The Durst Firm

When dealing with the reality of a divorce, one of the first questions many litigants deal with is whether

or not they should incur the expense of hiring a skilled and experienced divorce attorney. It may come across a self-serving, my answer is almost always “yes”  

While the allure of using low cost on the line resources or one of the heavily advertised strip mall divorce centers is understandable, I would caution everyone about the unforeseen consequences of this approach.  

Recently The Durst Firm was hired by someone who used one of these low-cost options do not provide individualized legal services to address a wide range of post judgement issues.  Once we started addressing the issues, became clear that the underlying documents offered little guidance in how these subsequent issues should be resolved. A properly drafted settlement agreement will set forth not only the resolutions, but also the factual underpinnings of served to lead to those results. In this recent case, no such information was provided and the result was that the judge was compelled to order a time-consuming and expensive plenary hearing. This all could have been avoided, or at least greatly minimized, if the job was done right the first time.

A divorce may require parents to share in childcare responsibilities to a greater extent than they may have done previously. Summer vacation is right around the corner and with the children being out of school this responsibility becomes all the more greater.
In many situations childcare responsibilities and arrangements need to be made. Work with the other parent to identify, select, and pay for appropriate summer camps or similar activities for the children. Review your settlement agreement to determine how these costs are to be allocated between the two of you.

In addition to the children’s activities, parents are often afforded specific box of parenting time during the summer. In the settlement agreements are prepared for clients the amount of time is identified as are any notice provisions a parent requesting summer vacation will supply to the other parent. The purpose of this requirement is to help ensure that the children are not double booked. Begin working with the other parent as soon as possible to make the arrangements so that no one is disappointed.

If you are recently divorced or are in the process of getting divorced there may be new considerations that must be taken into account as you prepare and file your 2015 tax return.
The initial question is whether or not a joint return will be filed. If you were divorced at any time in 2015 you must file individual returns. If the divorce was started, but not finished, in 2015 a joint return may still be appropriate and may hold significant financial advantages. You should consult with and rely upon the advice of your tax preparer in making these decisions. This post is not tax advice.

If you are pegging or receiving alimony be sure to note that reality in the appropriate section of the return. Review your settlement agreement or any orders which may detail who gets to claim the children as exemptions and in which years. Additionally, mortgage interest, real estate taxes, and other deductions can be claimed by one party or allocated between the two of you.

Alert your tax preparer to the status of your divorce so that the returns can be prepared accordingly and take advantage of what is otherwise a difficult situation.

This weekend we set our clocks ahead by one hour. If you have defined pickup / drop off times as part of your custody and parenting time arrangements, be mindful of this and plan accordingly.