July 17th, 2009 at 03:01pm
Under Divorce Law
Are spousal maintenance and alimony the same thing in Minnesota?
Basically, yes. Spousal maintenance, formerly called alimony, is the financial support that one spouse is ordered to pay to another spouse in a dissolution of marriage proceeding.
Is there a set amount that I must pay or can receive in spousal maintenance?
Unlike child support, there are no statutory guidelines the Court is required to follow in setting spousal maintenance. The amount and duration of a spousal maintenance award is dependent upon the length of the marriage, the disparity in earnings and earning capacity, and the respective monthly living expenses or needs of the parties.
Can I get or will I have to pay permanent maintenance? When will it end?
Permanent spousal maintenance may be awarded in long term marriages where there is a great disparity in incomes between the parties, while temporary or rehabilitative spousal maintenance may be awarded in shorter marriages where the spouse receiving the maintenance has an ability to increase his or her earnings within a projected period of time.
Absent specific agreement of the parties or order of the Court, permanent spousal maintenance will only terminate upon the death or remarriage of the spouse receiving the financial support. Parties can agree on the amount and duration of spousal maintenance or can even waive their right to receive financial support if none is needed or if they are compensated through some other means.
Absent such a waiver, spousal maintenance awards can be reviewed by the Court at a later date to determine if the award should be modified, extended, or terminated. To modify a spousal maintenance award, the party requesting a modification must demonstrate that either party has suffered a substantial change in financial circumstances which makes the existing award unreasonable or unfair.
If the parties waive their rights to receive financial support from each other, specific language may also be included to dispossess the court of any authority to award spousal maintenance in the future. Such language can also be incorporated into an agreement to prevent a court from examining existing spousal maintenance awards in the future. These types of waivers are specific to the issue of spousal maintenance and cannot be used by the parties to waive obligations with respect to the financial support of children or relative to the authority that the Court exercises over those children.
A court will consider a list of different factors in determining whether an award of spousal maintenance is reasonable. Due to the lack of any defined rules with respect to such awards, it is important for both individuals requesting spousal maintenance, as well as those who are asked to pay spousal support, to consult with an experienced family law attorney to protect their interests.
Vincent Martin and Joyce Cundy
Minnesota Lawyers
www.cundyandmartin.com
Divorce
Child support
Custody
Visitation (parenting time)
Grandparent visitation
Paternity
Spousal maintenance (alimony)
Property division
Domestic abuse
Adoption
By Law Article
July 16th, 2009 at 03:01pm
Under Divorce Law
WHAT: The largest divorce firm in North Carolina, Rosen Law
Firm, launched a new blog. Kramer Vs. covers news stories on
divorce, alimony, adultery, domestic violence, and child
custody.
WHERE: http://kramervs.rosen.com
WHEN: Up and running with weekday postings.
CONTACT: Alison Kramer, Director of Public Relations, Rosen Law
Firm, Phone: 919-256-1542, Cell: 919-523-7104,
akramer@rosen.com, http://www.rosen.com
***
Rosen Law Firm 4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 500 Raleigh, NC
27607 www.rosen.com “Divorce is Different Here”
By Law Article
July 15th, 2009 at 10:38am
Under Family Law
If you live in South Carolina and you are going through a divorce you need to hire an experienced divorce attorney because you will need legal advice. Hiring an experienced and dedicated attorney is the best option if you are looking at paying alimony, fighting for child custody, and much more. There are five grounds for divorce in this state, as well as jurisdictional and venue requirements.
When you hire a family law attorney for a child custody issue you are making a good decision. There are multiple factors that courts look at when considering custody which an attorney can help you with. The court process can be very stressful on children as well as the parties. When you use a professional staff experienced with divorce they can help you understand the court process and advise you of your rights throughout the entire process.
When you are going through a divorce you may have problems with mediation and agreeing to certain things in the divorce like the amount of money you have to pay or should receive for alimony and child support. You might feel you deserve custody also. Mediation is when you will sit with a court appointed professional staff that will try and make the both of you come to agreements about the divorce. Mediation is required in many South Carolina counties in divorce, child custody cases, alimony and property division, as well and other states around the nation. An attorney can help you work through agreements and possibly bypass the mediation process in the courts. Alternately if you hire an attorney who also a certified mediator, you get the benefits of both legal advise and/or mediation services, depending on your needs.
Hiring a family law attorney can help you come to agreements with your spouse during the divorce process. You do not want to fight and be bitter through the process because it can cause you to lose rights. However, if one of the parties is impossible to work with then the judge may recognize this. An attorney can help make the process more fair when it comes to alimony payments and if you even have to pay anything, child support and visitation and more.
Consulting with an experienced attorney when you are going through a divorce, legal separation, child custody, child support, adoption, alimony or property division in South Carolina is the best option you can chose. You need to consider a family law attorney because the entire process can be too stressful to endure on your own and you may lose valuable grounds by waiting. The consultation allows you to gather sufficient information to protect your family and find out your rights. Finding an experienced and dedicated attorney will help you ensure the outcome is fair and at the best interest of the child. An attorney can help you calculate alimony payments if you should have to pay them, get the most time in visitation or even full custody, and help with mediation. You need a professional staff to work with you through the entire process. It can even help to speed up the entire process by coming to agreements with the other party.
By Law Article
July 15th, 2009 at 04:38am
Under Family Law
Being a parent can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life. The unconditional love between you and your child is probably one of the most unique and amazing things you have ever known. When conflicts arise between you and the other parent of the child however, the situation may escalate to such a level that you may end up in a court hearing for any number of reasons, including a child custody hearing or a child support hearing.
