Even the most most amicable divorces stir up strong emotions, especially when there are kids involved. A professional divorce mediator can often help the parties deal with both the legal aspects and the emotional aspects of going through the divorce process. However, sometimes there is nothing more theraputic and a night with a good movie…
Category Archives: Spousal Support
The parties’ marriage was dissolved in 2005. Their separation agreement, which was incorporated into the decree, provided that husband’s military retirement benefits were marital property and would be divided, on his retirement, under the Hunt–Gallo formula. [See In re Marriage of Hunt, 909 P.2d 525 (Colo. 1995).]The agreement further provided that the parties intended to…
The income of a third party in determining child support is not relevant to determining the gross income of the parties for purposes of apply the child support guidelines in a divorce or post decree modification situation. A professional divorce mediator can assist you in evaluating the relevant factors in your particular situation. It is…
Expense reimbursements paid by employers may be considered income for child support or spousal support calculations in a divorce proceeding. The standard to be evaluated is whether the reimbursed expenses are SIGNIFICANT and REDUCE personal living expenses. Examples include monies paid to compensate for cost of living in a foreign country because such monies serve…
A divorce court may not consider employer paid contributions to a health or accident insurance plan as income for purposes of support determinations unless, after making the relevant findings, the court determines that the employers contributions immediately support the employee in a way that is akin to earned income. If the employee has the power…
Gross income is number that must be determined for each parent as a starting point for purposed of computing child support. Colorado Revised Statutes attempt to define what revenue to each party is considered and excluded from gross income in divorce and support calculations. For example, interest and dividends are specifically included in income, even if they…
The Social Security Act contains an anti-assignment clause that prohibits assignment of benefits even in a divorce. Therefore a divorce court cannot order distribution of part of a spouse’s future retirement social security benefits as marital property. Nor may the court consider it as an indirect offset as part of the overall marital property distribution…
If parties’ combined income exceeds $75,000 in a divorce proceeding, a party seeking maintenance MUST meet a two-pronged test in order for a Court to approve any spousal support award. Contact a divorce mediator at Divorce Help Center to help evaluate your situation. The court must FIRST find the spouse lacks sufficient property to provide…
Spousal support need not be in a fixed amount for a fixed period of time. The Court has broad discretion in crafting a spousal support plan that allows for incremental decreases based upon various event. Contact a Denver Divorce mediator to discuss your particular circumstances. Spousal support may incrementally decrease on a future dated when recipients…
Parties are not required to spend all their savings or exhaust all their marital assests before becoming eligible for spousal support. A Denver Divorce Mediator can help you evaluate your particular situation. Likewise, a party is not requied to cash in their retirment plan nor pick the highest paying option in a retirement plan for purposed…