Tag Archive for: Divorce

,

What is alimony, maintenance, and spousal support? You need to know this if you’re facing divorce.

The official definition of divorce states that divorce is the legal dissolution of a marriage relationship. When parties are married for a significant period of time, a spouse may seek spousal support. This spousal support payment is often referred to as “Alimony” by the IRs and is called “Maintenance” under Wisconsin law.  In other words, on top of all the emotional turmoil, a party may also be required to support his or her spouse with payments known as alimony or maintenance. 

Alimony or Maintenance may be required under a court order or by the couple’s agreement after divorce or even while a divorce case is still pending.  This can either be frustrating or relieving, depending on your financial situation.  But beyond the emotions, the court has framed the concept of alimony/maintenance to ensure that both parties are treated equitably. That’s where the role of top-rated divorce lawyers comes into play, bringing the legal experience and technology to the courtroom. 

Here, we will look at general types of spousal support, and consider some of the factors that play a key role in determining the amount of maintenance that is ordered. 

Types of Alimony Support

There are three types of alimony support:

  • Temporary maintenance 
  • Short-term maintenance 
  • Indefinite maintenance 

Temporary alimony 

Temporary alimony is the amount one spouse pays to the other until the divorce is final. The amount of Temporary maintenance is usually determined by a family court commissioner and is subject to review by a circuit court judge. The amount of temporary maintenance owed might be more or less than the amount ordered after the matter is finalized. 

Short-term or Rehabilitative support

Short-term maintenance is sometimes referred to as rehabilitative support. It is often thought of as the amount one spouse pays to the other to help the recipient spouse make the transition to supporting themselves. Often this is awarded when a spouse has invested significant time in raising children or has reduced education or fewer work opportunities.

Indefinite support

Indefinite support is the amount one spouse pays to the other for an indefinite term such as remarriage or death. It is ordered as part of the final divorce judgment. Often indefinite support is awarded when a couple was married for a long time (i.e.  >25 years). 

If you have any doubts related to the types of spousal support, you can get in touch with our top-rated divorce attorneys in Milwaukee to get experienced legal advice. 

What Are the Factors That Play a Key Role in Determining Alimony Support?

The purpose of alimony is to ensure that both spouses are able to maintain the reasonable standards of living as they had before the divorce. The court takes various factors into account while determining the maintenance. Let’s have a look at some of the important factors that the court will consider: 

  • The length of the marriage
  • Each spouse’s age and physical/emotional health
  • Educational levels of each party 
  • The couple’s standard of living
  • The earning capacity of the party seeking maintenance, including educational background, training, employment skills, work experience, length of absence from the job market, custodial responsibilities for children, and the time and expense necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to enable the party to find appropriate employment.
  • The feasibility that the party seeking maintenance can become self-supporting 
  • Any other factors that the court determines to be relevant. 

How to Avoid a Court Trial on Alimony?

The court trial means that you were unable to reach an agreement with regard to an equitable maintenance award.  As a result, you are at the discretion of the judge for the decision-making on the amount and term for an equitable maintenance order. The best way to avoid a court trial on spousal support is to hire the best divorce attorney in your area. Your attorney will calculate the amount of spousal support while considering the tax consequences to both spouses. If needed, our divorce attorney knows reputable vocational evaluators that can be utilized for expert advice regarding your spouse’s earning capacity. Our divorce attorney is a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst and has been repeatedly nominated for awards including, Super Lawyers, US News & World Report’s Best Lawyers, and National Academy of Family Lawyers. Attorney Magner also has a 10.0 rating on Avvo and is Lead Counsel Verified by LawInfo. 

Need help with calculating maintenance in your Divorce or Legal Separation? Get in touch with Magner and Hueneke LLP and our top-rated divorce attorneys in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  

,

Annulment, legal separation, or divorce: Which one is right for you?

The terms annulment, legal separation, and divorce can sometimes cause confusion to those looking to end their marriage. This guide may help bring some clarity to those in Wisconsin.  

 

Annulment 

An annulment is a court procedure that determines that a marriage never existed. According to Wis. Stat 767.13, a marriage may be annulled if one or both people are not able to consent to the terms of marriage. This could be mean they were under the influence of drugs or alcohol, were coerced under false pretenses or force, or mentally incapable of consent. Also, if they are minors and their parents did not sign off on the marriage, there is no consent and that is also grounds for annulment.  

One reason for annulment that is often sighted in pop culture is the issue of consummating the marriage. In other words, one person in the relationship is physically incapable of consummating the marriage through sexual intercourse.  

