The divorce is final. You breathe a sigh of relief. No more papers to file, no more documents to complete, no more red tape. Well, not quite. Even after the judgment is entered, there are certain steps that you must take to effectuate the provisions of the divorce decree and make sure that the financial and legal aspects of your life reflect your newly single status. The following checklist can serve as a helpful reminder of what remains to be done. Not every item below may apply to you, but there are surely some listed tasks that require your immediate attention.
| ____ | Divide all property as set forth in the divorce decree. |
| ____ | Execute a quitclaim deed to transfer title to real property to your former spouse, and/or make sure that your ex-spouse does the same, as required by the divorce decree. |
| ____ | Change the titles to your motor vehicles to reflect the ownership as set forth in the divorce decree. |
| ____ | Notify your auto insurer of any changes in automobile drivers, ownership, and addresses. |
| ____ | Make sure that your name has been removed from any debts or loans that are no longer your responsibility. |
| ____ | If you change your name (such as by reverting to your maiden name) as a result of the divorce, notify all of your creditors of the change. |
| ____ | If you move, notify all of your creditors of your change of address. |
| ____ | Notify the Social Security Administration of your name change. |
| ____ | Apply for a driver's license with your new name on it. |
| ____ | Apply for a driver's license with your new address on it. |
| ____ | Change your name on your bank accounts and checks, or open new accounts in your name only. |
| ____ | Change your address on your bank accounts and checks. |
| ____ | Apply for credit in your own name. |
| ____ | Remove your former spouse's name from your lease or mortgage. |
| ____ | Change the beneficiary on your life insurance policy, if permissible under the divorce decree. |
| ____ | Obtain life insurance naming your former spouse and/or children as beneficiaries to ensure continued support if you should die, if required by the divorce decree. |
| ____ | Write a new will. |
| ____ | Execute all necessary COBRA documents to ensure continued health insurance coverage, or make sure that your ex-spouse has done the same. |
| ____ | Make sure that the Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) is entered and implemented, if required under the divorce decree. |
| ____ | Take all other actions required by the divorce decree. |
| ____ | Pay all support when due. |
| ____ | If you change jobs, notify your new employer of any court-ordered support, if required by law to do so, to effectuate continued automatic withholding. |
| ____ | Keep your scheduled visitation times with your children. |
Also available in PDF | MS Word
SOURCE: FindLaw
Drop me an email at gdgrifflaw@mac.com for a copy.
The U.S. Department of Labor provides a great list of frequently asked questions concerning Drafting Qualified Domestic Relations Orders. Included in the answers are sites to the section of ERISA associated with the QDRO.
In addition you can find information about Qualified Domestic Relations Orders.
Both links provide some good information concerning such Orders.
More from the Alabama Family Law Blogseries.
We pick up with Step 8 in our series on practical steps to take when a divorce is imminent.' Step 8 is Assess how to handle the credit accounts.
If a divorce is imminent you do not want to be liable on any accounts on which your spouse has charging privileges.' It is not unheard of for an angry spouse, upon learning of a divorce, to go on a shopping spree.' Likewise, some lawyers may advise their clients to take out cash advances on joint cards to provide a cushion while the divorce is pending or to charge a large amount in lawyer’s fees on to joint cards.
You will want to consider canceling such joint accounts or at least reducing the spending limits.' If they are an authorized user on charge cards in your name, see what steps the credit card companies require to remove them as an authorized user.'
Also consider home equity lines of credit.'You may need to consider whether you should close it or restrict access pending the resolution of the divorce.'
Whatever you do, do not neglect thinking seriously about how to handle this issue, and discuss'it with your lawyer before making a final decision.
Source for Post: Alabama Family Law Blog.
The South Carolina Family Law Blog has a great post today of things to consider after the divorce is final and you need to get your finances in order.
Once your divorce is finalized, it is time to begin laying the groundwork for your future. Finances are an important part of becoming self-sufficient and nurturing the new you. Here is a checklist of items that are important to cover when ensuring your finances are headed in the right direction.
Source for Post: South Carolina Family Law Blog.
We continue with our series on steps to take when divorce is imminent.' We are on to Step 7 which is Assess the Financial Accounts.
If you’ve completed the prior steps in this series, then you already know what accounts exist and what the balances are.'You need to make a decision about what to do with them.'
It is an unfortunate reality that one of the first things that some spouses do when they learn/decide a divorce is imminent is to raid the accounts.'This is typically done after receiving particularly bad advice from an adversarial lawyer or a well meaning, but poorly informed friend.
In a perfect world neither party would touch the financial accounts except to pay normal household bills until after the divorce is over.'However, if this was a perfect world, you would not be reading this blog, and I would be in another line of work'because divorce lawyers would be unnecessary.
That being said I do not recommend that you clean out the accounts.'Doing so'immediately escalates the conflict and stress of divorce.'' It also will not be well received by the divorce judge.'
