Child Support

September 9, 2020

If the court does order you to help contribute toward your child’s college expenses, the law provides limits regarding what you can be asked to pay.

If you have children, you have probably given a great deal of thought to the fact that they will one day graduate from high school and head off to the world of higher education. Of course, along with that idea comes the realization of just how expensive it is going to be to send your children to college. Over the last several decades, the cost of tuition at a four-year private university has more than doubled. During that same period, the average tuition at a four-year public school has more than tripled!

Determining how—or even if—you are going to pay for your child’s college education or child support is hard enough for parents who are still married to one another. For those who are divorced, the decision is often even more complicated.

College Expenses as a Financial Decision During Divorce

September 17, 2019

ADELE DIVORCE

by Law Offices of David P. Schwarz

Singer, Adele, has filed for divorce from her husband, Simon Konecki. She plans to co-parent their son, Angelo, age 6. This is a major child custody issue that is the forefront of their divorce.

The singer, who filed for divorce from her estranged husband in Los Angeles, cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split.

Spousal support, as well as the separation of their assets and properties, will be determined in mediation, according to the documents. Support can be long term financial concern for parties during a long term marriage so hopefully that part of the divorce can be settled during the mediation process

According to several media outlets, it is believed that she and Konecki did not sign a Prenuptial Agreement prior to the marriage. This could mean any property acquired by the parties during the marriage will be divided through community property laws. One of the benefits of signing a Prenuptial Agreement prior to getting married is to protect your separate property assets. Another benefit is that if you plan to be married for a long time, you have the ability to set limitations on how much spousal support or alimony will be paid out depending on the length of the marriage. Usually people that have been successful will have a prenuptial agreement written prior to the marriage to ensure her long term royalties do not become split among the parties. Even so Adele could have attempted to draft a post nuptial agreement is she so wished to protected what she had made thus far from her lucrative career and protect all the royalties that she made and would make in the future.

According to California law, in the event of a divorce, in a marriage of ten years or less, the recipient of spousal support is entitled to spousal support for one-half of the length of the marriage. So, for instance, if a couple marries and divorces after 8 years of marriage, the recipient of spousal support will only be entitled to spousal support for a period of only 4 years.

Another interesting issue that has come up in Adele’s divorce filing is that she chose to file for divorce in California. Adele also is a British citizen so going back to England to file a divorce would not be out of the question. She could make things really difficult with custody issues as well by dividing the child between the two countries. However she did not do this. Apparently, the former couple own property in California and Konecki’s business is based out of California. This brings up residency issues. You cannot simply file a divorce petition based on the fact that you own property in that State. In order to obtain residence in California, you must have been a resident of the state for at least 6 months and in the county where you intend to for for at least 3 months. I believe Adele lives somewhere in Beverly Hills so if that is the case, she could file her Petition for Dissolution of Marriage in California and in Los Angeles County provided she meets the residency requirements.

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April 26, 2019

Adele’s divorce and the consequence of no prenuptial agreement

by Law Offices of David P. Schwarz

adele-parenting-trick-t-300x180 News of Adele’s impending divorce from her husband Simon Konecki was a surprise to many, and many more were surprised that the star and her husband had not signed a pre-nuptial agreement. Under California law, Konecki may be entitled to up to half of the singer’s earnings from the time they were married. If they choose to file in California, where they own significant property and Konecki has an office for his company, the pair might have to split everything evenly. Adele has already gifted Konecki a property worth over $600,000, which some see as an indication that the split may be amicable. Adele herself said in a Vanity Fair interview that money is “not that important a part of my life.”

The lack of a pre-nup may seem unusual in the cynical climate of Hollywood’s almost contractual atmosphere surrounding relationships and even marriage. There is a perception that pre-nups are a fact of life, and that all wealthy people have them. In fact, only around 5% of married couples have pre-nups, and only 15% of divorcees say they regret not having had one. There are obvious caveats – Steven Spielberg found out the hard way that pre-nuptial agreements need to be an actual legal document, a literal back-of-the-napkin mistake that cost him a $100 million settlement. Both sides need appropriate counsel and a thorough accounting of their assets, which can make the cost of a pre-nup financially impractical for some.

The other side of the debate over pre-nups is emotional, grounded in a perception that such a document, or even the desire to sign one, is inviting the relationship to fail, tempting fate, or making it easier to get out of. It can even be seen as an indication that there is no trust in the relationship. The reality is, a pre-nup is an important legal tool, one which can be used to protect family assets, ease transitions, and hold individuals accountable. In a climate where up to 50% of marriages end in divorce, a pre-nup can be invaluable.