If you and the other parent of your child will be going through a court hearing regarding your child, you might want to consider hiring a family law attorney. These legal professionals can help you navigate the type of court hearing you are going through and can help make sure that you are properly portrayed during the hearing.
If you are going through a child custody hearing, it will probably be one of the most stressful and difficult times of your life. It will be difficult and stressful because both you and the other parent of your child will likely both be fighting for custody of the child. Just the fear of losing custody of your child may be enough to raise your stress to an unhealthy level, and if you do not know what to expect during the hearing, it may put your emotions over the top. A family law attorney will be able to inform you of what to expect during the hearing and can help make sure that you are properly portrayed during the hearing, which can be the difference between being awarded custody and losing custody of your child.
The court will likely consider many factors during your custody hearing before determining how custody will be split and to whom it will be awarded. One of the main factors that the court will probably consider during the hearing is your parenting ability. With this in mind, it can be extremely beneficial to have a family law attorney on your side that will be able to portray your parenting abilities in the best light. Keep in mind, the other parent of the child will probably also be trying as hard as they can to gain custody, so having a legal professional on your side that has experience in these types of cases can be crucial.
Once you have made it through the custody hearing, you may also have to endure a support hearing. The support hearing will probably be held to determine how much money the non-custodial parent will be required to pay each month in child support. Whether you are the parent making the payments, or the parent receiving the payments, a family law attorney can be a great help in making it through this hearing as well.
Fighting with the other parent of your child regarding child custody, or any other matter, can be very stressful to endure. When the conflicts end up in court, you may want to hire a legal professional to help you through the hearing. There are many benefits to hiring a lawyer to help you through the hearing, with the most important being coming out ahead at the end of the process.
By Law Article
July 15th, 2009 at 04:38am
Under Family Law
Being a parent can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life. The unconditional love between you and your child is probably one of the most unique and amazing things you have ever known. When conflicts arise between you and the other parent of the child however, the situation may escalate to such a level that you may end up in a court hearing for any number of reasons, including a child custody hearing or a child support hearing.
If you and the other parent of your child will be going through a court hearing regarding your child, you might want to consider hiring a family law attorney. These legal professionals can help you navigate the type of court hearing you are going through and can help make sure that you are properly portrayed during the hearing.
If you are going through a child custody hearing, it will probably be one of the most stressful and difficult times of your life. It will be difficult and stressful because both you and the other parent of your child will likely both be fighting for custody of the child. Just the fear of losing custody of your child may be enough to raise your stress to an unhealthy level, and if you do not know what to expect during the hearing, it may put your emotions over the top. A family law attorney will be able to inform you of what to expect during the hearing and can help make sure that you are properly portrayed during the hearing, which can be the difference between being awarded custody and losing custody of your child.
The court will likely consider many factors during your custody hearing before determining how custody will be split and to whom it will be awarded. One of the main factors that the court will probably consider during the hearing is your parenting ability. With this in mind, it can be extremely beneficial to have a family law attorney on your side that will be able to portray your parenting abilities in the best light. Keep in mind, the other parent of the child will probably also be trying as hard as they can to gain custody, so having a legal professional on your side that has experience in these types of cases can be crucial.
Once you have made it through the custody hearing, you may also have to endure a support hearing. The support hearing will probably be held to determine how much money the non-custodial parent will be required to pay each month in child support. Whether you are the parent making the payments, or the parent receiving the payments, a family law attorney can be a great help in making it through this hearing as well.
Fighting with the other parent of your child regarding child custody, or any other matter, can be very stressful to endure. When the conflicts end up in court, you may want to hire a legal professional to help you through the hearing. There are many benefits to hiring a lawyer to help you through the hearing, with the most important being coming out ahead at the end of the process.
By Law Article
July 14th, 2009 at 10:38pm
Under Family Law
Raising children can be both rewarding and challenging. It can be very rewarding to watch your children grow and develop throughout their lifetimes. It can be very challenging, however, to see them through this development.
Raising children can be very expensive, and if you are going through a support hearing, you may want to hire a family law attorney to make sure that the outcome is as good as possible for you and your children. Support hearings are usually held to determine how much a non custodial parent will be required to pay each month in support to sustain the well being of their children.
If you are the parent that is receiving the support payments, you will probably want to make sure that the final decision of the court on how much the non custodial parent is required to pay will be enough to cover the costs you have in raising the children. A family law attorney can help a great deal in this situation, because they can help make sure that all of the costs of raising the children are covered during the hearing and also that the final decision of the court is in the best interests of you and your children.
If you are the parent that is required to make the support payments, a family law attorney can also be a great help to you during the hearing. Although you probably want to provide as much money as possible to sustain the well being of your children, you probably do not want the amount you are required to pay each month to be too high. A legal professional can help properly portray your ability to make the payments and also how much you can realistically pay each month.
Whether you are the parent making the payments, or the parent receiving the payments, after the original court ruling is finalized, you may have the option of requesting a modification to the original support orders if your circumstances have changed. For example, if you are the parent making the payments and you have recently lost a job, or have suffered a pay cut, you might want to request a modification to the original court ruling to lower the amount of money you are required to pay. If you are the parent receiving the payments, you might request a modification if your child has developed special needs since the time of the original court hearing. Such special needs could range from medical attention to tutoring. A family law attorney can be a great benefit to you, whether you are making the payments or receiving the payments, because they can help determine whether you should request the modification and when you should request the change.
There are many situations where a legal professional can be of great help to you. If you are going through a court hearing regarding your children, it may be a good idea to look into the option of hiring a lawyer because they can help ensure that the outcome of the hearing will be in the best interests of you and your children.
By Law Article