 

Legal Separation and Divorce  

Both legal separation and divorce share many of the same aspects such as custody, support and the 120-day waiting period, however a legal separation provides the couple can reconcile at any point but may not marry another person, because they are still technically married, according to the Wisconsin Court System.  

If one person wishes to convert the legal separation into a divorce proceeding, he or she may do so after a year without consent from the other person.  

Wisconsin is a no-fault state, meaning the couple does not need to prove a reason for the divorce or separation. In the case of divorce, one person states that the marriage irretrievably broken before the court, while in in the case of a legal separation both parties must state their relationship is broken.  

 

To help navigate what a potential dissolution of a marriage could look like, please contact Magner & Hueneke, LLP at (414)281-4529 for more information.  

 

,

Ways to Avoid an Expensive Divorce

When looking into potential divorce, one subject always comes to mind, and that is cost. Money difficulties can be both the catalyst for a divorce as well as a hurdle during the proceedings, however there are ways to keep some of those expenses from climbing.  

To start, it is important to do as much research on the laws of the area as well as who the right attorney is for each person’s circumstances. Knowing as much as you can about the divorce process can keep you from asking too many questions, which will inevitably increase your bill.  

Although it may be ironic, the key to keeping a divorce both economical and uncomplicated is to foster good communication with your ex. This could mean mutual agreement on appraisers or agreeing on the value of various assets. When getting property appraised, if the couple can agree to an appraiser that means one split bill. Without an agreement, each person will pay their own way as well as the extra fees for those appraisers testifying in court.   

There is also the issue of deciding how much money each person earns and what potential support could look like. Agreeing to the earning capacities for each person can save the costs associated with vocational assessments, which may cost over $1,000 just for the report.  The assessment could be used by a court to determine whether to impute income to an under earning spouse.   

Co-parenting is another way to keep yourself from unnecessarily increasing your divorce costs. When the divorcing couples discuss child placement, it is important to be as specific as possible.  If parents have good communication, they will spend less time using their attorneys to communicate with each other. Communication through attorneys is more expensive and time consuming.  It is also important to keep in mind that litigating should be a last resort when trying to keep costs down.

 In short, divorce might not be pleasant, but clients that are able to work cooperatively with their lawyer and their spouse will be in the best position to avoid an expensive divorce.   

,

Is January really ‘divorce month’?

After the holiday season is over, both attorneys and the courts see an uptick in divorce filings, especially in the first half of January creating the nickname ‘divorce month.’

According to an article published in the New York Times in 2019, there is a significant jump from December to January in Google searches of the topic of divorce as well as attorneys doing more filings and taking on new clients.

Two factors may play a role in this yearly trend. One factor includes not wanting to ruin the holidays for children and other family members.

Divorce also rises after the holidays because of the idea of starting the year fresh.

“The holidays are over, and I’m not going into this year as miserable as I was last year.” Vicky Townsend, co-founder and chief executive of the National Association of Divorce Professionals, said in the New York Times article.

Although filings may see a jump from December to January, it doesn’t mean that marriages on the rocks are doomed during this time. Divorce filings are often cyclical and caused by many factors, especially this year with the pandemic at play.

“Too much time with family can often trigger someone waking up and realizing, ‘This is not what I want for the rest of my life,’” according to Susan Myres, president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and a divorce lawyer in Houston. “You’ll see an uptick in filings after Valentine’s Day and around August,” when children have had summer off and before school starts.

January may not spell the end of one’s marriage, however if you are thinking about separating, it may be time to give an attorney a call about your potential options.

Attorney Neil Magner has over 15 years of experience serving southeastern Wisconsin in various forms of family law, including divorce and legal separation, post-judgment modifications, child custody and support matters, equitable property division and paternity cases. Call 414-281-4529 to schedule an appointment.

Facebook Postings Could be Evidence in Divorce

Divorce is often a very contentious and stressful experience. Parties can look for any advantage they can get and a Facebook faux pas can have major consequences.

Depending on your privacy settings, not everyone who can read your Facebook is your “friend.” As more and more people use social media, we are seeing a growing trend in Wisconsin and across the country with more electronic postings from the internet coming into courts of law as evidence in civil cases like divorce and in criminal matters.

On September 10, the New York State Bar Association issued an ethics opinion that permitted using Facebook evidence so long as no trickery or fraud was used in obtaining it. Last year, a Wisconsin court of appeals upheld using a defendant’s Myspace page as evidence against him.

