Ending a marriage can easily become emotionally and financially taxing. If you are planning to divorce or have already started the divorce process, you should consider seeking the services of a Rye, NY divorce lawyer to help you handle the case. At Douglas Family Law Group, we take pride in helping people like you understand your options and reach a favorable outcome in the end.
We understand that going through a divorce is not easy, which is why we provide comprehensive divorce litigation services to all our clients. When you choose to work with us, you can rest assured that your case is in safe hands. Our team has years of practical experience in providing bespoke legal representation to every client we serve.
If you’re facing a divorce and need legal help, reach out to us today to schedule a consultation with one of our family law attorneys in Rye, NY. Call 914-615-9058 today and let us help you.
What Are the Grounds for Divorce in New York?
There are seven legal grounds for divorce in New York. These include:
- Imprisonment
- Abandonment
- Cruelty and Inhuman Treatment
- Adultery
- Irretrievable Breakdown
- Separation Agreement
- Judgment of Separation
What Is Equitable Distribution and How Does It Work?
Equitable distribution refers to the formula used in the equitable split of marital assets during a divorce. It’s generally used in cases where the divorcing partners cannot agree on the division of assets and debts.
The judge presiding over the case will do their best to split the marital assets or properties fairly, which doesn’t necessarily mean “equally,” between the divorcing couple. The court will only account for the marital assets when distributing the assets, not property that is exclusively owned by one spouse or the other.
What Does Contested Divorce Mean?
A contested divorce is a divorce where the splitting partners are unable to agree on several pertinent issues. In some cases, the reasons for filing the divorce might affect how confrontational the other party might become. If your main reasons for seeking a divorce cannot be resolved through negotiation and mediation, you might have to resolve them in court.
What Is an Uncontested Divorce?
This is the kind of divorce where there are no disagreements on issues like debt allocation, spousal maintenance, child support, division of property, and child custody. Because these issues have already been settled, there’s no need for litigation or contesting them in court. In uncontested divorces, the judge responsible for presiding over the case can simply sign off the matter and finalize the divorce.
What Are the Requirements for an Uncontested Divorce?
For your divorce to be considered uncontested, you and your ex-spouse have to agree on several issues, including your grounds for divorce, your desire to divorce, child support, child visitation, child custody, property division, and maintenance, as well as other relevant matters.
What Are the Differences Between a Contested and Uncontested Divorce?
When it comes to uncontested divorces, both partners essentially agree on the dissolution of the marriage as well as the division of their assets. But if the divorce is contested, it means both sides don’t agree on pertinent issues, including who gets child custody, the terms of the divorce, and whether they should be divorcing.
Call Our Rye Divorce Lawyers to Learn About Your Options
The team at Douglas Family Law Group understands that going through a divorce can be a difficult time. This is why we are dedicated to helping people get a divorce and ensuring they get the best possible outcome.
If you want to learn more about contested and uncontested divorces and what options you should pursue, get in touch with us to schedule a consultation with one of our top divorce lawyers in Rye, NY.
What Is Spousal Support or Spousal Maintenance?
Spousal maintenance is the money one spouse gives another after a divorce. The main goal of this money is to provide financial assistance to the spouse with fewer resources. New York courts usually award maintenance based on the need and entitlement of one spouse and the ability of the other to pay.
Spousal support is similar, but it is paid when the couple is legally married. The two partners may be separated and planning to divorce. A spousal support payment made before the divorce may be ordered to continue once the divorce becomes official, becoming a spousal maintenance payment.
How Is Maintenance Determined?
New York State courts have different formulas for calculating maintenance based on whether child custody or child support is a factor of consideration. In cases where non-custodial parents are required to pay both child support and spousal maintenance, the amount to be paid will be determined by taking about 25% of the paying spouse’s income and subtracting 25% of the other spouse’s income.
Maintenance is typically calculated before child support payments in New York.
When Can I Stop Paying Maintenance?
Several things might cause the termination or reduction of spousal support in NY. But if there is no more need for financial support, you may request to have them terminated. In many cases, support will most likely cease when the spouse receiving payments remarries, starts cohabiting with another person, or dies.
