Money
The financial side: dividing property and debts, spousal and child support, retirement accounts and QDROs, the house, business valuations, and what happens to your credit.
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A curated path through money, picked so the next article builds on the last.
- Dividing marital property: community vs equitableCommunity property vs equitable distribution, what counts as 'marital,' commingling traps, and how courts actually split assets and debts.5-minute read
- What counts as separate property — and how to keep it that wayPre-marital assets, inheritances, gifts — what stays yours alone in a divorce, and the commingling mistakes that quietly turn separate into marital.5-minute read
- Dividing debts — the side of the balance sheet nobody talks aboutMortgages, credit cards, student loans, car loans — who’s on the hook when the decree says one thing and the creditor says another, and how to fix it.5-minute read
- Spousal support, alimony, maintenance — same idea, different namesWhen the court orders one ex to pay the other, what determines the number and how long it lasts, plus what changed in the 2019 tax overhaul.5-minute read
- How child support is calculated (and why your number isn't a guess)State formulas, what counts as income, why parenting time changes the number, and what to do when the calculator and reality disagree.5-minute read
- Splitting retirement accounts: the QDRO and what it doesWhy splitting a 401(k) or pension in a divorce needs a special court order, what that order does, and the mistakes that quietly cost real money.5-minute read
- The house: sell, buy out, or waitSell and split the proceeds, one spouse buys out the other, or defer the sale until the kids age out — the math and pitfalls of each option.5-minute read
- The marital home: equity, refinancing, and the procedural mechanicsCalculating equity, the capital-gains question, refinancing to remove a spouse, right of first refusal, and the mechanics of deferred sale.5-minute read
- Taxes after divorce: what changes the year you splitFiling status, the child tax credit, the 2019 alimony flip, your mortgage deduction, and the IRS escape hatches you might need.5-minute read
- Health insurance after divorce: the 60-day decisionCOBRA vs. marketplace vs. your own employer plan, the firm 60-day window, the kids’ coverage question, and which option fits which situation.5-minute read
- Student loans and divorce: who owes what, and what the decree can doMarital vs. separate debt, federal vs. private mechanics, the income-driven repayment angle, Parent PLUS loans, and what should go in the decree.5-minute read
- Prenups and postnups: how they hold up in divorceWhat pre- and post-marital agreements can and can’t do, when they’re enforceable, the challenges that void them, and how they shape a divorce.5-minute read
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Everything else in money.
Money
Valuing a business in divorce
The three valuation methods, the discounts that move numbers, personal vs. enterprise goodwill, and what the non-owner spouse should ask for.
5-minute read
Money
Hidden assets: signs, tools, and when to look harder
The patterns that suggest hidden income or assets, the forensic tools that surface them, and when the cost of looking is worth the recovery.
5-minute read
Money
Social Security after divorce: the 10-year rule
The often-missed retirement right — when an ex can claim on the other’s Social Security record, what it’s worth, and how remarriage affects it.
5-minute read