Month: July 2014

Tax Deductions on Alimony and Child Support Payments Alimony is always deductible by the payor spouse in Massachusetts You cannot label child support as alimony without potentially running into a re-capture problem, in terms of taxes The point at which the alimony ends cannot be based on a child-related event, such as reaching a certain […]

How Retirement Accounts are Divided in a Divorce Retirement accounts are considered to be marital assets, and are generally treated by dividing what was accrued from the date of marriage to the date of divorce People may try to divide pensions on their own, without the assistance of an attorney Pension and Non-Pension payments are […]

Modifying the Terms of Your Divorce Agreement The reason behind a divorce term modification is due to a change in the parent’s schedule The division of assets and liabilities will never change in a divorce agreement These modified changes will be done to suit what is best for the child  

Staying on Your Spouse’s Medical Insurance Plan A Statute was enacted for residents of Massachusetts that provides that a divorce spouse has the right to stay on their former spouse’s medical insurance policy after the divorce for as long as it is available to the primary spouse This can become a problem if one of […]

Filing a Joint Tax Return the Year You Get Divorced You can file a joint tax return if you were married on December 31 of the tax year If the divorce was finalized on December 30, you cannot file jointly; This include the waiting period after your divorce hearing A joint petition divorce is final […]

The Contested Divorce Process A Contested Divorce is when you do not have an agreement outside of the filing for the divorce The most common Ground for Divorce is the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage Fault grounds are generally not used in a Contested Divorce A complaint for Divorce gets filed because you do not […]

Maintaining Life Insurance After Getting Divorced Generally, life insurance is maintained by both parties after the divorce The payor spouse would like to be seen maintaining life insurance in an amount sufficient enough to cover child support You should check the term of your insurance policy to ensure that it will last until the emancipation […]

Dependency Tax Exemptions Dependency exemptions are allocated by the court, depending on a relative income of the parties If both parties benefit from the exemption and there is one child, that child’s dependency exemption would be alternated If there are more than two children, exemptions would be split, as long as both parents have use for […]

Dividing Estate Assets in a Divorce If you had something prior to the marriage, that will be considered in the divorce; It may or may not be divided 50/50 Inheritances may become an issue, depending on when you receive them, and how you use them There are 18 factors that a court relies on, in […]

Uninsured Medical Expenses in a Divorce Most uninsured medical expenses are split 50/50 A problem with uninsured medical bills is how one party informs the other party of the bill Most parties do not want to contact their divorced spouse once a month for bills, but it is also not fair to contact one another […]