Contact Our New York Spousal Support Attorneys
If you have filed for a divorce and you need help with spousal maintenance law, you should get in touch with our experienced divorce lawyers in Rye, New York as soon as possible. At Douglas Family Law, we provide expert guidance on maintenance.
We can advise you on whether you are required to pay maintenance or if you’re entitled to spousal support and the amount you can expect to pay or receive. Call us today to learn more about how we can help.
What Does a High Net-Worth Divorce Lawyer Do?
A high net-worth divorce lawyer specializes in divorces involving individuals with high incomes and net worths. Such a lawyer essentially has the experience needed to deal with complex financial issues that could come up during a divorce and help clients in protecting their assets.
How Do I Know I Need a High Net-Worth Divorce Lawyer?
If you and your ex-spouse have a relatively high net worth, then you should consider getting an experienced high-net-worth divorce attorney to help handle the case. This is because most of these cases involve complicated financial matters, which may generally lead to lots of disagreements, especially where part of the wealth came from family heirlooms or inheritance.
As such, if you are going through a divorce and you have a high net worth, you should hire the services of an experienced high-net-worth lawyer to have them help you navigate the process and protect your assets.
How Can Douglas Family Law Group Help Me with My High Net-Worth Divorce?
The following are some of the ways our high-net-worth divorce lawyers can help you.
Identifying the Assets that Need Protection
The proper identification of assets that need to be protected in high net-worth cases is a crucial part of legal representation in these kinds of cases. For high-net-worth individuals, it’s important to ensure your personal assets are protected and unavailable for splitting. Our attorneys can help you establish which of your assets are marital property and which are separate property.
Moreover, there may be hidden assets that might need to be properly identified and evaluated. Establishing which assets are eligible for division and which ones aren’t is a critical step, and a high-net-worth lawyer from Douglas Family Law Group can help.
Properly Valuing Assets in High Net-Worth Divorces
An experienced high-net-worth divorce lawyer can also assist with calculating the value of all assets available for splitting during the divorce. The process of establishing assets value often involves a lot of complex financial accounting and accurately determining the value of some assets could become challenging, especially when it comes to marital property.
In a lot of cases, there will be legal wrangles where one party tries to undervalue or overvalue some of the assets they are looking to keep or give up. Our team has the skills and knowledge to correctly evaluate the value of each asset in a high net-worth divorce.
Helping You Avoid Emotionally Charged Decisions
A skilled high net worth divorce lawyer can help you avoid making emotionally charged decisions when going through the divorce process. Most high-net-worth divorces tend to be very challenging, especially when one spouse wanted a divorce and the other didn’t. And even if the feeling was mutual, people can easily get emotional during the process, and it’s always important to ensure that emotions are kept in check.
Working with a skilled and professional attorney will ensure that you have the guidance and assistance to avoid mistakes such as making hurried or emotionally charged decisions and that your rights are protected. Our team is here to offer the emotional support and guidance needed through the process so that you will be able to make level-headed decisions.
Talk to a High Net-Worth Divorce Lawyer in Rye, New York
When dealing with a high-net-worth divorce, you want to leverage the skills, experience, and talent of our divorce attorneys. Call us today and let our team guide you through the process and help you get a favorable outcome.
What Is a Valuation Lawyer and What Do They Do?
If you and your spouse owned a business or one is part of your marital property, you can expect there to be a valuation in your case. When evaluating the value of a business during a divorce, whether it’s large or small, ownership will be one of the key things considered by the court. This is why you need to work with an experienced business valuation lawyer to help you establish the value of the business.
Valuation lawyers usually work closely with other experts to calculate the current market value, future earnings, capital structure, market dynamics, competitive advantage, and other relevant information about a business. They can help make sure that your business is valued properly so that you can get the best deal.
How to Value a Business During Divorce
For most divorce cases, valuing a business requires that a team of valuation experts and attorneys refer to different case laws and statutes to inform them of the right ways to handle a business valuation in a divorce case. As your Rye, NY divorce lawyers, we will do our best to make sure that you get what you deserve.
Our business valuation lawyers use the following approaches to value a business.
Income Approach
This approach is used to determine the value of a business based on its projected potential valuations. This is possible through the capitalization of the business’ income over some time using estimated future return rates or analyzing the business’s annual income over a projected period.
