How to Intelligently Forecast a Maintenance Award

In a proceeding for dissolution of marriage, legal
separation or invalidity of marriage, the court may grant a
temporary or permanent award for maintenance for either
spouse in amounts and for periods of time as the court
deems just. Said award of maintenance is entered without
regard to marital fault. The maintenance can be in gross
or for a fixed or indefinite period of time. Further, the
maintenance can be paid from the income or property of the
other spouse after consideration of all relevant factors.
The relevant factors include:

1) The income and property of each party;

2) The needs of each party;

3) The present and future earning capacity of each party:

4) Any impairment of the present and future earning
capacity of the party seeking maintenance;

5) The time necessary to enable the party seeking
maintenance to acquire appropriate education, training, and
employment;

6) The standard of living established during the marriage;

7) The duration of the marriage;

8) The age and the physical and emotional condition of both
parties;

9) The tax consequences of the property division upon the
respective economic circumstances of the parties;

10) Contributions and services by the party seeking
maintenance to the education, training, career or career
potential of the other spouse;

11) Any valid agreement of the parties; and

12) Any other factor that the court deems to be just and
equitable.

As you can see, many of the factors are limited in terms of
the value to calculate. The most important of the above
factors are the length of marriage, income and earning
capacity, and standard of living established during the
marriage.

The shorter the marriage, the more likely that the spouse
seeking maintenance will be entitled only to rehabilitative
maintenance. That type of maintenance can last somewhere
between one to three years and terminate thereafter. It
allows the spouse receiving the maintenance to find the
skill, education or employment that will allow that spouse
to sustain an income.

Permanent maintenance is for the payee's life, but usually
subject to termination upon the happening of a specific
event. For example, said maintenance can end upon the
remarriage of the party, the death of either party, or
residing with another on a resident conjugal basis. These
triggering events can lead to the termination of
maintenance.

Importantly, there is no magic formula to determine if
maintenance is appropriate. Further, if maintenance is
warranted, there is no mathematical equation to plug-in.
In reality, the award of maintenance is a range that a
court can award based upon the numerous factors listed
above. Please consult with an experienced divorce or
family law attorney in determining whether or not
maintenance is warranted in a particular case.

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New York City divorce and family law firm handling divorce
and family law cases throughout New York City and the
surrounding areas. Results driven law firm with experience
and skill to handle the most difficult cases.
http://www.divorce-lawyers-newyork.com

Divorcing in New York is not Simple

New York State is not one of the states that allows a
no-fault divorce. In other words, to obtain a divorce in
the state of New York, there must be proven grounds for the
dissolution. If the non-filing party has not committed any
act that would constitute grounds for divorce, the person
desiring the divorce will not be able to obtain it.

Some of the grounds for divorce in New York are as follows:

Incarceration: meaning the confinement of the defendant in
prison for a period of three or more consecutive years
after the marriage.

Adultery: meaning the commission of a voluntary act of
sexual or deviant sexual intercourse by the plaintiff with
a person other than the spouse.

Abandonment: meaning the desertion of the plaintiff by the
defendant for one or more years. Abandonment usually is
physical, where one spouse moves out of marital residence
and literally deserts the family. There is also
constructive abandonment also known as constructive sexual
abandonment. This ground is often used when both parties
want to divorce as quickly as possible.

Cruel and inhuman treatment: meaning conduct by the
non-filing party that endangers the physical or mental
well-being of the plaintiff to make it unsafe or
inhabitable for the plaintiff to cohabit with the defendant.