So, you don’t want to clean out the accounts, but you want to be protected from your spouse cleaning them out.' If you have a reasonable fear that your spouse will raid the accounts, the only reasonable solution that I know is to remove one half of the funds from the accounts and put them in a new account in your own name.' Do not hide, dispose, or waste the money.' Document carefully where every penny is spent because you will likely need to make an accounting of it later in negotiations or at trial.' Additionally, you should not do this for the regular checking account out of which the household expenses are paid unless there is a substantial balance in the account over and above the amount needed for paying the current month’s bills.' You do not want to take action that would cause checks to bounce.
I don’t make this as a blanket suggestion. 'If the money can be kept there and neither party remove it, that is preferred.' Another option for certain types of accounts is to put a freeze on the account.' Obviously that is only practical for accounts that are not regularly needed to pay bills and regular expenses.
Before you decide how to handle your financial accounts, consult with your lawyer.' If they are suggesting you go take all of the money out without a good reason, I would seriously reevaluate the whether that lawyer shares your desire for a civilized divorce.
Source for Post: Alabama Family Law Blog.
The filing of a petition for divorce creates a species of common or co-ownership in one spouse in the property held by the other, individually or jointly, the extent of which is determined by the trial court pursuant to Kan. Stat. Ann. § 60-1610(b) (Supp. 1991). Prior to the filing of a petition for divorce a spouse may dispose of his or her personal property without regard to the other spouse. At that time a spouse possesses only an inchoate interest in real estate held by the other spouse. The filing for divorce, however, has a substantial effect upon the property rights of the spouses. At that moment each spouse becomes the owner of a vested, but undetermined, interest in all the property individually or jointly held. The court is obligated to divide the property in a just and equitable manner regardless of the title or origin of the property.
The trial court is under a duty to divide marital property in a just and reasonable manner. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 60-1610(b) (Supp. 1991) provides that a decree shall divide the real and personal property of the parties, whether owned by either spouse prior to marriage, acquired by either spouse in the spouse's own right after marriage, or acquired by the spouses' joint efforts. In making the division of property the court shall consider the age of the parties, the duration of the marriage, the property owned by the parties, their present and future earning capacities, the time, source, and manner of acquisition of property, family ties and obligations, the allowance of maintenance or lack thereof, dissipation of assets, and such other factors as the court considers necessary to make a just and reasonable division of property. An equal division of all marital property acquired during the marriage is not required. In exercising its discretion, the trial court may consider all property so as to arrive at a just and reasonable division.
Your lawyer will need documentation showing your income (if you work outside the home) and the income of your spouse.'This is important for a number of reasons, but primarily for child and spousal support.
If your spouse is a salaried employee then your job is easy.'Obtain a copy of the most recent pay stub and the most recent Income Tax Return.'If you do not have access to either of these, you can obtain a copy of the Income Tax Return by requesting it from the IRS.
Complete Form 4506, Request for Copy of Tax Return and mail it to the IRS address in the instructions along with a $39 fee for each tax year requested. Copies are generally available for returns filed in the current and past 6 years.'You can download the form at www.irs.gov.
If your spouse is self employed, then the job of determining their income becomes much more difficult.'This is why discretion about your divorce plans is important.'You may want to discreetly question your spouse (or if he has one, his business partner or his partner’s spouse) about income.'You can attempt to get copies of bank account statements and financial statements of the business.'
Another good way to prove income and assets of a self employed spouse is to obtain a copy of a loan application or net worth statement that they may have submitted to a bank or other lending institution for a loan.
Sometimes it is difficult to prove the actual income of a self employed spouse.'At this point, gather the information you can.'In the case of a self employed spouse, your lawyer will likely have to help you by using the discovery process to obtain and analyze additional information.
Source for Post: Alabama Family Law Blog.
The issue of life insurance in divorce agreements often comes up. The following information by Ann O Flanagan is helpful in determining how much insurance a spouse shoudl have after a divorce:
Experts believe that a surviving spouse with children needs at least $100,000.00 worth of insurance for every $500.00 of pre-tax income. If you require $3,000.00 a month ($36,000.00 per year) to cover your expenses, your spouse should have $600,000.00 of life insurance. ($3,000.00/500.00 = 6; 6 x 100,000.00 = $600,000.00) of insurance to meet your bills. The surviving souse would invest the $600,000.00 at a conservative interest rate of 6 % which would generate $36,000.00 a year in interest before taxes. Because the surviving spouse and children would be living off the interest, rather than the principal. the income would last forever.
Many people feel that $50.000.00 worth of insurance, that's commonly part of, an employee benefit's package. is enough. It is not.
Therefore, at the time of divorce, it is imperative that additional insurance be obtained so that, in the event that your spouse dies, and alimony and child support ceases, the surviving spouse and children have sufficient funds to live on.
SOURCE: Ann O'Flanagan and DivorceSource
Source for Post: Georgia Family Law Blog.
