6 Tips for Financial Success After Divorce Experienced Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® (CDFA) Provides Advice
Divorce is difficult for all involved parties – the divorcing couple, their loved ones, their children – but it is also an opportunity to improve your life.
For purposes of calculating Child Support in a Virginia divorce, gross income is what is used (not net, not AGI, nor anything else). The term “gross income” is very broadly interpreted. It includes, but is not limited to: Salaries Wages Commissions Royalties Bonuses Dividends Severance Pay Pensions Interest Trust Income Annuities Capital Gains Social Security Benefits (can be complicated) Workers Compensation Benefits Unemployment Insurance Benefits Disability Insurance Benefits (can be complicated) Veterans Benefits Spousal Support received Rental Income Gifts Prizes Awards Gross income does NOT include: Benefits from most Public Assistance programs SSI benefits Child Support received Income received by payor for secondary employment where that income is being obtained specifically to discharge a child support arrearage established by a court or administrative order and the payor is actually paying that arrearage.
The Internal Revenue Code has changed as of December 22, 2017. For up-to-date information about child related tax benefits, see this video.
As part of your tax planning, you need to consider an expected change in your filing status for this year or next. The frequently overlooked strategy is that the advancement or postponement of the date of a marriage or a divorce by a single day at year’s end can make a sizable difference in the amount of your tax tab for both years.
When a couple with children divorces, they need to consider how college expenses will now be planned. Will their original thinking about paying for college look different? Yes. Here are questions they need to consider: Are you willing to change your lifestyle --even more than a divorce normally alters lifestyle -- in order to continue with your original thinking on paying for college? This may mean less alimony/part-time job/smaller house so that money can continue to be put away for college.
In Virginia, property that is owned pre-marriage is known as “separate property”. Separate property may consist of: tangible assets (e.g. automobiles, antiques, furniture), liquid assets (e.g. bank accounts, mutual funds, stocks), retirement assets (e.g., 401(k)s, TSPs, IRAs, pensions), real estate, and business interests Under §20-107.3 of the Virginia Code, the spouse who came into the marriage with the separate property is permitted to keep that property as his or her own individual property.
For many years, the courts and bar have been trying to figure out the best way to equitably (i.e. “fairly”) divide and distribute the equity value of a divorcing couple’s residence (and other real estate) when there has been a commingling of marital and separate (non-marital) funds[1]. Once property has been “commingled”, it is usually looked upon, by Virginia Courts, as “hybrid property” (part separate, part marital property). Hybrid property questions, when it comes to the marital residence and real estate in general, often arise in the following situations: If one party uses his or her pre-marital cash as the down payment on the marital residence, does he or she get that money back when there is divorce? If the party making the down payment, out of premarital money, is to get that money back in a divorce, is there a fair calculation available to figure out how much that original down payment is worth today? How is money earned during the marriage, which is used to pay the monthly mortgage bill (plus homeowner’s insurance and real estate taxes) accounted for when the equity value of the marital residence is divided and distributed in a divorce? How are improvements to the marital residence accounted for? What is the effect on the division and distribution of the equity in the marital residence, upon divorce, if one party uses his or her separate (non-marital) funds to pay for improvements to the residence? What happens when one party owns a home prior to the divorce, which is then utilized by the parties as their marital residence and, while the parties are married, the mortgage, etc.
It is so easy to continue being angry or in a constant state of irritation with your ex-spouse . . . but, if you have a Shared Physical Custody Arrangement, that anger and irritation will eventually get in the way of successfully co-parenting your children.
Navigating any divorce can very quickly become complicated and tricky. For parents with an autistic child, this added complication can become particularly overwhelming. The courts are not well-equipped to deal with the specialized needs of children on the spectrum.
Ex-spouses are often entitled to receive social security in the amount of 50% of the value of their living ex-spouse’s benefits. You can begin receiving 50% of the value ex-spouse’s Social Security benefits after divorce, depending on a few qualifications.
