In some relationships, one divorcing spouse has tried to hide marital property, while the other has tried to find the hidden assets. In a high net worth divorce, the incentives for hiding assets are particularly high, as are the incentives for finding them. As methods for hiding assets have become more technology based, so too have methods for finding the hidden assets. In many ways technology tools have made finding hidden marital assets easier.
]]> One high-tech way spouses can track down hidden assets is by examining a partner's web browsing history. The history can reveal visits to secret bank accounts, stock market accounts, other investments and pension plans. The history can also reveal cash transfers to lovers, or other evidence of secret lives.Software that records every keystroke is another tool used to uncover hidden assets. Like the browsing history, keystroke recording can reveal visits to secret bank and investment accounts, pensions and other assets. The legality of such measures, however, is still up in the air.
Another way to uncover assets is by monitoring a spouse's social networking sites. Evidence of secret business assets can be found, as well as evidence of purchases made with undisclosed assets.
High tech tools can also make a divorce attorney's job easier during asset division. Financial irregularities are discovered much more easily with advanced search tools. These tools can analyze thousands of digital bank statements, credit card bills and other financial records and almost instantly recognize patterns of deception.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, "Why hiding money from your spouse has gotten a lot harder," Veronica Dagher, April 30, 2012.
]]>Martin Lawrence and his wife appear to be one such couple. They are divorcing after fewer than two years of marriage. Their relationship, however, began 15 years prior to their 2010 wedding, and during that time they had two daughters together. Lawrence has a teenage daughter from a previous marriage as well. They intend to preserve their family relationships throughout the divorce as much as possible for their children's benefit. "Out of love and respect for one another we will continue to remain friends and raise our two beautiful daughters together," read a statement released by the couple.
]]> Couples who chose to participate in the collaborative law process retain separate lawyers who are trained in the process. The lawyers' sole task is to assist the couple in reaching a settlement. The spouses agree to work together with respect and honesty, trying to find good-faith solutions for themselves and their children. This non-adversarial solution avoids costly litigation and attempts as much as possible to mitigate much of the emotion that can run high during a divorce. It also protects the valuable family relationships that every parent strives to nurture.It is encouraging to witness the kind of example set by a couple working hard to make an amicable transition into co-parenting. Martin Lawrence and his wife show what can be achieved when couples collaborate in a divorce.
Source: News One, "It's over: Martin Lawrence and 2nd wife call it quits," Kirsten West Savali, April 24, 2012.
]]>Some divorce attorneys report that they have seen an increase in the use of electronic surveillance tools used to monitor ex-spouses. For example, one parent chose to place a recording device in her child's stuffed animal. Such forms of information-gathering are part of a larger boom in electronic evidence that has become part of divorce cases. Many, if not all, divorces today include some piece of information stored electronically, such as an e-mail or a post on a social networking website.
]]> But there is a crucial difference between browsing a spouse's Twitter account and planting an audio recording bug. In some cases the latter activity can violate criminal laws and can also expose the person to civil liability. The woman who recorded conversations using the surveillance device in her child's stuffed animal was sued by her ex-husband and others. She lost $75,000 in the verdict against her.More sophisticated devices can listen in on a person's telephone calls. Electronic monitoring has become so widely used that one divorce attorney has his clients turn off their phones so that their conversation in his office will be heard by their ears only.
Source: Houston Chronicle, "Spy gadgets infiltrate divorces as domestic snooping booms," Mike Tolson, April 29, 2012.
]]>First, Millán and his wife had to undergo a division of assets. The couple appears to have settled that issue by requiring Millán to pay his ex-wife $400,000. It was not known whether that payment consisted of cash or other property. In a high asset divorce, couples will often have to decide who will get various investments, such as stocks, mutual funds and real estate holdings.
]]> Under the terms of the divorce, Millán must also pay $23,000 each month in alimony. In Florida, the amount of spousal support--and whether it is awarded at all--depends on the unique circumstances of each case.Millán and his wife have two children, and the couple had to decide the issues of child custody and child support. For divorcing parents, these issues can be extremely important. Records show that Millán's wife had sought primary physical custody, with Millán retaining the right to visit the children. As for child support, Millán must pay his wife $10,000 each month.