New York State is a state that encourages marriage. They
make it very difficult to obtain a divorce unless both
parties want the divorce. Just to the north in
Connecticut, they allow no-fault divorces. In Connecticut,
the two parties typically sign a stipulation stating that
irreconcilable differences have led to the irretrievable
breakdown of their marriage. They simply wait out a short
time period, and are able to obtain the dissolution of
marriage. Quite a contrast to the laws in the state of New
York, which is a border state to Connecticut. In New York,
if one of the parties who does not want to divorce has done
absolutely nothing to provide grounds for the divorce, the
person wanting the divorce will not be able to obtain it.
The majority of states are not like New York and that they
do allow for no-fault divorce. The legislature and the
state congresses are geared towards doing the will of the
people. The people of the United States have shown that
they do not want to be held into a marriage against their
will. The court system also does not want to be bogged
down in hearings and contested issues regarding fault.
That is why the majority of states in the United States are
in fact no-fault states. New York, however, is not one of
those states and there must be fault for sufficient grounds
to obtain a successful dissolution action.

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New York City divorce and family law firm handling divorce
and family law cases throughout New York City and the
surrounding areas. Results driven law firm with experience
and skill to handle the most difficult cases.
http://www.divorce-lawyers-newyork.com

What Is Dissipation of Property?

Dissipation of property during a marriage can be a hotly
contested issue in a divorce action. Often, one party
feels that a portion of his or her property has been
exhausted for no good reason. Dissipation arises when
property is improperly used for the sole benefit of one
spouse, for a purpose unrelated to the marriage, at a time
when the marriage is undergoing an irreconcilable
breakdown. Once a prima facie case of dissipation is
made, the party charged with dissipation must establish by
clear and convincing evidence how the funds were spent.
Once it is established that one party has liquidated
marital assets, the party charged with dissipation must
establish by clear and specific evidence how the funds were
spent.

What specific acts constitute dissipation? Generally,
expenditures held to constitute dissipation are
extraordinary expenses that clearly do not further common
marital interests. For example, gambling losses are
patently dissipation. The payment of legal fees from
marital assets has been considered dissipation. However,
less than extraordinary expenses have been found to
constitute dissipation. For instance, living expenses of
one party after the marriage's irreconcilable breakdown
were held in one case to constitute dissipation. "The
expenditure of marital funds by one spouse for necessary,
appropriate and legitimate living expenses at a time the
marriage is undergoing an irreconcilable breakdown will not
be considered to be dissipation.

Dissipation is not limited to financial issues. Wife's
destruction of family photographs constituted dissipation.
Dissipation can also consist of failing to maintain
property. A spouse's failure to make mortgage payments and
prevent foreclosure in a family home, which results in loss
of equity therein, can constitute dissipation. Failing to
pay income tax liability, resulting in interest and
penalties, constitutes dissipation.

Dissipation should be confined to the situation where value
is lost to the marital or non-marital estate resulting in
the sole benefit to one spouse for a purpose unrelated to
the marriage during marriage breakdown. The timing of the
alleged dissipation is an important consideration.
Determining the instant when the marriage becomes
irrevocably broken down can be difficult. The court may
charge a spouse who dissipated assets the amount dissipated
against his or her share of marital property in order to
compensate the other party, but an award of cash or
property equal to half of the amount dissipated is not
mandated.

It is always best for parties to maintain the status quo as
to spending and selling while dissolving their marriage.
If this is done, neither party will be able to make a claim
for dissipation. Further, the overall settlement
resolution process will be easier to traverse. When one
party believes that he or she is being taken advantage of,
the divorce process often stalls. It is wise to consult
with an experienced divorce or family law attorney prior to
excessive spending or unnecessary liquidation of marital
property.

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David M. Siegel is an attorney practicing divorce and
family law. Additional information is available at
http://www.divorce-lawyers-newyork.com .

Keeping a car with Chapter 7

People love their cars. They would give up just about
everything they have, as long as they don't have to give up
their car. One of the great things about Chapter 7 is that
a person can typically keep their car, while eliminating
most or all of their unsecured debt. There are several
instances where a person can keep his car, while in a
Chapter 7 bankruptcy case.

These instances include:

The actual value of the vehicle falls within the stated
exemption amounts under either state or federal law. An
example of this situation is where someone owns a car
outright and the market price of the car is less than the
exemption amount provided by state or federal law. An
example would be a car that has a value of $1500 which is
paid in full.

