Divorce settlement

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A divorce settlement is an arrangement, adjustment, or other understanding reached, as in financial or business proceedings, between two adults who have chosen to divorce. [1] It serves as the final legal agreement between these adults for documenting the terms of their divorce. [2]

Contents

Specifics

A divorce settlement entails which spouse gets what property and what responsibilities once the marriage is over. "It deals with child custody and visitation, child support, alimony, health and life insurance, real estate, cars, household items, bank accounts, debts, investments, retirement plans and pensions, college tuition for children, and other items of value, such as frequent flyer miles and country club memberships. Conditions regarding tax payments, legal names, and provisions for modifying the agreement may also be included." [2]

Types of settlements in the United States

Property Distribution

When a couple goes through a divorce, the allocation of their property and assets becomes necessary. Certain state laws mandate an equitable distribution of property, wherein fairness takes precedence over equal division. While equitable does not guarantee equal sharing, it ensures a fair allocation.

Alternatively, some states follow community property principles, where assets and property acquired during the marriage are considered communal. In these states, there are varying approaches to dividing community property. Some states enforce an equal division, with each party receiving fifty percent of the property, while others emphasize equitable division, aiming for fairness in distribution. [3]

Child Custody Laws

Child custody laws, while largely similar across states, do exhibit certain variations. Generally, courts determine custody arrangements based on the "best interests of the child" standard, yet the interpretation of this standard can differ among states. Some states take into account the child's preferences, while others permit children aged 14 or older to choose their residing parent. Additionally, certain states base custody decisions on a predefined list of factors established by the state legislature.

In most states, the prevailing practice involves granting some form of joint custody, wherein both parents share physical and legal responsibilities for the child.

Child Support Laws

Each state employs a unique formula and set of guidelines to determine child support. Some states base the calculation on a percentage of the noncustodial parent's income, while others consider the income of both parents. Consequently, the use of diverse standards by different states often yields unexpected outcomes when assessing support obligations. [3]

Alimony Laws

Alimony, also known as spousal support or spousal maintenance, is typically granted in a divorce when one spouse can demonstrate to the court their financial need for such support and the other spouse possesses the means to provide it. In most states, there are statutes outlining a range of factors that a judge must take into account when deciding whether to award alimony, including the type, amount, and duration of support. While each state has its own specific criteria, there is considerable overlap in certain factors. Common considerations by courts include the earning capacity of each spouse, the age of the parties, and the duration of the marriage.

Additionally, some states may consider factors such as the standard of living enjoyed by the couple during the marriage or even the level of fault attributed to each spouse in the divorce.

See also

Related Research Articles

Family law is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations.

Divorce is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the bonds of matrimony between a married couple under the rule of law of the particular country or state. It can be said to be a legal dissolution of a marriage by a court or other competent body. It is the legal process of ending a marriage.

New York divorce law changed on August 15, 2010, when Governor David Paterson signed no-fault divorce into law in New York state. Until 2010, New York recognized divorces only upon fault-based criteria or upon separation. The State Senate approved the No-Fault Divorce bill on June 30, and the State Assembly passed the bill on July 1.

Alimony, also called aliment (Scotland), maintenance, spousal support and spouse maintenance (Australia), is a legal obligation on a person to provide financial support to their spouse before or after marital separation or divorce. The obligation arises from the divorce law or family law of each country. In most jurisdictions, it is distinct from child support, where, after divorce, one parent is required to contribute to the support of their children by paying money to the child's other parent or guardian.

Legal separation is a legal process by which a married couple may formalize a de facto separation while remaining legally married. A legal separation is granted in the form of a court order. In cases where children are involved, a court order of legal separation often makes child custody arrangements, specifying sole custody or shared parenting, as well as child support. Some couples obtain a legal separation as an alternative to a divorce, based on moral or religious objections to divorce.

Child support is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child following the end of a marriage or other similar relationship. Child maintenance is paid directly or indirectly by an obligor to an obligee for the care and support of children of a relationship that has been terminated, or in some cases never existed. Often the obligor is a non-custodial parent. The obligee is typically a custodial parent, a caregiver, a guardian.

