Divorce Insurance – Protection or Just Another Asset?

In the September 13, 2010 issue of Time magazine, there is an article by Belinda Luscombe which talks about a new form of insurance being offered by SafeGuard Marketing Management Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of SafeGuard Guaranty Corporation Operations Inc. called Wedlock Divorce Insurance. Just as life insurance is paid out in the event of the death of the insured, the proceeds from a Wedlock Divorce Insurance policy are paid in the event of the end of the insured’s marriage by divorce. Each policy can pay up to $250,000 to the insured in the event his or her marriage ends in divorce.

What’s a child to do?

According to this article, a child sued her father for the payment of her college tuition and related expenses. After the two day trial, the judge found in favor of the child and awarded her $47,000, which included the tuition cost and counsel fees. I am often asked about a parent’s obligation to pay for a child’s college eduction in Pennsylvania. The information I tell these people is usually not well received.

Dissecting the Tiger-Elin Divorce Settlement (Part I)

Many of the details of the settlement between Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren are sketchy. According to this article from the LA Times’ blog, the value of the assets that Elin is going to receive as a resolution of the dissolution of her marriage from Tiger is worth $750 million.

From the Wall to the Courtroom

You do not need to be an expert in social networking, marketing, or public relations to know that social networking is exploding across the internet. Millions of people connect through Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and LinkedIn or a regular basis. With so many people sharing their comments, photos, and intimate details of their lives with countless others, there are bound to be repercussions.

As noted in this article, divorce attorneys are noticing more and more situations where what a person posts on his or her Facebook page is becoming evidence in Court. Whether its questionable comments or inappropriate pictures, some courts have no trouble allowing the information to be admitted into evidence.

I myself have been on the receiving end of such tactics. The other side in a support case brought in my client’s adult daughter’s LinkedIn profile which indicated that she was working for my client. My client had to explain on the witness stand that his daughter worked for him briefly for one summer, but no longer worked for him. (They were trying to allege that my client was hiding income.)

In another situation, another client had heard that her husband had asked on his Facebook page, on the day before we were scheduled to be in court, if it would be okay if he (the husband) hopped over counsel table and punched opposing counsel (that would be me) in the face. It was very easy for me to access the husband’s Facebook “wall” to see and print the comment for myself. All I needed was an active Facebook account. I did not even need to be a “friend” of husband to access his Wall.

If you have an account on any of the myriad of social networking websites, you should always assume the possibility of what you post will be printed and used against you in Court. A colleague of mine once said, about e-mail, never send a message that you would not want to see printed as a full page ad in the newspaper. Such advice is even more applicable to social networking sites. What you post on your Wall today may end up as Exhibit “A” when your case goes to Court several months down the road.

Money problems can lead to divorce – no surprise there

This article identified some of the financial problems that may arise, not only in a poor economy, but in a stable economy, which could lead a couple to divorce. The article presents these points in a clear, easy-to-understand way.

The best way to combat some of these “relationship-enders” is communication. If spouses are open and honest with their concerns, financial or otherwise, the impact of many of these issues is lessened. I can not say that the issues will disappear completely. That will depend upon the ability of the spouses to work together to resolve any financial problems.

While it seems obvious, most people, when separating, tend to forget that it costs more to run two households on the same funds that they were using to run one household previously.

I always suggest that anyone contemplating a separation and/or divorce from a spouse meet with an attorney. During that meeting, the spouse should learn what his/her rights are and responsibilities will be in the event of a separation and divorce. Some people, realizing the financial cost to separation and divorce, decide the better course of action is to try to make the marriage work.

It is also important to keep in mind that the less expensive alternative to litigating a divorce may be mediation or some other form of alternative dispute resolution.

If you are in south eastern Pennsylvania and you want to talk more about your rights and responsibilities incident to a divorce or separation, contact me.

A Post Script to a Highly Publicized Divorce

If you were following the Jon and Kate divorce proceedings, you should know that their divorce decree was entered on December 17, 2009. However, there are two additional aspects of this case that may be of some interest. One issue arose before the entry of a final divorce decree and one issue arose after the decree.

Still Not Final? Why Not?

Back in mid-August, this article from Radaronline.com indicated that Jon Gosselin’s girlfriend was reporting that Jon and Kater’s divorce will be final by September. We’ll September has come and gone and there are only a few more days left in October, so when will this well-publicized divorce be final?

Gosselin lawyer getting out of case

It is being reported by US Magazine online that counsel for Jon Gosselin has filed a motion with the Court asking to be allowed to withdraw as Jon’s attorney of record.

She’s getting how much in support!?!

It has been reported by E! Online that singer Nas (Nasir Jones) has been ordered by a Judge in California to pay support to his estranged wife Kelis Rogers almost $40,000 per month for the support of Kelis and their new born son Knight Jones.