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Posted on June 6, 2006 by J. Benjamin Stevens
Divorce mediation is a process in which divorcing spouses try to negotiate an acceptable divorce agreement with the help of a neutral third party: the mediator. The mediator helps the spouses to communicate and negotiate but doesn't make any decisions for them.
Both mediation and arbitration involve a neutral third party who is not a judge. In mediation, the neutral party has no power to make decisions. In arbitration, the neutral third party -- the arbitrator -- listens to the facts and then decides the case, just as a judge would. Although the parties can present evidence and make arguments, they have no say in the final decision.
Copyright 2005 Nolo
Posted on March 31, 2006 by J. Benjamin Stevens
If you haven't been together long and don't own much, it's really not necessary to make a written agreement. But the longer you live together, the more important it is to prepare a written contract making it clear who owns what -- especially if you begin to accumulate a lot of property. And, if you buy a house together, it's a good idea to create a property agreement.
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Posted on February 17, 2006 by J. Benjamin Stevens
Define who gets what if you divorce.
Without a prenup, state law will specify how your property will be divided if you ever divorce. These laws may dictate a result that neither of you wants. You can use a prenup to establish your own rules for property division and avoid potential disagreements in the event of a divorce. In most states, you can also make agreements about whether or not one or both of you will be entitled to alimony. Some states forbid or restrict agreements about alimony, however. That will be discussed soon on what you "can't" do with a prenup.
Copyright © 2006 Nolo
Posted on February 8, 2006 by J. Benjamin Stevens
Keep property in the family.
If your property includes something you want to keep in your birth family, whether it be an heirloom or a share in a family business, you and your spouse can agree that it will remain in your family, and you can specify that item in your prenup. This can even include property that you expect to receive in a future inheritance.
Copyright © 2006 Nolo
Posted on February 6, 2006 by J. Benjamin Stevens
Provide for children from prior marriages. A prenup is helpful (perhaps essential) if either of you has children from another relationship and you want to make sure that your children inherit their share of your property. In a prenup, one or both spouses can give up the right to claim a share of the other's property at death, perhaps in exchange for an agreed upon amount of property.
Copyright © 2006 Nolo
Posted on January 25, 2006 by J. Benjamin Stevens
Protect each other from debts. Some of us bring debts, as well as assets, to a marriage. If there's no prenup, creditors can sometimes turn to marital or community property to satisfy the debts of just one spouse. But if you want to make sure that saying "I do" does not mean saying "I owe," you can use a prenup to limit your liability for each other's debts.
Copyright © 2006 Nolo
Posted on January 4, 2006 by J. Benjamin Stevens
A purchased policy that pays a fixed amount of benefits every year -- although most annuities actually pay monthly -- for the life of the person who is entitled to those benefits. In a simple life annuity, when the person receiving the annuity dies, the benefits stop; there is no final lump sum payment and no provision to pay benefits to a spouse or other survivor. A continuous annuity pays monthly installments for the life of the retired worker, and also provides a smaller continuing annuity for the worker's spouse or other survivor after the worker's death. A joint and survivor annuity pays monthly benefits as long as the retired worker is alive, and then continues to pay the worker's spouse for life.
Copyright © 2005 Nolo
Posted on December 14, 2005 by J. Benjamin Stevens
"Tenancy in Common" is a way two or more people can own property together. Each can leave his or her interest upon death to beneficiaries of his choosing instead of to the other owners, as is required with joint tenancy. In some states, two people are presumed to own property as tenants in common unless they've agreed otherwise in writing.
Copyright © 2005 Nolo
Posted on December 7, 2005 by J. Benjamin Stevens
A special kind of property ownership that's only for married couples. Both spouses have the right to enjoy the entire property, and when one spouse dies, the surviving spouse gets title to the property (called a right of survivorship). It is similar to joint tenancy, but it is available in only about half the states.
Copyright © 2005 Nolo
Posted on November 24, 2005 by J. Benjamin Stevens
A method for defining the ownership of property acquired during marriage, in which all earnings during marriage and all property acquired with those earnings are considered community property and all debts incurred during marriage are community property debts. Community property laws exist in Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Copyright © 2005 Nolo
Posted on November 14, 2005 by J. Benjamin Stevens
In community property states, property owned and controlled entirely by one spouse in a marriage. At divorce, separate property is not divided under the state's property division laws, but is kept by the spouse who owns it. Separate property includes all property that a spouse obtained before marriage, through inheritance or as a gift. It also includes any property that is traceable to separate property -- for example, cash from the sale of a vintage car owned by one spouse before marriage-and any property that the spouses agree is separate property.
Copyright © 2005 Nolo
Posted on July 13, 2005 by J. Benjamin Stevens
It is common for a divorcing couples to decide about dividing their property and debts themselves (with or without the help of a neutral third party like a mediator), rather than leave it for the judge to decide. If however, a couple cannot agree, they can submit their property dispute to the court, which will use state law to divide the property.
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