The Financial Divorce Blog » Property Settlement

Handling Debts in Divorce

Dkane — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 01:35:21 +0000

Handling your debts in the divorce can break you financially if handled incorrectly. Most individuals we meet are more concerned about the asset (property) side of the equation and often overlook the liability (debt) side of the equation. Divorce settlement proceedings often break down when it comes to dividing up the debt in [...]

Equitable Property Rules for Property Settlements

Dakane — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:56:30 +0000

As mentioned in an earlier article, most states follow the Equitable Property rule when considering how to distribute property. The application of this rule is subjective and ultimately the court has the discretion to allocate property very disproportionately between the spouses, based upon what it considers “just and equitable.”

Non-marital property (such as an inheritance or gift, or property that was attained [...]

Valuing Real Estate in Your Property Settlement

Dakane — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:07:33 +0000

When it comes time to negotiate a fair settlement, make sure to account for the true value of the associated property. For example, if you determine that the fair market value of the property is $300,000 and the associated mortgage on the property is $230,000, the amount that you will be negotiating over is [...]

Taxation on Property Settlements in Divorce

Dakane — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:48:21 +0000

When divorcing and structuring your property settlement, there are important tax considerations to keep in mind.

Internal Revenue Code section 1041 provides guidance on the taxation of transfers of property between spouses. The general rule states that property transfers between divorcing spouses are treated as tax-free gifts and no gain or loss [...]

Protection in Divorce Against Asset and Income Hiding

Dakane — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:25:57 +0000

Your and your spouse’s income and asset information are needed when structuring the key divorce settlement issues: property split and any alimony or child support calculations. If you suspect that your spouse is hiding income or assets, or if you think he/she has the potential to do so, you will gain some protection by [...]

Transferring IRA Assets During Divorce

Dakane — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:58:11 +0000

In this article, we address divorce and transfer of Individual Retirement Account (IRA) Assets. We focus on the Traditional IRA because the rules for transfers are more restrictive than for a Roth IRA. (If you follow the rules for transferring ownership interests in Traditional IRA assets for Roth IRA assets, you should qualify for the [...]

Community Property vs. Equitable Property Rules in Divorce

Dakane — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 21:33:41 +0000

Nine states are Community Property states:

Arizona California Idaho Louisiana Nevada New Mexico Texas Washington Wisconsin

In contrast, other states follow an Equitable property distribution. Both terms are described below.

Community Property

Community property states consider all property as being in two categories: separate property or community property. Separate property doesn’t need to be split at the time of divorce but community property does.

In a community property [...]

Impact of Retirement Account Split in Divorce

Dkane — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 19:44:18 +0000

An area where many individuals get into tax trouble is when splitting their Qualified Retirement Accounts (QRPs) and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). Once you have come to the revelation that your assets must be split you may be tempted to start the process by making pre-divorce transfers prior to receiving an official judgment, decree or [...]

Preparing For the Divorce – Assessing Your Financial Condition

Dkane — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 03:46:11 +0000

One of the situations that we see in many family situations is where one spouse is the primary caretaker of the financial obligations for the family. That person may have been in charge of paying the bills, setting up the investment accounts, making investment decisions (stocks, bonds, real estate, mutual funds, etc.), buying and maintaining [...]