The sort of evidence that you can get from social media web sites is the sort of evidence that you used to need a private investigator to get. Now people are more than willing to share their secrets to complete strangers over the internet. Examples of self-damaging Facebook posts are plentiful. They range from a fugitive commenting on the great weather where she was hiding, to a parent claiming to be too poor to pay child support and then showing off a newly bought luxury car in Facebook photos.

People tend to write things on Facebook they would never say aloud and post pictures they would not want everyone to see. Facebook is a great outlet for expression, but some people should take more care with what they post on Facebook. Facebook postings have come back to haunt some people in court.

Sources:

St. Petersburg Times (TampaBay.com): Facebook flubs make for salacious legal cases; Stephanie Hayes, 10/15/2010.

State v. Trusty, 776 N.W.2d 287 (Wis. App. 2009)

Wisconsin man Suspected of Killing pet Cats During Divorce

Divorce is a very stressful experience and people going through a divorce can often do things that come back to haunt them. A Wisconsin man is now facing charges of felony mistreatment of animals after allegedly shooting the pet cats he shared with his ex-wife while their divorce was pending.

His ex-wife had filed for divorce in January 2009, but the couple continued to live together for about five more months. In June 2009 she moved away from the family residence when the home environment became hostile. According to the criminal complaint, when she returned to the marital home and asked about the pet cats, her ex-husband told her he shot the cats and buried them in a compost pile.

The couple’s divorce became final in December 2009. The ex-wife did not report the killings until March 2010. Even thought over a year has elapsed since the alleged cat shootings; the ex-husband is now facing charges that carry a maximum of three years, six months in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Divorce is a very trying time for all parties involved and emotions can get the best of any of us. In this case, the ex-husband had expressed doubt about paying the bills, and did not think he had money to pay for feeding the cats. He also stated he had problems sleeping because of the noise the cats were making. He was experiencing true problems in this divorce, but he reacted to the problems in a way that has caused serious legal consequences.

When a divorce is pending, everything that the couple does is eventually going to be viewed under the magnifying glass of the law. Couples should avoid impulsive and hasty actions like destroying something the other spouse wants in the divorce. When the parties have legitimate concerns while a divorce is pending, they are usually better served by bringing the issues to the attention of their attorneys and the family law court, not by taking matters into their own hands.

Source: The Janesville Gazette: Janesville man suspected of killing pet cats; Ted Sullivan, 10/26/2010

Can Facebook and Social Media Lead to Divorce?

The power social media has to connect people is undeniable. Social media makes it quick and easy to reconnect with an old friend or classmate. However, social media is playing an increasing role in causing marital discord and even leading to divorce. Recently, National Public Radio had an interesting piece on the power of social media to drive couples apart.

Social media is driving married couples apart in two key ways. Social media increases the opportunity for infidelity, and it serves to reduce a person’s inhibitions when it comes to approaching another person.

Opportunity:

Opportunity is a major predictor of infidelity. The more opportunity a person has to cheat, the more likely he or she is to cheat. Social media sites like Facebook and Myspace increase opportunity tremendously. While finding someone used to take digging through a phone book, and often an out of town directory, it now takes only minutes, if not seconds, to do a quick search to find an old lover or a new crush.

Reduced Inhibitions:

In the past, if you found a person interesting and wanted to say hello, you would have to either approach the person in person, or make a phone call. Tara Fritsch, a marriage therapist, was interviewed for the NPR story. She explained how social media reduces inhibitions quite well. She said, “Twenty years ago, if you really thought a co-worker was interesting, and later on that evening you thought of them and wanted to say, ‘Hey, how you doing?’ Then you would have to ask yourself, ‘Is it really appropriate to call them at home? What if their spouse answers? What am I thinking about?'”

Social media erodes those mental barriers. Sending a Facebook message, a text or an e-mail can feel quite innocent. But, as we are finding out, things can escalate quite quickly. People who do not intend to have an affair at first can quickly find themselves in one. Research has shown that people communicating in an online environment can often fall for each other within a week. According to Bob Rosenwein of Lehigh University, “When you don’t have nonverbal communication, the likelihood of being able to disclose at a deeper level is greater, because there’s less inhibition. So it’s going to feel like a more intimate relationship.”

Preventing Social Media From Leading to Divorce or Separation:

The NPR story included some great tips from therapists for keeping marriages free from Facebook interference including:

  • Share an account or share passwords.
  • Trust your instincts; if you feel like you are writing something you would not want your spouse to read, you may be crossing a line.
  • If an ex messages or makes a “friend request”, talk it over with your spouse on if you should reply, and how it would make your spouse feel.

