It is only natural to seek advice from friends during a divorce especially to seek out advice from friends who have been through a divorce. However, since the New York Supreme Court Justices you appear before have expansive discretion under the New York Domestic Relations Law to apply the law to your particular set of facts and produce an entirely different result on each case, when you take legal advice get it directly from your lawyer. People you talk to at your job or share stories with are not experts
on divorce law and their words can often put you in a tailspin or worse, make you take wrong decisions. The person you should listen to as far as legal advice is the attorney who you chose to represent you in the proceeding.
You may be presented with papers by just about anyone outside the presence of your attorney. Do not sign them. Always consult with your attorney when confronted with papers or documents you are being
requested to sign.
If you are the innocent spouse who did not take care of the paperwork, just ignoring your tax status is a huge mistake. Call your accountant and be sure you have a full set of your latest IRS returns and
try to understand what is in them by speaking with your accountant and attorney. The coordination between experts, led by your divorce lawyer is coordination which is vital in complex divorce cases. When arriving at a configuration of equitable distribution of the marital assets there usually are tax consequences for which you must prepare and be familiar with.
Though equitable distribution itself is a non-taxable event between the parties your agreement does not protect you from third party responsibilities that accompany your award.
For instances, if you divide up an asset the party granted the property may owe taxes on the property received at a later date such as in the instance of a 401K or pension. Another typical example that becomes known is when one of the parties is awarded the marital residence, but the recipient spouse did not know that in receiving that property the attendant capital gains tax follows it and might be involved.
These are issues you should look out for and always discuss these issues with a tax attorney or CPA before accepting any kind of real property in a settlement agreement. A divorce attorney can guide you in the right direction, but we are not allowed to give you tax advice. In other words, be smart and do not accept something without knowing what comes along with it.
Similarly, though spousal support and child support is nontaxable to the recipient and nondeductible to the payor, for purposes of other computations mad be y third party providers, the amount you receive as
support may affect other benefits you are entitled to receive from third party sources, such as college tuition applications for financial aid, health insurance, or housing benefits.
To conclude, it is very important to speak with a tax attorney before entering into a divorce agreement of any kind. This same advice is applicable to those of you who are negotiating a prenuptial agreement.
If you are already involved in a contested divorce, then you probably are aware that health insurance come into play. So, parties think they can just ignore their insurance coverage needs during this time. Do not fall into that predicament. Many spouses think that since they are in the midst of a divorce they can just stop paying for your health insurance. If insurance is already in place your spouse cannot just terminate the policy coverage until there is a judgment of divorce in place. Similarly, there may be other health insurance considerations that come into play during or after your divorce, such as COBRA benefits arising from your spouse’s employment.
Do not be afraid to know and understand these rights. In configuring a divorce agreement, do not forget to factor in this and other health insurance expenses for you and your children as this issue is often a costly one.
Another pitfall to avoid is not speaking up for yourself. Just because you doubt that your wish will be granted does not mean you do not have the right to ask for it. In a divorce negotiation, always ask for more and be prepared to settle for less. If might cost you counsel fees during the process, costs you bot wish to avoid, but any good divorce lawyer will tell you what is worth fighting for and for what is not worth fighting. Negotiate your terms carefully and be prepared to compromise so that a divorce agreement is just and equitable for all concerned.
Lastly, do not take your spouses’ word as gospel. Make sure your attorney takes the necessary steps to verify the numbers through the exchange of financial information.
Thankfully, in Court the Judge will give the attorneys a preliminary Conference Order outlining a map as to how what and when the financial discovery will take place. Take your time in reviewing this paper prior to execution thereon in order to ensure that the time frame requested, and the items requested correspond with what you need in order to make an informed decision. For example, of property is involved you may need to get appraisals. If a business is involved, you might need to appoint experts
to arrive at a value of the business. As such, it is essential to make sure that the proposed Preliminary Conference Order takes into consideration the appointment of the experts, who will pay for the experts, the complexity of the issues involved, and the time given to the experts to complete their assignments, all of which should be set forth in the PC Order.
I hope this has been helpful.