Assets Approach
This approach is focused on the business assets and liabilities that are reflected in its ledgers and then accounts for the potential depreciation, appreciation, and adjustments that affect the value of the business.
Market Approach
The market approach is focused on the value of the business should a potential investor or buyer want to buy it. It accounts for things like the future earning capacity of the business.
What Types of Information Will Be Looked at to Determine Value?
Your business valuation lawyer will never downplay the need for asset ownership, and we will do our best to ensure that your best interests are honored. To do this, we will work hand in hand with expert evaluators to review any business you might have owned together with your ex-spouse.
The following is some of the information that we consider when analyzing businesses to determine their value.
- What the business owns: This includes tangible assets, including machinery, inventory, equipment, etc., along with intangible assets such as goodwill, trademarks, market share, patents, etc.
- What the business owes: We review the liabilities and debts the business owes to determine how these can be fairly distributed among both parties.
- Business profitability and expenses: This is usually accomplished by compiling the expenditure of the company and weighing this information against its income or returns.
Reach Out to Douglas Family Law Group to Learn More about Business Valuation During Divorce
Every business can be assigned a value, and it’s essential to know the exact figure during a divorce. Our Rye, NY business valuation lawyers are always ready to help you value your business accurately, and help you establish what it’s worth and what you are entitled to by the end of the divorce proceedings.
Call 914-615-9058 to speak to a business valuation lawyer and to learn more about how we can help.
How Marital Property Division Works in New York
Divorcing spouses can agree on how to split property through a property settlement. If the couple can’t agree, the court may divide marital assets in official divorce proceedings.
Property that was bought or acquired during the marriage is split during the divorce. Separately owned property isn’t divided. In New York, marital property is divided based on equitable division.
The judge presiding over the case will do their best to split the marital assets or properties fairly, which doesn’t necessarily mean “equally,” between the divorcing couple. The judge may consider factors like economic and non-monetary contributions, marital misconduct, the education level of both spouses, and more.
How Do Divorce Lawyers Determine Property Value?
Our divorce lawyers in Rye, NY will account for the following factors when determining the value of your property:
- How much real estate each spouse owns.
- How much tax each spouse is required to pay for specific assets.
- The needs of your children, and how many children there are.
- The ability of each spouse to earn enough money to support themselves.
- The value of the business or company you co-own with your spouse.
- How separation from your spouse will affect your finances in the future.
What Is the Process of Dividing Property in a Divorce?
Here is how property is distributed following a divorce in New York.
Identifying the Assets and Liabilities
Although assets and debts can be held jointly or individually, both parties are still required to disclose and declare what they own and owe. Assets and liabilities in a divorce include things like real estate, bank accounts, retirement accounts, loans, stocks, bonds, vehicles, mortgages, annuities, pensions, vehicles, patents, artworks, and tax debts.
Classifying Assets and Debts as Separate or Marital Property
Marital property is defined as any property acquired through the labor or the investment of both parties throughout their marriage. All debts and assets are usually considered marital property unless either party can prove they are separate or that you had them before getting married or out of the marriage.
Valuing Marital Assets and Debts
The value of marital assets and debts must be determined at the time of the divorce. Our divorce team can arrange to have things like your business or home appraised in case you and your spouse cannot agree on their value.
Distribution of Assets
The judge presiding over the case will do their best to split the marital assets or properties fairly, which doesn’t necessarily mean “equally,” between the divorcing couple. Factors taken into consideration can include the contributions of both spouses, if one party cheated, and more.
Talks to an Experienced Marital Property Division Lawyer in Rye Today
New York State laws will consider certain valuables when establishing how the assets and debts will be split equitably. This includes who is responsible for breaking the marriage, who gets child custody, your age, and how much each party makes.
To have a better chance of getting everything you’re entitled to, ensure that you consult with an experienced marital division lawyer in Rye, NY from Douglas Family Law Group. We specialize in family law, and we have extensive experience and knowledge of New York laws and how the court system works.
Call Douglas Family Law Group today at 914-615-9058 to schedule a consultation with one of our trusted attorneys in Rye, NY.
