Thursday, February 26, 2015

What factors does the judge look at in deciding how to divide marital property?


Excerpt taken from Steven N. Peskind's book titled, Divorce in Illinois: The Legal Process, Your Rights and What to Expect.

Property is ordinarily divided on a 50/50 basis, but under some circumstances the judge might consider dividing assets in other ratios. For example, the judge might give a homemaker 60 percent of the assets, to recognize the fact that her future financial circumstances are not be as promising as those of her working husband. In general, here are the factors that a judge considers in deciding how to divide marital property:
  • The economic contributions of both parties
  • Contributions of services to the marriage: homemaker contributions, for example
  • Dissipation of either party: actions taken to deplete the martial estate during a period when the marriage was undergoing an irreversible breakdown
  • The length of the marriage
  • The relevant economic circumstances of both parties
  • Whether any prenuptial or postnuptial agreements address the distribution of property
  • The age, health, station, occupation, amount, and sources of income, vocational skills, employability, estate, liabilities, and needs of each of the parties
  • The amount of maintenance paid or received
  • The arrangements concerning custody of the children
  • The future ability of the respective spouses to acquire assets or build wealth
  • The tax consequences of the property division on each spouse 

    You can purchase Steven Peskind's book titled, Divorce in Illinois: The Legal Process, Your Rights and What to Expect on Amazon.com by clicking here.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

My spouse makes a lot more money than reported on our tax return. How can I prove my spouse’s real income?

Excerpt taken from Steven N. Peskind's book titled, Divorce in Illinois: The Legal Process, Your Rights and What to Expect.

First of all, tax returns don’t always tell the whole story about someone’s income. For example, regular gifts received would not be reflected on the return. If your spouse is self-employed, corporate distributions (distinguished from wages or dividends) would not necessarily show up on the personal return. Also, personal expenses paid by the family business will not always show up on the personal return. Finally, if your spouse has access to cash that he or she doesn’t declare, that may not be reflected on the return.

In these circumstances, your lawyer can take a number of actions to determine your spouse’s income with greater accuracy. These include:
  • Conduct more-thorough discovery, including review of W-2s, corporate tax returns, K-1 disclosures on stocks, and personal financial statements prepared for creditors.
  • Examine check registers and bank deposits. If income deposited exceeds income disclosed, that is a way to prove more income.
  • Conduct a lifestyle analysis, determining if the cost of the lifestyle exceeds disclosed income.
  • Take depositions of third parties who have knowledge of income or spending by your spouse. For example, if you know someone paid your spouse cash, your lawyer can subpoena that person to testify to that fact. If the money wasn’t deposited into any accounts or reflected anywhere as income, that would help support your claim.
  • Subpoena records of places where your spouse has made large purchases or received income.
  • Subpoena banks where your spouse has received financing to obtain personal disclosures concerning your spouse’s income. 
Lawyers often hire forensic accountants, who are trained to investigate these types of matters. The accountant will at- tempt to ascertain your spouse’s “real” income rather than the sums disclosed on the tax return. Also, lawyers sometimes hire experts to help you prepare a lifestyle analysis. A lifestyle analysis reconstructs your expenditures over a sample period of time. Assuming your paid family expenses exceed your spouse’s declared income, the analysis confirms the existence of other undisclosed income. Discuss your options with your lawyer. 

You can purchase Steven Peskind's book titled, Divorce in Illinois: The Legal Process, Your Rights and What to Expect on Amazon.com by clicking here.