Marital Property Issues
If you are going through a divorce, your worries about finances are probably heightened. You may be experiencing some of these marital property issues.
Marital Property Issues | Spouse Voluntarily Reduced Income
If you suspect your spouse has voluntarily reduced his or her income to get a more favorable result in your divorce, reducing spousal support payments and lost assets, your attorney can help. This kind of misrepresentation is harder to prove in small businesses and easier to prove in large corporations. In some cases you’ll have to hire a forensic accountant to look into your spouse’s finances, and even the minutiae of a business’s compensation structures, expenses, debts, assets, and profits. You can also take depositions from employers or business partners, and subpoena information.
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Marital Property Issues | Life Insurance
Life insurance is a marital asset; it may be distributed to either party. If there are children involved, attorneys often can negotiate revisions in the settlement allowing for the continuation of a policy. If you are the party receiving child support and spousal support, you should consider inserting a provision that requires the moneyed and non-custodial spouse (if this is the same person) to take out a life insurance policy as a security for spousal and child support payments, at least for as long as those payments are to last. The court, however, cannot require a party to take out a life insurance policy; it must be negotiated.
Marital Property Issues | Division of Assets
According to New York State law, marital assets are divided in a manner that is equitable, but not necessarily equal. Typically, any property acquired before the marriage is considered separate property, and any property acquired during the marriage is subject to equitable distribution unless it can be shown to have been acquired by use of assets that existed prior to the marriage, or are a result of a gift or inheritance during the marriage.
If you have martial property issues, please don’t hesitate to call our office today to schedule a consultation with our Buffalo divorce attorney Randy Gugino.