March 2, 2019

THE SINGER BECK AND HIS SCIENTOLOGY DIVORCE

by Law Offices of David P. Schwarz

beck The Singer Beck and his wife of 14 years have decided to call it quits and get divorced after a 14 year marriage. The pop star decided it was over after Valentines day this year and gave her the news. Beck is a practicing Scientologist so it adds a twist as to how the two children will be raised post split up. In child custody cases religion can be a major source of conflict on raising the children. This might create a high conflict child custody dispute. The two children are eleven years old and 14 years old. Becks wife is Marissi Ribissi who is the brother of Giovanni Ribissi.

In addition, Beck is actively involved in movie projects which could effect the division of divorce property for the two exes. Movie project residuals will cause a dispute among Hollywood A listers when they get divorced. Earlier this week, Beck released a song called “Super Cool” for the soundtrack of “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.”

Beck has won seven Grammy’s in his career, including Album of the Year in 2015 for “Morning Phase.” He won two at this year’s awards: Best Alternative Music Album and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.

February 25, 2019

MEDIATION: IS IT OR ISNT IT THE WAY TO AVOID DIVORCE LITIGATION?

by Law Offices of David P. Schwarz

Many people feel that if they are going to get divorced they need to find a least adversarial way in order to resolve all the issues of the divorces such as Spousal support, Child support, and property division. And thus recently there has been a push by many divorcees to go the that way. However, issues have arisen that might be an impediment to an easy mediation, divorce free conflict amongst litigants going through a divorce. Everyone believes and rightfully so that everything during the mediation process remains confidential and thus all agreements are set in stone. However, such is not the case.

A recent article from The National Law Review cited a recent case where the confidentiality provision of the medation agreement did not get signed. Therefore the alleged agreement between the parties was not proven to be an agreement in the Court of Law. As a result all the hard work and time and and effort put into paying a mediator and getting a divorce agreement done out of court was for nought. This kind of situation can occur more likely than not if your mediator or the parties are not experienced at doing the mediation process. In the case cited above the alleged agreement between the parties could not be show in the court of law because the parties never signed a waiver of confidentiality clause. Therefore the agreement could not hold weight nor was admissible in the Court of law.

In order for the mediation agreement to be a part of the Divorce proceedings the parties would have needed to sign a waiver of confidentiality which would then let the mediation document become admissible in a court of law. Normally all mediations are confidential and therefore cannot be brought into the legal setting without a waiver of confidentiality signed by both parties.

May 30, 2018

Kentucky states Judges must presume shared parenting plan in child custody battles.

by Law Offices of David P. Schwarz

In June, Kentucky will become the first state to require a presumption of equally shared parenting in child-custody cases even when one or more parents is opposed. While it’s common for states to prefer joint custody when both parents are amenable, Kentucky’s presumption will apply even without divorcing parents on board. This is a major breakthrough in developing a parenting plan that is often difficult and expensive to come by in family law Courts in California and across the United States.

Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin signed the measure in April, declaring that judges must presume “that joint custody and equally shared parenting time is in the best interest of the child” in almost all divorce cases. Last year, Kentucky required the same presumption for temporary child-custody cases while divorce is pending. Again, for a state to implement such a broad and powerful message to family law courts across America and Kentucky is quite outstanding. Custody is often so tumultuous to fight in court that to add a presumption of 50/50 without any fighting in court is really setting a different type of family law custody standard now.

Exceptions exist for situations “involving an incident of domestic violence within the preceding three years” or where “there has been a domestic violence order entered” or being entered. Obviously when there is violence the joint custody presumption must be sidelined in order to keep the child safe from any potential violence or abuse.

May 3, 2018

Dennis Quaid Divorce

by Law Offices of David P. Schwarz

Dennis Quaid is divorced again and this time he has to divide much more than he did with his prior famous wife Meghan Ryan . This new wife is no famous nor did she have the income that his prior famous wife had. Apparently there is as lot of property and children to divide and since he is the bread winner he will have to fork up way more money to her than she to him. When you are a movie star you make movies and wives or husbands that are married or famous celebrity movie stars can make a very good investment for their future.

A movie is like putting money way in the bank for the celebrities and their exes. Because movies have something called residuals. Residuals pay out into the future and are determined by how well the movie does in future years. So if a party was married for a number of years to their movie star spouse and then divorce they can claim residuals for the movies that were made during the life of the marriage. Its pretty cool I would say. So Kimberly Quaid will be receiving a portion of Dennis Quaid’s residuals for her entire life as long as the movie that was made during her marriage makes money down the road.

