Family Law Blog

Tax breaks can help reduce the financial burden of raising children.  Some – although not all – of these tax breaks can be divided between the parents after a divorce, which in turn can increase the net funds available to support the children.  Here is how this works.

Preliminary Requirements for Dividing Tax Breaks Between Parents

There are four preliminary requirements parents must meet before they can split the tax breaks for a child:

1. The parents must be divorced or legally separated, or must have lived apart at all times for the last six months of the year;
2. The parents separately or together must have provided more than half of the child’s total financial support;
3. One or both parents must have custody during the year; and
4. The custodial parent must have waived his or her right to claim the child as a dependent for that year, meaning that parent will not get the child’s exemption on their tax return.  For this waiver to be used, the custodial parent must sign IRS Form 8332, and the noncustodial parent must always attach a copy of the Form 8332 to his or her tax return for any tax year that he or she relies on the waiver. Continue Reading

A military divorce is uniquely complicated, in part because there are specific laws that determine what military benefits can be claimed by a nonmilitary ex-spouse of a service member.  If you or your spouse is in the military and are considering divorce, here is what you should know about the nonmilitary spouse’s benefit rights following the divorce.

Summary of Unique Military Benefits

If the nonmilitary ex-spouse of a service member meets all the required conditions, he or she may be entitled to military benefits that include: Continue Reading

When a couple owns a business together, the dissolution of their marriage or registered domestic partnership has the potential to seriously harm their business. Because the business is likely to be one of the most valuable assets the couple has, protecting the business during the dissolution should be a joint priority.  Both parties need to remember that unless there was a written agreement that the business would be the separate property of one of the parties, the community property will include the amount by which the business has appreciated during the marriage, and each of them will own half of that amount. Continue Reading

The Implosion of the “Governator’s” Marriage:

In May of 2011 former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife of 25 years, Maria Shriver, announced they were separating. According to a recent CNN article, the cause of their rift was a child fathered by Schwarzenegger as a result of an affair he had with a member of his household staff nearly 13 years earlier. Continue Reading

It once was the case that a jointly-owned house was a divorcing couple’s largest asset. However, in this poor economy, many divorcing couples find themselves with homes that are “upside-down,” worth less than amount owed on the mortgage. Upside-down property can be one of the most difficult assets to handle in a divorce.

When a divorcing couple owns a house worth MORE than the mortgage, one of two things usually happen: Continue Reading