Although the dollar amounts and details vary from case to case, divorce settlements involve many of the same issues. Going through a divorce can be stressful and emotional. A settlement reached through mediation can help couples reduce the level of stress as they complete the divorce process.
Source: Fox News Latino, "Dog Whisperer Facing Big Payout in Divorce," April 23, 2012.
]]>But relocation can be complex. The impact on the child custody arrangement must be taken into account, and courts will examine a number of criteria to determine whether a move would be in the child's best interests. Where relocation is permitted, however, parents may find themselves looking for ways to stay in touch with their children and remain a force in their growth and development.
]]> Avenues of long-distance communication, such as the telephone or letter, have been around for many years. But recent technology has vastly improved upon these traditional methods of communication. Now people can use computers and phones to see each other's faces while they talk, or they can carry on a running conversation via text message. States, such as Florida, have adapted to these advances by passing virtual visitation laws that give parents the right to engage in communication with their children using modern technological methods.Although perhaps an imperfect substitute for in-person conversation, video communication can provide an additional level of closeness for divorced parents who live far away from their children. Some caution against its drawbacks, however. Video communication can give one parent virtual access to the other's home, which can be perceived as an invasion of privacy.
Source: The Washington Times, "Virtual visitation: a sensible child custody option," Myra Fleischer, April 15, 2012.
]]>The wealthy couple is in the midst of a divorce that began in 2008. Although the divorce is governed by documents filed with the courts of a foreign country, the issues involved have parallels with any divorce. According to the wife's lawyers, that foreign country's courts have temporarily precluded either spouse from buying or selling any property.
]]> The husband, however, recently purchased a sprawling $88 million dollar apartment, ostensibly for his daughter. But it appears that he bought the property under the name of a trust, his wife's lawyers argue, in an attempt to prevent her from getting a share of it in the divorce. The couple had looked into buying the property before the divorce, but it was occupied at the time and the owners were not willing to sell. Reports also indicate that the husband is the owner of a $95 million property in Florida.While certainly not the case in every high net worth divorce, in some cases partners may try to keep certain assets for themselves. A full examination of the couple's finances, investments and other holdings may be necessary to ensure that the division of marital property is fair to both spouses.
Source: ABCNews.com, "Divorcing Wife Sues Billionaire Over $88M NY Penthouse," Lyneka Little, March 16, 2012.
]]>There are many ways ex-spouses can engage in productive parenting practices. But according to one psychologist, one of the most important is presenting a unified approach to parenting. One parent may try to one-up the other by always doing entertaining things with the children, by emphasizing play before work, or by giving children a longer behavioral leash. A disjointed set of rules and expectations can be confusing for children and in time may lead the children to disobey the rules.
]]> The ending of a relationship can create very powerful emotions. But psychologists caution that a divorced parent must not give in to the temptation to demean the other parent in front of the children. Doing so can undermine the children's relationship with the other parent, and exposing children to the parents' issues can diminish their self-confidence. Instead, divorced couples should strive to emphasize each other's good traits in front of the children.The key to successful parenting after a divorce is frequent and honest communication. Issues often come up in children's lives, and parents will be better able to address them in a collaborative fashion if they inform each other of new developments.
Source: Psychology Today, "The Do's and Don'ts of Co-Parenting Well," Deborah Serani, Mar. 28, 2012.
]]>The wealthy couple had a number of significant assets to divide in the divorce. This can be a sticking point in the divorces of some high net worth spouses, but again, the couple agreed on a settlement that split their property without much difficulty. According to some of the divorce documents, the husband received the couple's ownership stake in the Panthers as well as their two houses.
]]> The ownership stake is a high-value asset and could have been a source of contention in the divorce. But Viner's wife reportedly signed over to her husband any claim she might have had on the team.This is not to say that couples can evade the complex emotions that accompany a divorce. But couples who agree to cooperate in reaching a divorce settlement can save significant time and expenses by avoiding litigating the divorce in court. And by avoiding litigation, couples may reduce the emotional stress that can be amplified by a trial. In addition, couples who wish to keep their divorce private can benefit from agreeing on a settlement without having to go to court.
