Property/Assets

• Talk with your lawyer about strategies to minimize amounts of forced payments for alimony and child support. These strategies include getting her into a job, especially a full time one; minimizing your assets by paying off your bills with marital money or gifting money to relatives or charities. Non-marital money/assets will be counted towards your income even though she has no legal claim to it otherwise. Be aware that she is entitled to half of any increase of your non-marital assets, during the course of your marriage. The basic premise of the legal system is to force the person with the most assets to pay regardless of who is at fault. Try not to work overtime on a regular basis, make it sporadic; quit any second job or any side jobs. Needs to be done before the PL hearing.
• Do not buy a house or condo for the initial move out, since she will be entitled to half if it is purchased with marital money or assets. It is best to rent and is one less item for her to fight over. Remember that anything you buy prior to the final Divorce is considered marital property. However, any debts you incur after moving out is not considered marital property.
• If you have life insurance with cash value, she is entitled to half of it, you may want to cash out and terminate the policy to pay marital bills. Needs to be done by the PL hearing but definitely before the Property Hearing.
• If you have any loans to the both of you from your family say for a car or mortgage pay off, make sure the last payment is less than 3 years (statute of limitations) old if you have stopped paying for any reason. Make a good faith payment with marital money to restart the clock on the 3 year statute. Have your relative who loaned the money file for a lien on the property to protect their interest. If there is a notarized promissory note then your relatives should be safe. Otherwise she will skip out on the loan and leave you and your relatives holding the bag.
• If you have an IRA or 401K plan accumulated during the period of marriage, stop making payments or payroll deductions immediately, she is entitled to half of the pay out when you retire regardless if her name is on it or not. Why should you be giving her half of the money you are putting in now when you need the money to pay your bills. You may want to consider cashing out and paying the IRS the income tax on the amount plus an additional 10% penalty on the money taken out. Use the money to pay only marital bills such as the mortgage or car loan. You can always start a new one after the divorce is final. Or you may consider getting an annuity and funding your retirement that way, Annuities fall under most of the same rules as IRAs on distribution. Her lawyer may try to push you into a lump sum settlement, try to avoid it if you can, you may out live her and besides why should you pay to get rid of her? Needs to be done by the PL hearing but definitely before the Property Hearing.
• If you are one of those persons who likes to get a big tax return you will need to make an adjustment in your Tax Withholding. Two things come into play here, one she is entitled to half of your refund, second the Domestic Relations Master at the PL Hearing will be looking at your net after tax income. Since you will in all probability be filing as Married Filing Separately your tax bill will go up because you probably won't have the kids as a deduction unless you were in the house more than 6 months of the tax year. Try to adjust your withholding to get a zero tax return. It is better to let her have 25% up front in monthly payments than 50% in lump sum from the return. Go to a tax consultant or get a tax program to estimate your tax bill and then adjust your withholding accordingly.
• If you have stock options with your company, once again she is entitled to half of these assets, consider cashing out to pay bills. You can start again after the divorce is final.
• If you have a defined benefit plan (rare these days) at work she is entitled to half of the pay out when you retire. Consider terminating the plan and cash out if it makes sense and switching to another plan once the divorce is final.
• She is entitled to Social Security benefits if you have been married 10 or more years, in the event of your death. By the way, you are entitled to hers in the event of her death.
• If you have a mortgage, you may be forced to pay all or half the payment even though she has Use and Possession of the house. Consult your lawyer, it may make sense to significantly pay off or down the mortgage with marital assets (401K, IRA, Life Insurance, etc.) which she is going to get half of anyway. Then your lawyer can argue that she is not in need of extra payments like alimony or higher child support to meet her expenses. This saves you from paying higher monthly amounts out of your pocket and gives her less to fight over and take from you. Remember the greater your assets the more you pay, the court really doesn't care how much your debt service is.
• Any Real Property in both your names is probably titled "Tenants in the Entirety" once the divorce becomes final, the court will order the change of the title to "Tenants in Common".
• Vehicles will be divided by who has possession at the time of the separation. The other parties name will be removed either by court order or by mutual agreement between the parties by signing a gift form to the MVA.
• Any assets accumulated during the period of the marriage with marital money is considered marital property and subject to division.
• Any marital property that you can not mutually agree upon how it will be divided will be ordered by the court to be sold and the money divided. So if you or your spouse has a collection whose purchases were made with marital money, then this collection is subject to division and sale. This depending who did the collecting may be an important bargaining chip.
• Gifts to you are not considered marital property, however any cash value like stocks, mutual funds and bonds that generate income will have its income added to your income for determining child support and alimony. You may want to consider pre-paying your lawyer before the PL Hearing with non-marital money to lower your assets.

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