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Alimony

About Alimony

The issue if alimony can only be settled through divorce. The only way to receive alimony is if one party makes significantly more than the other party in a divorce. When he or she is ordered to pay this can be done during the separation and after the divorce. Currently, there are three types of alimony a person can be ordered to pay.

Permanent alimony is awarded after the divorce and will have reoccurring payments that can change or end if the other party marries. The issuance of temporary alimony is done during the separation process and ongoing payments may be awarded after the divorce. This type of alimony covers the cost of living of the less paid party.

Lump sum alimony is alimony that is paid all at once and is only allowed in some states. Even though alimony payments are usually made from husband to wife, there instance when the husband is the homemaker and takes care of the children. Then in that situation the wife will be ordered to pay alimony.

The states all have different laws regarding alimony. Some states believe that martial misconduct may be taken in consideration, when considering alimony payments. There are many different ways fault and no-fault divorces are handled and a person really needs to contact their attorney.

Child support payments are issued to provide financial assistance to the ex-spouse with custody of the children. In some cases, alimony will be used instead of child support. Child support is not tax deductible for the payer or taxed as income for the recipient.

Alimony payments are structured to be tax deductible by the payer and treated as income to the payee. This is the most beneficial for tax purposes and in divorces, child support and alimony payments are structured that taxes are reduced. The government has also stepped in where alimony is concerned.

Due to the fact alimony payments are tax deductible, the government does not want alimony to be used to hide property settlements. If the payer has not made $15,000 worth of payments in the first 3 years, the payer is subject for alimony recapture.

This means that a portion of claimed tax deductions have to be repaid. In order to avoid recapture, you can either use an alimony calculator to figure out an appropriate payment structure or consult a knowledgeable divorce lawyer.

 A child custody investigation is not to be confused with a court-ordered child custody evaluation. This is a case of one parent hiring an investigator to gather evidence to demonstrate that the parent with custody is unfit.

Conditions that might render a parent unfit include physical or mental abuse, drug addiction, alcoholism, and exposing children to danger or an unhealthy environment. Once a child custody private eye has gathered sufficient evidence, a parent can petition to care for the children.

 There are many child custody issues that can occur.  Where children are concerned divorce can be a trying time. It is important to resolve child custody issues as soon as humanly possible. For the most part it is determining what types of custody and/or visitation rights are appropriate, that takes the most time.

Child custody has been separated in to four possible solutions. Legal custody is the right of a parent to make decisions about the upbringing of the child. The hand on approach is physical custody. Physical custody is the rights to have the children live full time with one parent.

With sole custody, one parent will have both legal and physical custody of the children. When parents decide to share both legal and physical custody, this is called Joint custody. In the case that neither parent can care for the child, a grandparent or relative will be awarded custody.

Those parents who are not awarded physical custody of their children may be entitled to visitation rights. There are currently three types of visitation. Reasonable visitation involves times and places that are determined by both parents. With fixed visitation, a court orders times and places for visitation.

The most rigid of the three is supervised visitation. This type of visitation needs to have an adult supervisor present during visitation. In addition to the non-custodial parent being awarded visitation rights, there has been precedent for grandparents being awarded child visitation.

 Child support is defined as a payment made from one parent to the other for support of their children after a divorce or separation. Child support payments are usually made from the parent who does not have custody of the children to the parent who does.

When a married couple has children, the husband is automatically deemed the father and may be required to pay child support after divorce. In cases involving children out of wedlock, paternity must be established before child support can be imposed.

The amount of child support paid is usually based on the incomes of both parents and how much time the children spent with each parent, over the year. For instance, if the mother earns less money than the father and the children spend more time with her, the father will generally pay more child support. However, it is important to remember that this will not always be the case, and that the courts determine the amount of child support awarded on a case-by-case basis. There are several factors the court takes into consideration when determining child support.

 The Income of Parent without Custody a court will take into account how much this parent makes and how much he or she can afford to pay. They also factor needs of the children like health care, education, and other special needs. The consideration of the standard of living before the divorce, only applies to the children. This standard is normally used to define alimony payments.

While each state has it own specific child support laws, you can obtain a child support calculator that should give you a rough approximation of expected payments.

Since the fathers often pay child support, it may be important to establish paternity. There are many methods to describe fathers in the paternity process. The acknowledged father is a biological father of said children that are born to unwed parents.

The presumed father has four conditions in which a man can be accepted to be the father of the child. If the man, was married to the mother, of the child, when the child was conceived.  Another scenario is if the man attempted to marry the mother of the child when the child was born.

Presumed fathers can also have married the mother after conception of the child and agrees to have his name put on the birth certificate and to pay child support. Last but not least the presume father could have welcomed the child into his home after the child was conceived and considered it his own.

The other two types of paternity are the equitable father and the unwed father. The equitable father is not the biological father or adoptive father of the child, but is a man with a close relationship with the child that is encouraged, by the biological parents. An unwed father is a man who does not marry the woman that bears his child.

In most cases paternity is presumed under the law; however, there are many instances in which it needs to be legally established. One way to establish paternity is for the man to sign a form acknowledging that he is the father. This gives the mother the right to collect child support, but it also gives the father some child custody rights.

It is important to fully understand the legal ramifications of establishing paternity before having any papers signed. Once established, paternity is difficult to change. If a man refuses to sign a voluntary paternity acknowledgment, a paternity test can be administered.

A paternity test is used to determine if a man is the biological father of a child. This is done by testing the child and the presumed father DNA.  This is necessary to establish the paternity of an unwed father who refuses voluntary acknowledgement. In this case, the paternity test is usually requested by mother trying to collect child support.

A DNA paternity test can also be used to show that a certain man is not the biological father of a child. This type of paternity testing might be requested if an ex-husband believes that he did not beget the children he is supporting financially. In some cases, a woman may request a paternity test to show that a man is not the biological father in a child custody battle.

 The DNA paternity tests are administered using buccal swabs or blood samples from the man and child. While not essential, tissue samples from the mother can aid the identification process. DNA testing can also be performed using other samples of tissue like hair, semen, and skin. In some cases paternity may need to be established before birth, and there are ways this can be accomplished as well.

All of the information stated is relevant to divorce, alimony, child support and custody. The right legal counsel can tell you the necessary steps to achieve the type of settlement you are seeking.

 

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Specializing in Domestic Relations Cases

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