Source: National Public Radio: Can Social Media Break Up A Marriage?; Jennifer Ludden, 11/2/2010

Real Estate Slump Presents Divorce Complications

When a married couple divorces, the property they own must be divided between the two spouses. Who gets the marital home has traditionally been one of the most contested property division issues in a divorce. Traditionally, the value of a home increases over time and therefore the home would have a large amount of equity that had been built up over the course of the marriage.

However, the economic downturn has had a profound impact on family law. Once robust retirement accounts are worth a fraction of their past value and many spouses have been laid off. Each change in the economy changes how couples need to structure divorce settlements, but the collapse of the real estate market has been an especially difficult issue.

The real-estate bubble has burst and this has changed the way many divorcing couples view their marital homes. With real estate inventory piling up on the market, there is no guarantee that a home would sell in a timely fashion or at a profit. Many homes are worth less than the amount owed on the mortgage and there is no guarantee that a short sale will be successful.

With many homes now seen as a liability instead of an asset, property division is becoming a more complex issue. Divorces that would have been uncontested divorces in the past are now turning into contested divorces. If you are considering or going through a divorce in these difficult economic times, it is important to consult with experienced family law attorney who takes a detailed approach regarding marital property division.

Source: The Star-Ledger, “Today’s real estate market calls for dire divorce decisions,” Sarah Portlock, 12/5/2010

Is Reading Your Spouse’s E-Mail a Felony?

In the past, we have written about the impact that social media and E-mail are having in family law cases. It is now very common for divorce cases to involve some evidence obtained from e-mail, Facebook or other internet services. E-mail evidence was recently used in a Michigan divorce, but now the man who obtained that E-mail evidence is facing criminal charges for doing so.

Leon Walker suspected his wife was carrying on an affair. His wife was then on her third marriage and he suspected she was involved with her second husband. Knowing that her second husband had been arrested for domestic violence in the past, and suspecting his wife was taking their 3-year-old daughter along on liaisons with her second husband, Mr. Walker logged into his wife’s Gmail account using the laptop they shared.

His wife found out he accessed her e-mail account when messages between her and her second husband appeared as evidence of infidelity in their divorce, which was finalized earlier this month. His wife and prosecutors believe that Mr. Walker, a computer technician, illegally hacked into her e-mail account. Leon Walker contends he accessed her e-mail account with her permission before, and that she kept the password in a notebook next to the computer they shared.

Prosecutors are now charging Leon Walker for obtaining the e-mail evidence of infidelity for use in his divorce case. They are charging him with a felony for violating a computer misuse statute that is generally reserved for charging identity thieves and people who hack into business computer systems. It is very rare for this sort of statute to be used to charge an individual for reading his or her spouse’s e-mail.

Sources:

ABC News, “Husband in Hot Water: Man Faces Five Years in Prison for Snooping Through Wife’s E-Mails,” Chris Bury and Bret Hovell, 12/28/2010

Chicago Tribune, “Man to fight charges he hacked into wife’s e-mails,” 12/30/2010

Nebraska Bill Would Let Divorce Judge Require Marriage Counseling

According to statistics from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services Division of Public Health, the divorce rate in Wisconsin in 2009 was 2.9 percent. That was lower than the national rate of 3.4 percent, but means that 16,705 marriages ended in the state that year. While most agree that some marriages are too strained or abusive to save, some people connect the rise in divorce in the U.S. with social problems. Some politicians seek to make it more difficult for people to get divorced, on the theory that the public benefits from more couples staying together.

A legislator in Nebraska is one such politician. According to an article in the Omaha World-Herald, State Senator Tony Fulton is sponsoring a bill that would give judges the power to require divorcing couples with children to go to marriage counseling before granting them a divorce. The bill would also authorize judges to take any other actions the judge believes to be in the best interests of the couple and their children. The article does not go into detail about what those “other actions” might include.

Sen. Fulton said that he believes that discouraging divorce benefits society and the individuals in the marriage. High rates of divorce and broken families in Omaha have led to increased violence in that city, he said.

The bill would also give judges the power to limit the divorce proceedings to six months, and require counseling for childless couples if one of the spouses says he or she still wants to salvage the marriage.

The World-Herald article quotes a family law attorney in Lincoln who disagreed with the bill. Couples in troubled marriages already make an effort to save their marriages, she said, and people should be as free to end their marriages as they are to start them.

Source: Omaha World-Herald, “Divorce counseling bill introduced,” John Schreier, January 13, 2011