Tavares Family Law Blog

How will my taxes change after a divorce?

On behalf of Michael E. Golub, P.A. posted in divorce on Saturday, July 6, 2019.

If you and your spouse in Florida have decided to get separated and are now looking at filing for divorce, there will be many aspects of your final settlement that may have serious financial implications for you. You will want to evaluate each one carefully before coming to any final decisions. Income taxes are one of the things that require a good understanding before you sign your divorce decree.

As explained by SmartAsset, if you and your spouse have minor children together and you will share custody of your children after your divorce, only one of you will be able to qualify to file an income tax return using the head of household status once you are divorced. The requirements for a head of household filing status include having at least one dependent live you with for more than half of the year. You should also be able to show that you have financially contributed more than half of the money needed to maintain a residence in the tax year. Finally, your divorce must have been completed no later than December 31 of the same tax year.

Your debts in a divorce

On behalf of Michael E. Golub, P.A. posted in divorce on Saturday, June 22, 2019.

If you are like a lot of people in Florida, when you hear references to the property division portion of a divorce settlement, you think about how assets are split up between the spouses. While this is certainly a big component of the property division negotiation, it is important to remember that debts must also be addressed and divided when a couple gets divorced. The agreements that you make with your partner about how to assign debt responsibility may well impact your choices regarding asset division.

As explained by Money Management International, you should take a very forward-looking approach to your debt allocation choices. If your spouse is to assume responsibility for a particular debt, you should require that they either pay it off in the course of the divorce or transfer the debt to a new account in their name only if they will take some time to pay it off. The goal here is to ensure your name is no longer tied to the debt.

Is empty nest syndrome good grounds for divorce?

On behalf of Michael E. Golub, P.A. on Wednesday, June 19, 2019.

Marrying a spouse and raising a family are two dynamic ways to spend a lifetime. When kids leave home, though, you may think you have little in common with your spouse. Mental health professionals often refer to this feeling as empty nest syndrome.

Usually, there are neither good nor bad reasons to opt for divorce. After all, the decision is deeply personal. Nonetheless, a growing number of middle-aged couples decide to call it quits when children move away from home. Before you choose to use your empty nest syndrome as a reason to leave your spouse, you may want to try some coping techniques. Here are four that may help you measure your desire to follow through with divorce:

Fla. boy dies following apparent child custody violation

On behalf of Michael E. Golub, P.A. posted in child custody on Friday, June 14, 2019.

There is a good reason that it is difficult to modify child custody orders: The court issues them for the benefit and protection of the children. One couple appears to have violated such a court order by bringing two children from Florida to Indiana without the knowledge of their noncustodial parent. Authorities have now charged them criminally for the death of one of those two children, a 12-year-old boy.

The boy's parents divorced in 2016. His mother reports that the court awarded full custody of the boy and his nine-year-old sister to her ex-husband after she failed to show up to a custody hearing. She claims that it was a shock to learn from police that her son had been living in Indiana, where he died. Allegedly, she had been sending child support payments to a Florida address and had twice seen her ex-husband in Florida court. It is not known what, if any, visitation rights she had.

What challenges do "silver splitters" face?

On behalf of Michael E. Golub, P.A. posted in divorce on Friday, May 31, 2019.

As an older Floridian resident, you may be referred to as a "silver splitter" if you choose to divorce. Grey divorce is actually becoming more common among older couples these days. However, there are certain hurdles you will likely face that your younger counterparts may not have to. Today, we will take a look at some of them.

First, there are matters of health insurance. Forbes states that losing your health insurance at this age can be a crucial blow. Not only does health generally begin to deteriorate as you grow older, but your problems also begin to get more expensive to deal with. This potentially makes being uninsured hugely expensive.

How an attorney can help with divorce mediation

On behalf of Michael E. Golub, P.A. posted in divorce mediation on Tuesday, May 14, 2019.

If you and your spouse are planning to go to mediation to end your marriage, you might think you can handle matters without the help of an attorney. While it is true that you do not require legal representation in a mediation setting, an experienced family law attorney in Florida can still offer you important advice that might make or break your upcoming mediation.

Per FindLaw, attorneys can offer important counsel before the mediation begins. Depending on the issues involved, a lawyer can let you know if a course of action will be counterproductive and harm your case. Here are some areas than an attorney can help you with.

What constitutes a fair property settlement agreement?

On behalf of Michael E. Golub, P.A. posted in divorce on Monday, May 6, 2019.

Your property settlement agreement represents one of the most important parts of your Florida divorce. Most couples arrive at a fair and equitable property division on their own, but a court can decide this issue if you and your spouse fail to agree.

You may never have thought about it before, but Florida is a fair distribution state when it comes to marital property divisions, not a community property state. But that leaves you and your spouse to determine what constitutes a fair and equitable division. The Huffington Post reports that whatever “fair and equitable” may mean, the one thing it does not mean is that the two of you must split your marital property 50/50. Rather, since “fair and equitable” has no precise meaning, you and your spouse can divide up your property in whatever manner your situation calls for, as long as it does not leave one of you in a disadvantaged position.

Divorcing in 2019? Know these new tax laws

On behalf of Michael E. Golub, P.A. on Wednesday, April 24, 2019.

If you count yourself among the many people across Florida who expect to divorce this year, know that recent changes to tax laws may have far-reaching effects when it comes time to file your taxes. Whether the new changes will impact you will depend on several circumstances, such as whether you have kids or expect to seek or have to pay alimony. Many going through a divorce in 2019 or after will find that at least some of these changes affect them.

So, what are some of the new tax laws that take effect this year, and how may they impact your taxes?

Will divorce mediation work for you?

On behalf of Michael E. Golub, P.A. posted in divorce mediation on Saturday, April 20, 2019.

Divorce mediation allows couples who decide to separate in Florida to take control over their divorce and make informed decisions regarding their futures. The benefits of mediation are many and include less stress, lower costs, less time commitment and a higher compliance rate for settlements. For these reasons and countless others, divorcing couples often prefer mediation over litigation. That said, mediation is not for everyone. Lifehacker shares a few signs mediation may not be right for you.

If you or your spouse hold a lot of resentment toward the other, and if either of you wish the other the worst in his or her future endeavors, mediation will not work for you. For mediation to work, both parties must wish each other well.

Florida resident helps authorities find missing child

On behalf of Michael E. Golub, P.A. posted in child custody on Friday, April 5, 2019.

Disputes over child custody can be difficult to resolve and result in emotional distress for both parents. However, there is always a better solution available than one parent simply taking the child away. The noncustodial mother of a 10-year-old girl from Utah allegedly did just that, separating the child from her father for approximately one year before authorities located the girl and her mother near Lake City, Florida, in a vehicle at a rest stop and took the child into protective custody.

Last summer, after a court granted the girl's father sole custody, her mother allegedly kidnapped her. Authorities in Utah, where the child lived at the time, have been looking for her ever since. There was a break in the case earlier this week, thanks to a Florida resident whose identity is unknown. Specifics are not available, but the tipster reportedly noticed something suspicious about the woman and her daughter. An online search yielded news stories about the alleged kidnapping, and the tipster got in contact with law enforcement in Utah.