.

Proponents say it dramatically cuts the tension–and the costs–involved in traditional contested divorces.

There are skeptics, however. Among the critics are those who say the peacefulness of the process encourages divorce and attorneys who say the best representation for any divorcing spouse is a vigorous offense.

Participants in a collaborative divorce sign documents promising to disclose all assets, and their attorneys agree to walk away from the case if the parties end up going to trial.

An average contested divorce can run about $30,000, but it’s not uncommon for some to reach six figures, attorneys say.

Collaborative costs vary widely, depending on the number of professionals involved and the number of meetings it takes for spouses to agree on a settlement. Collaborative attorneys estimate that most of these cases settle for half to a third of what their bill would have been with a court battle. Settlements must be reviewed and approved by a judge.

Costs ranged from $5,000 to $21,000, representing as high as 15 percent of annual household income.

Even friendly divorces come with costs that reach beyond the courtroom, however, and women especially tend to feel the strain. Divorce Magazine reported the drop in standard of living for women after divorce was 45 percent in 2000. About 20 percent of people filing personal bankruptcy had been recently divorced, according to Harvard University law professor Elizabeth Warren, who has studied families in dire financial straits since 1986 and who is considered one of the leading national authorities on bankruptcies.

Your staff: In addition to consulting attorneys, divorcing couples are turning to specialized financial planners to run living cost estimates, decide the value of family businesses and prepare investment return projections on proposed settlements.

Typically these are accountants, certified financial planners or other financial advisers who offer a specialized divorce practice. Someone who has a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst designation has also taken a self-study course and completed four exams related to divorce finances, but be sure to inquire what other credentials he or she has. Training is done through the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts in Southfield, Mich. (800-875-1760).

If you’ll need help valuing assets or a business, or suspect your future ex may be hiding money you also may need to contact a forensic accountant.

If you are the primary breadwinner but are considering a lower-paying job as you go through the divorce transition years, tread carefully. Some judges will require you to maintain your family’s previous standard of living. A judge may rule you’re more than capable of a high earning power and decide to award less alimony.

Your portfolio: If you think you’ll have to draw down some retirement money to cover expenses in the first few years of divorce, do it sooner rather than later, this way you can take a distribution at the time of divorce without a penalty,

Your tax return: Be sure to consider the tax consequences of your divorce settlement. The more money a primary breadwinner doles out as alimony instead of child support, the more he or she can deduct from income, experts say. The spouse receiving the alimony will have to pay income taxes on the money, but usually it will be at a lower tax bracket. Child support, on the other hand, isn’t deductible from income.

Divorce Mediation Where to Get Help, Advice and Do-It-Yourself Forms

Divorce Law admin

Remember when …

Breaking up was easy

Okay, maybe it was never easy but it was sure easier than it is when you’ve got kids, mortgages and pension plans together!

Traditional Methods of Resolving Break-Ups:
Scenario 1

-Today, Traditional Methods of “Breaking-Up” typically mean hours and hours in Divorce Court and Tens of Thousands of Dollars in Attorneys Fees
Not to mention the Emotional Wreckage to Parents AND their children

-Outrageous Fees
Think about it – every time you have to go to court, that’s at least 2 hours of attorney time at $250 per hour
That’s $500 EACH party pays for each of 3-4 court appearances NOT including the final hearing

-But Wait – There’s More
So that’s 2 hours per court appearance times 4 court appearances = 8 hours + 8 hours for the final hearing (16 hours total)
Then, for every hour IN court there are probably 2 hours spent preparing for court (another 32 hours – that’s 48 total EACH)
$10,000+ (add to that fees paid to experts – experts about the children, about finances)

-Meanwhile …
You talk to your lawyer, who talks to the Judge, the other lawyer and the “experts”
The former “love-of-your-life” talks to their lawyer, who talks to the Judge, the other lawyer and the “experts”
The Judge, who has known you for all of a day (maybe) determines your fate and your children’s fate
Oh, and notice who aren’t talking to one another – the only two adults who aren’t being paid to be there – the only two who are ultimately responsible for the children

Scenario 2
-Do-It-Yourself Method
The forms aren’t the easiest things to fill out
If you slip up and fail to properly define something or forget to put something in the paperwork – Guess What?!?
Do Not Pass Go – Go straight back to Scenario 1(you’d be shocked how often this happens)

Is there any other way?

Yes
The Petovero Method(TM)
Divorce and Child Custody Resolutions
made easy

We use a unique process that includes mediation and that deals with all the aspects a person has to contend with when there are children, or assets, or debts involved

We focus on results while generating an environment that reduces the impact on the parties, and, perhaps more importantly, on the children

There’s an old saying: Criminal Lawyers See Bad People at their Best and Divorce Lawyers See Good People at their Worst.

We help good people invent a new life, that nurtures them and their children and facilitates the return of productivity, fun and play.
Go to petovero.com for more information

PETOVERO.COM

Why Divorce Is So Unfair for Children

Divorce Law admin

Whatever the reason for a couple to divorce, the effects on children can be harmful.

Children love their parents equally and whatever the reasons for a husband and wife to want to end their marriage and go their separate ways, it can not be forgotten how this will impact and affect the children.

Children are hardly ever to blame for a marriage failing. And often they are the innocent victims who lives are completely changed because their parents have decided to split up.

If a marriage is ending because a one of the couple has been unfaithful, the children had no part in this and yet are expected to take sides and willingly accept that their parents will no longer be living together and that the family unit has broken up. Add to this the unimaginable thought of the children having to live with one parent and seeing the other parent on alternate weekends, and you can see how this would badly affect most children especially those who are very small and don’t understand what is going on around them.

Many parents fail to appreciate and understand that their children continue to be affected by this family breakup for many years to come.

Whilst the husband and wife have adapted to being separate, and possibly might have met other partners as time goes on, children still cling on to the hope that their parents might one day get back together again.

They don’t want to see a stranger in their father’s place or another woman with their father. These things can be disruptive especially for young minds and can cause resentment and loathing in children towards the parent who has wronged as well as to the new partners of both parents.

Studies also show that the effects of divorce on young children tend to lead to lower marks at school, mood swings and disruption in the lives of those children whose parents had divorced.