Source: The Miami Herald, "Panthers owner Cliff Viner, socialite wife Jill got quickie divorce in the Keys," Mar. 29, 2012.
]]>There are telltale signs that spouses can use to detect whether the other is not being completely honest about finances and property holdings. In divorces, couples will often have to disclose how they earned and spent their money. Some spouses may tinker with this financial analysis by filing tax returns that report less money than the couple earned. Since tax returns are one way to measure how a couple's wealth should be divided, a spouse can fraudulently hide money from the Internal Revenue Service and the other spouse.
]]> Additional manipulation of assets can occur when one spouse postpones receiving payments from debtors or bonuses from employers until after the divorce, even though they may have been earned during the marriage. Some spouses have also been known to create shell companies and transfer assets, such as stock options and mutual funds, into their names. The spouse will then keep the investments in these fictional entities until the divorce decree is signed.Most commonly, husbands are the ones who try to secret assets away during a divorce proceeding because in many cases husbands have more assets. But a spouse of any gender may want to be on guard to ensure that the divorce settlement is fair and fully accounts for the couple's assets. Without a complete disclosure of assets, the amount of alimony and other support obligations can be affected.
Source: Forbes, "Divorcing Women: Here's Where Husbands Typically Hide Assets," Jeff Landers, Mar. 14, 2012.
]]>In particular, parents can participate equally in their child's education. A child's teacher can testify about the extent to which each parent makes time to help with school matters. And some past cases have shown that this can have a significant effect on a child custody arrangement. Therefore, parents may want to actively demonstrate their role in their child's learning process.
]]> There are a number of ways to do this. Perhaps one of the most conspicuous is to attend open houses and other conferences at the school. Attendance at these meetings evinces the parents' care for their child, and teachers also get to know the parents better. Aside from structured meetings with teachers, parents can speak informally with teachers from time to time to discuss their child's progress. Parents can also participate in homework assignments. Some schools require students to get a parent to sign their homework to signify that it was completed at home.Of course, parents can continue this educational involvement after the divorce and the child custody agreement is created. In particular, fathers concerned about their parental rights should make efforts to stay active in their children's schooling. Often they do not, and this absence may influence a future custody modification.
Parents should take these actions because they want to advance their child's learning. But in the process they can prove to a court that they deserve shared parental responsibilities.
Source: Huffington Post, "Want Custody Of Your Kids? Get Involved With Their School!" Joseph E. Cordell, Mar. 8, 2012.
]]>The first thing to remember when it comes to alimony and taxes is that alimony is a deduction for the person who pays it (usually but not always the ex-husband) and is income to the person who receives it (often but not in every instance the ex-wife). This stands in contrast to child support payments, which are neither a deduction nor income for either party.
]]> After that, things get a little more wrinkly. What counts as "alimony" isn't always clear-cut. For instance, it's only alimony if the two or you are divorced or are legally separated and are not living together. Obviously, those decisions were made to prevent people from scamming the IRS, but in this day and age, when people might stay living together because of the bad economy or because they cannot afford a divorce just yet, these rules may have an implication other than what was initially intended.One more thing to remember is that voluntary payments do not count as alimony. If your ex-husband needs to fix his roof, for example, and you give him $1,000 just because you feel bad for him, that cannot be considered alimony; it was nice of you to give it to him, but since you were not obligated, it doesn't get counted for tax purposes.
These are just some very basic, very simple tax characteristics of alimony that you should keep in mind. If you need further guidance, your divorce attorney may be able to answer your questions or could at least refer you to a tax professional.
Source: Forbes, "Taxes From A to Z: A Is For Alimony," Kelly Phillips Erb, March 3, 2012
]]>That parental behavior, the subject of growing judicial scrutiny, is smoking. We all know the health risks that smoking poses to smokers and those around them. Judges are concluding that the state has an interest in protecting young children from exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke in a parent's home and other enclosed spaces, such as a car.
