Even if they aren’t getting married, couples moving in together should still consider the future. Most partner cohabitation ends one of two ways: the couple gets married, or the couple breaks up. If they get married, suddenly all the marriage- and divorce-related laws discussed on this site become applicable. If they break up — well, […]
Divorce Law & Process
Supreme Court rulings
The latest supreme court rulings, though not about divorce, will have an effect on how states deal with divorce. So for your information, here is a summary of the rulings and the possible effects they may take in the near future. DOMA Ruling: In June 2013 the Supreme Court ruled that the Defense of Marriage […]
Child Custody
Split Custody
In a split custody situation there must be multiple children. The court may find that the best interests of the child are best served by one parent but it may be that not every child is best served by custody from the same parent. In this situation each parent may take custody of one or […]
Recommended Reading
Real estate ownership — Married vs. cohabiting
Whether a couple was married or cohabiting can completely change what happens with any real estate they purchased in the case that they split up. In the case of a marriage, the court will usually see the property as jointly owned and will thus allocate it in the distribution of property. If the couple were […]
What does a cohabitation agreement look like?
For the most part, couples can form their cohabitation agreements how they like, so that there’s no set standard for what must be included. An agreement may cover day-to-day activities such as grocery shopping or taking out the trash. Or it may just cover the big stuff: how rent and utility bills will be divided, […]
So we never actually got married… Can we still get “divorced”?
Ok, so we’ve gone over a lot of details about the process of divorcing and severing marriage ties. But what if you never got married? Cohabitation (couples living together without being married) is fairly common these days and brings with it a whole other set of complications. In some respects, it may seem simpler — […]
Distribution of property when one spouse is “at fault”
In distributing property, courts in some jurisdictions take into account whether one party was at fault in the divorce. Regardless of whether the divorce itself is granted on fault or no-fault grounds, a spouse’s actions in bringing the marriage to an end can factor against him and her. If marital fault is proven, the courts […]
Distribution of property: A piece of the pension pie
Usually, in distribution of property, any employee pension plans the spouses participate in make it into the pot. Unless a spouse waives rights to a pension plan, he or she will usually be granted a portion based on earnings that went into the pension while the couple were married. In many — perhaps most — cases, the […]