Altering Your Life Insurance Beneficiary Once an action for Divorce is commenced in New York, there are temporary orders put into place that prohibit conduct on the part of both parties. The conduct that is prohibited includes modifying a Life Insurance policy, such as changing the beneficiaries, modifying Health Insurance, or selling certain assets. If…
Submitting the Proper Tax Return Form the Year You Get Divorced A lot of people are concerned with the tax consequences of being Divorced, and whether or not they can file their tax returns jointly, as of the judgment of Divorce. The short answer to the question is that two people who are not Divorced…
Reworking Your Divorce Agreement There are a number of circumstances under which a person may want to modify their Separation or Settlement Agreement relative to a Divorce. If two people can agree, they can certainly draft an addendum, which can be attached to your agreement and incorporated into your Divorce. Otherwise, you can go to…
Using Your Spouse’s Health Insurance After Getting Divorced Oftentimes, two spouses are concerned about the effects of a Divorce upon their Health Insurance coverage. The reason why is because a person’s eligibility for Health Insurance, as a spouse, will terminate upon a Divorce. For a spouse that is concerned about the high cost of obtaining…
Contested Divorce Compared To Uncontested Divorce In New York State, a Contested Divorce is a Divorce where the parties do not agree on all of the issues that need to be resolved for a Divorce to be finalized. Those issues include the basis for Divorce, child support and custody, division of assets, and spousal maintenance. If even…
Is a Separation Agreement Required to File for an Uncontested Divorce? We are often confronted with a question from our clients as to whether or not they need an agreement to obtain a prompt, Uncontested Divorce. There is some confusion on this issue because parties describe this as a separation agreement. They will then tell…
Attorney Assistance with the Mediation Process In my opinion, it is impossible for one Mediator or one Attorney to sit with both parties to fully and adequately explain their rights and obligations in the Divorce process. That being said, retaining an Attorney does not need to be as expensive as it would be if you were litigating.…
Continuing Life Insurance Upon Divorce We are often asked about Life Insurance after Divorce. That is an issue that is raised in cases where there is going to be a stream of payments for equitable distribution, spousal maintenance, and child support. It is quite common for the court to order the provision of Life Insurance,…
Paying for Mortgage and Other Bills in the Divorce Process Often times during a Divorce action, people are concerned about how mortgage, utilities, and debts will be paid. In some cases, one spouse will abandon those responsibilities financially, and it is up to the court to ensure that the status quo is maintained. The court…
Handling Dependency Exemptions with Your Divorce Case Our clients often as us how Dependency Exemptions are handled in a Divorce case. First and foremost, we refer to the federal law, which is the tax code. Under the tax code, the parent who has custody has the right to claim the children as dependents. However, in…
Attorney Fees in Your Divorce Case Many times, a client will come to me concerned about how to pay for a Divorce action, particularly with litigation. I saw to them that they can seek, through the court, a request for Attorney’s fees to be paid by the moneyed spouse. Obviously, the qualifier here is that…
The Grounds for Divorce Process in New York State There are a number of Grounds for Divorce in New York State. The Grounds for Divorce is the basis for the granting of the actual Divorce, and those Grounds are contained in New York statutes. Historically, we only had Fault-Based Divorce in New York, but we…