]]> A brief survey of child custody cases where smoking was an issue shows courts' preference to award custody and visitation rights to non-smokers. In one divorce proceeding, a woman, who was a smoker, was given custody of her child. But when the court later discovered that the child was asthmatic and that the woman smoked inside the house, the court revoked the custody agreement and awarded custody to the other parent. In another case, a woman had to agree not to smoke in order to continue visitation with her son.The importance of a parent's smoking habits to custody determinations is increasing. No court has said that smoking is irrelevant in custody cases, while a significant minority of states have actively listed exposure to smoke as a factor in such cases. Parents can turn to an experienced family law attorney to help them determine what role smoking may play in their child custody or visitation rights case.
Source: The Washington Times, "Smokers losing child custody cases a growing trend," Myra Fleischer, Feb. 21, 2012.
]]>While a majority of women still have children within the context of marriage, that is not true when women are broken into different demographic groups. A majority of children born to women under the age of 30 are born outside of marriage. Specific minority groups also have births to unmarried mothers in excess of 50 percent. But according to study data, the highest increase in unwed births is among white women who have attended but not graduated from college, a group that traditionally waited until marriage to have children.
]]> Explanations for the change are diverse. Some cite an increase in women joining the workforce. With financial independence, some women no longer need the security that marriage provided to earlier generations. Others are wary of marriage because of bad experiences from their parents' failed marriages. Some explanations are politicized. Conservatives claim that the sexual freedom pioneered by the baby boomer generation left people less likely to marry. Liberals argue that recent damage to the economy has caused women to pause before marrying a mate with a smaller income.While the causes may be diverse and uncertain, the effects are discrete and palpable. The percentage of births to unwed mothers has been on the rise for decades. This trend may produce a change in the nature of the American family, but many of the old issues remain. The parents will have to determine methods of support for their children and how custody should be divided in the event that they separate.
Source: The New York Times, "For Women Under 30, Most Births Occur Outside Marriage," Jason DeParle and Sabrina Tavernise, Feb. 17, 2012.
]]>Both chambers of the Legislature drafted initial bills that, broadly speaking, would have imposed bright-line rules in alimony cases. These rules would have diminished the amount of alimony an ex-spouse would have to pay and decreased the period of time over which alimony was paid. The rules would also have eased the termination of alimony when the paying ex-spouse reached retirement or the receiving ex-spouse entered into a new relationship. In addition, adulterous conduct that depleted marital assets could not be considered when fashioning alimony awards.
]]> The Senate Judiciary Committee's revision of the bill, however, removed many of these strict rules and replaced them with flexible guidelines. The rewritten bill gives judges the discretion to consider certain facts when awarding alimony instead of being bound by unyielding mandates. For example, the Senate version now includes the paying ex-spouse's retirement only as a factor for judges to examine when awarding, altering or ending alimony. In addition, the judge can consider evidence that a spouse's infidelity diminished the couple's assets.The House's version of the bill remains unchanged, however. And this has led to some uncertainty over which changes and reforms will finally be enacted into law. An engaged man is putting off his marriage to his fiancée until he knows how the new law may affect his current alimony payments to his ex-wife. The House and Senate versions now differ on whether a court could take his fiancée's income into account if his ex-wife requested an increase in alimony.
We will provide updates on the progress of this important legislation.
Source: Orlando Sentinel, "Senate committee waters down divorce-law rewrite," Kathleen Haughney, Feb. 9, 2012.
]]>A case in point is Halle Berry's divorce, which continues to be marked by contentious fighting on both sides. Berry and her ex-husband had a child custody agreement in place that provided that the couple would share joint custody of their young daughter. Berry, however, recently went to court to seek a restraining order against her ex-husband and sole custody of their daughter.
]]> The turn of events was prompted by an incident where Berry's ex-husband allegedly assaulted the child's nanny while the child was in her arms. Social workers discovered nothing to substantiate the claim, however, and could not find evidence that the father ever abused his daughter. The social workers recommended that Berry's request be denied and that the father's right to joint custody continue. It is believed that the judge in the case will follow that recommendation.Divorces can be an emotionally charged and tumultuous time for everyone involved, and matters can intensify when custody of the couple's children becomes a contested issue. It is important to remember that the best interests of the children carry great weight in child custody proceedings.
Source: BET.com, "Halle Berry's Ex Wins Court Victory in Custody Battle," Evelyn Diaz, Feb. 3, 2012.
]]>