Divorce involves questions related to assets, income, debt, and family dynamics. The more your attorney knows about your specific circumstances, the easier it is to come to an agreement with your spouse. Your lawyer needs a great deal of financial and personal information to successfully represent you. Here are three things your lawyer needs to know. Why are you seeking a divorce? Every couple has their own relationship dynamic. So, the decisions and circumstances that lead to divorce are unique to you and your spouse. Your lawyer needs to understand this story to best represent you. Telling this story can be difficult, but it is necessary. Any information you share is kept in strict confidence. It will only be used to pursue your interests and seek a better outcome from the divorce proceedings. Do you want to ask for alimony? California courts view divorce proceedings as an equitable process. A family law judge will do their best to equally divide any marital assets and distribute any debts. The same theories of equity apply to decisions around spousal support or alimony. In many divorces, one spouse is entitled to spousal support.
The purpose of spousal support is to allow both spouses to continue living the same lifestyle as before the divorce. You must negotiate the amount with your former spouse. To best jump into this situation, your lawyer must know how important spousal support is to you and set your expectations for the negotiation outcome. Do you want to keep your home? Division of marital assets is a substantial, and often confrontational, part of any divorce. You need to divide bank accounts, personal possessions, and vehicles. or many couples, the most substantial asset is residential property. If you want to keep the marital home, your attorney will prepare to fight for you to keep your home. To be successful, the residential property needs to be a priority in divorce negotiations. You may need to make other concessions in terms of assets. You should consider what property you can give up in exchange for the home. On the other hand, if you are ready to move out and move on, giving up the home can become a significant bargaining chip for other marital assets. For more articles like this one, be sure to visit our blog at JustFamilyLaw.com/family-law-expert-blog for more insight!
FULL DISCLOSURE 3 Things You Need to Share with Your Divorce Lawyer
When Should Your Kids Start Working?
O ut of the G ame R oom and I nto the W orkplace
When the dolls and baseball cards get pushed to the wayside for cell phones and movie dates, it may be time to gently nudge your child out from under your wing and into the workplace. It doesn’t have to be pushing shopping carts or spinning signs on the corner; working in any capacity during formative years builds character and gives your child real-world experience. Summer jobs teach the value of a dollar and give kids lasting memories, and after-school gigs lead to more pocket change for the weekends and less worrying for Mom and Dad. The hard part isn’t asking yourself if they should work; it’s asking yourself when they should work.
In the U.S., most of us have about four decades of working to look forward to. Many start working in late adolescence and
continue until retirement age. Now, that’s a lot of work to be had. So why rush it? Well,
idle hands often spell disaster. Sitting around all day is a burden on both child and parent, whether they realize it or not. Those few years between hitting puberty and graduating high school are the sweet spot for your child to start their part-time career. There’s no shame in flipping burgers, stocking shelves, or mowing lawns. As of 2014, there were 16 million workers in the retail and food service industries, and the numbers have only gone up from there. But work ethic is changing among American teenagers. Just one-third of individuals aged 16–19 had a job lined up for last summer, compared to 51.2 percent for the same age range in 1997. While surviving on minimum wage as an adult is a topic of great debate, raking in around $10 an hour as a 14-year-old can seem like a king’s ransom. A few working hours here and there will do your grown baby a world of good and prepare them for the next chapter of their lives.
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