As many of you remember Dennis Quaid had a pair of twins boys who are 10 years old. The boys were the subject of lawsuit against Cedar Sinai Hospital when they were born because the hospital accidentally gave them Heparin and they almost died. Apparently the couple will share joint custody of the boys. There are two types of custody the family court recognizes. Legal custody is where both parents will decide the best schools and medical care for the child. physical custody is how the time share will be distributed. Dennis Quaid is said to have gotten 25% of the timeshare and Kimberly Quaid got 75%.

October 1, 2017

Robert Kardashian files civil lawsuit alleging Blac Chyna was violent and abused him

by Law Offices of David P. Schwarz

Blac China and Robert Kardashian broke up in July of 2017 after a tumultuous relationship. Blac Chyna went to Court and got a Domestic violence restraining order against the father of her child. But their battle is far from over. While the mother-of-two was ready to go to war with her ex after he posted nude photos of her online without her permission, little did she and her lawyer Lisa Bloom know that the reclusive star had his counter-attack ready! And his youngest sister Kylie Jenner made sure to have his back as well. At the domestic violence hearing the couple entered into a child support and child custody order and avoid further domestic violence litigation in family law court.

What Robert Kardashian has decided to do is take his case outside of the criminal and or family law setting and used the civil litigation path to attack and financially go after Blac Chyna the the mother of his child Dream. The sneaky thing about the lawsuit Robert Kardashian filed is it will have nothing to do about family law matters such as child custody, child support and domestic violence. It will only go after financial compensation. Also a civil lawsuit can go on much longer than a child custody and child support case. If it cannot settle then the case will be set for a trial. It can be set for a jury trial and have 12 people decide the damages. Therefore, Blac Chyna could be in for a long drawn out process she thought was over after they settled their child custody and child support disputes in family law court. In family law Court there is not such thing as a jury trial only in a civil litigation setting can a jury trial be done. In family law there is only a judge by trial case. No Jury.

Rob must have seen their demise coming, because according to their complaint, he documented an incident back in December 2016 when Chyna allegedly abused him while “extremely intoxicated on drugs and alcohol.” She allegedly took one of his guns and was “carelessly playing” with it “unaware if the gun was loaded or if the safety was on,” the complaint states, according to People. It didn’t end there. Rob also claims she tried to choke him later that evening, using not her hands, but an iPhone cord, and he “suffered injuries to his neck.” Chyna wasn’t done; she then chased him and “repeatedly struck him in the head and face.” After Rob ended up outside the home, he attempted to escape in his Bentley, according to the complaint, which caused her to throw “a nearby chair at Rob’s car causing damage to the vehicle and also used a metal rod to injure Rob.” But Chyna did not just take her anger out on Rob. She also destroyed Kylie’s home, which is where the alleged violence took place. Rob claims she owes $100,000 for “damaging a television, breaking down a door, damaging the walls, destroying cells phones and smashing a gingerbread house that was made for the holidays.”

September 25, 2017

rob karkashian is paying $20,000 month in child support

by Law Offices of David P. Schwarz

Rob Kardashian has agreed to pay $20,000 a month in child support, ending a vicious custody battle with his former fiancée, Blac Chyna.

As part of the agreement, Chyna dropped her domestic violence allegations against the reality TV star

The pair had announced their engagement and pregnancy in May 2016, then split a month later. A month after the baby was born in November, Kardashian wrote in an Instagram post that Chyna had taken the baby and left his home.

September 21, 2017

tax planning and divorce

by Law Offices of David P. Schwarz

One of the most important aspects of the divorce process is tax planning, yet it is possibly one of the least understood. Taxation issues are an essential aspect of most divorce cases and must be carefully handled prior to the dissolution of the marriage. Indeed, tax issues can determine certain aspects of the litigation. For instance, where one spouse earns substantially less than the other, various tax strategies can be used to legally shift income from the higher-earning spouse to the lower-earning spouse.

All of the available tax strategies are too numerous to reference and may change due to the needs of the parties, the complexities of the case or with new tax regulations and revenue rulings. When you’ve got a business to run and teams to lead, something life-altering like a divorce, can take a lot of time and due diligence. So here’s a non-exhaustive review of the basic taxation rules you should know about in matrimonial litigation.

Child Support And The Dependency Exemption