Common-law marriage, also known as non-ceremonial marriage, sui iuris marriage, informal marriage, de facto marriage, or marriage by habit and repute, is a legal framework where a couple may be considered married without having formally registered their relation as a civil or religious marriage.

A prenuptial agreement, antenuptial agreement, or premarital agreement is a written contract entered into by a couple before marriage or a civil union that enables them to select and control many of the legal rights they acquire upon marrying, and what happens when their marriage eventually ends by death or divorce. Couples enter into a written prenuptial agreement to supersede many of the default marital laws that would otherwise apply in the event of divorce, such as the laws that govern the division of property, retirement benefits, savings, and the right to seek alimony with agreed-upon terms that provide certainty and clarify their marital rights. A premarital agreement may also contain waivers of a surviving spouse's right to claim an elective share of the estate of the deceased spouse.

Division of property, also known as equitable distribution, is a judicial division of property rights and obligations between spouses during divorce. It may be done by agreement, through a property settlement, or by judicial decree.

A qualified domestic relations order, is a judicial order in the United States, entered as part of a property division in a divorce or legal separation that splits a retirement plan or pension plan by recognizing joint marital ownership interests in the plan, specifically the former spouse's interest in that spouse's share of the asset. A QDRO's recognition of spousal ownership interest in a plan participant's (employee's) pension plan awards a portion of the plan participant's benefit to an alternate payee. An alternate payee must be a spouse, former spouse, child or other dependent of the plan participant. A QDRO may also be entered for spousal support or child support.

Child custody is a legal term regarding guardianship which is used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent or guardian and a child in that person's care. Child custody consists of legal custody, which is the right to make decisions about the child, and physical custody, which is the right and duty to house, provide and care for the child. Married parents normally have joint legal and physical custody of their children. Decisions about child custody typically arise in proceedings involving divorce, annulment, separation, adoption or parental death. In most jurisdictions child custody is determined in accordance with the best interests of the child standard.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Husband</span> Male spouse; man who is married

A husband is a male in a marital relationship, who may also be referred to as a spouse. The rights and obligations of a husband regarding his spouse and others, and his status in the community and in law, vary between societies and cultures, and have varied over time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Family Law Act 1975</span>

The Family Law Act 1975(Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia. It has 15 parts and is the primary piece of legislation dealing with divorce, parenting arrangements between separated parents (whether married or not), property separation, and financial maintenance involving children or divorced or separated de facto partners: in Australia. It also covers family violence. It came into effect on 5 January 1976, repealing the Matrimonial Causes Act 1961, which had been largely based on fault. On the first day of its enactment, 200 applications for divorce were filed in the Melbourne registry office of the Family Court of Australia, and 80 were filed in Adelaide, while only 32 were filed in Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Divorce law by country</span> Overview of divorce laws around the world

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian family law</span>

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Divorce in the United States is a legal process in which a judge or other authority dissolves the marriage existing between two persons. Divorce restores the persons to the status of being single and permits them to marry other individuals. In the United States, marriage and divorce fall under the jurisdiction of state governments, not the federal government.

A postnuptial agreement is a written agreement executed after a couple gets married, or have entered a civil union, to settle the couple's affairs and assets in the event of a separation or divorce. It may be "notarized" or acknowledged and may be the subject of the statute of frauds. Like the contents of a prenuptial agreement, provisions vary widely but commonly includes provisions for division of property and spousal support in the event of divorce, death of one of the spouses, or breakup of marriage.

International matrimonial law is an area of private international law. The area specifically deals with relations between spouses and former spouses on issues of marriage, divorce and child custody. In the last 50 years, the States Members of the Hague Conference on Private International Law have attempted to harmonize domestic matrimonial laws and judicial rulings across international borders in these areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Divorce law in Sweden</span>

Divorce law in Sweden concerns the dissolution of marriage, child support, alimony, custody and the division of property. Divorce restores the status of married people to individuals, leaving them free to remarry. The divorce laws in Sweden are known to be considerably liberal compared to other jurisdictions.

References

  1. "Settlement". The Free Dictionary. Farlex. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Divorce Settlement". Avvo Inc. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  3. 1 2 Wagner, Donna. "Types of Divorce Settlements". Mtjulietdivorcelawyer. Retrieved 2023-06-27.