A second instance is called the reaffirmation.
Reaffirmation on an auto debt is signing an agreement to be
fully liable for that vehicle debt on an ongoing basis
after the bankruptcy case has concluded. The advantage of
reaffirming a debt is that a debtor can protect the equity
that is in the vehicle, re-establish credit by making
continued payments on that vehicle, and of course, being
able to keep the vehicle. Oftentimes, a lender will
re-work the lone agreement so that the debtor is paying
possibly a lower monthly payment or possibly a lower rate
of interest in exchange for signing the reaffirmation
agreement. Some lenders are not so flexible. However,
under the current economic climate, I have seen an
abundance of lenders that are willing to negotiate the
terms in an effort to obtain a reaffirmation agreement.

The final method where a debtor can keep a vehicle with
Chapter 7 is to redeem the vehicle. The debtor winds up
making a one time lump sum payment for the entire fair
market value of the vehicle. This amount is typically less
than what is owed on the outstanding balance. The barrier
here is that the debtor typically does not have the ability
to make a lump sum payment of the fair market value of the
vehicle. There are certain lending institutions which
specialized in redemption lending. In those cases, the
debtor actually signs a new loan with a new company for the
fair market value of the vehicle and the original lender is
paid off. Although this may sound like a great idea,
oftentimes, the interest rate on the new loan is not much
better in the long run than continuing to pay for the
original loan.

With so many ways to keep vehicle while in a Chapter 7
bankruptcy, the debtor really stands in a great position to
maintain that item and continue to pay for it overtime.

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David M. Siegel is the author of Chapter 7 Success: The
Complete Guide to Surviving Personal Bankruptcy. He is a
member of the American Bankruptcy Institute and currently
practices bankruptcy law in Chicago and its surrounding
suburbs. Additional information is available at
http://www.chapter7success.com .

Divorce Advice: Different Answers For Different Situations

It's very likely you will get many different pieces of
divorce advice when you ask for it, depending on who you
ask - and what you want to hear!

Before you ask anyone for advice you should clarify in your
own mind why you are seeking such advice. That way you know
what questions to ask. Do NOT make the common mistake of
not differentiating all the different divorce categories,
as there are many different divorce categories to look for.

Mind Is Fully Made Up

If your mind is fully made up to get a divorce, however
tough it may be, then the advice you seek should be
relevant to getting a divorce as soon as possible. This
will probably involve meeting with lawyers, so essential
you have all the proper information to give them. This will
enable him or her to provide you with the proper divorce
advice.

Not Sure...

However, if you are not totally sure you want to get a
divorce you would be wise to talk to a lawyer or financial
expert to ask advice about the financial implications. If
you are worried about the wellbeing of your children then
you should seek out another form of divorce advice. You
would also be well advised to consult a marriage counselor
so that you are well informed about every aspect of your
divorce. It would also be in your best interests to consult
more than one person to get the best advice from
independent sources.

When you are sure the divorce is agreed to by both parties,
and will be clean and simple without any financial problems
then such a divorce should not require any complicated
divorce advice. The decision for such a divorce will have
been arrived at with both parties emotionally well
prepared and nothing causing any great worry - only
sadness. The kind of divorce advice under such
circumstances would not normally have very great financial
implications, and would probably deal only with a
pre-nuptial agreement or even a mutually agreed-to divorce.

However, if you must get divorced perhaps the best divorce
advice you can ever get is one which enables you to take
care of all the matters on your own by talking to friends,
counselors and family. Ultimately the divorce is your
decision and only you should be able to think and act it
out as best as you can. My advice: Try and avoid doing it,
if you can!

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Peter Blake is an Englishman currently based in London, and
writes on family issues. The online professional help can
be got by going to this website:
http://www.save-marriage.net and
http://bezierbrit.lmchristo.hop.clickbank.net/