Most people assume that a divorcing couple’s assets will be divided according to what they own at the time they separate. But in some cases, things that happen after a couple split up can affect what they’re entitled to in a divorce.

Only an attorney with expertise in divorce law can determine exactly what you might be entitled to…so it’s important to tell your divorce attorney about anything that could affect the prospects of both you and your spouse down the road.

Take the case of a man who was a 25% partner in a real estate project at the time he filed for divorce. While the divorce was pending, the value of his share increased…and his partner then bought out his interest in the project for $1.6 million.

The wife wanted to share in the increased value of the partnership, while the husband argued that his interest should be valued as of the date they filed for divorce.

The Court ruled that the appreciation in value could be included in the couple’s marital property if it occurred “passively,” meaning it was due to factors other than the efforts of the spouse. [Read more...]

Federal government benefits – such as from Social Security or the military – have their own rules, and those rules usually trump state law. So sometimes it’s unclear whether a state divorce court can divide up a federal payment.

However, in several recent cases, it was determined that federal payments could be split at divorce.

• A military retiree’s health insurance benefits can be split at divorce, the Alaska Supreme Court decided.

That’s because of a federal law called the Uniformed Services Former Spouse Protection Act. Under that law, military retirement pay can be either individual property or marital property, depending on a state’s own divorce laws. And though laws differ between states, in Alaska such benefits are considered marital property.

• Veterans’ disability benefits can be taken into account in deciding how much alimony a veteran’s ex-wife is entitled to, the South Dakota Supreme Court recently ruled. [Read more...]

There’s no question that a child custody order in a divorce case can take the parents’ religion – and the children’s religious education and observance – into account. But a recent divorce case shows that a child custody order that goes too far in favor of one parent’s religion might not be okay.

In this case, the husband wanted to raise his two children as Jews. A custody order allowed him to have the children on all Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings so they could attend Jewish religious training, and also said that he could have custody on major Jewish holidays, including Passover and all eight days of Hanukkah. The father’s right to the children on these occasions would take precedence over all other custody arrangements.

On appeal, however, the Court questioned whether this order went too far. It noted, for instance, that the mother would never be able to see her children on Christmas, New Year’s or Easter if those dates conflicted with a Hanukkah or Passover celebration.

A custody order that gave one spouse’s religion priority over all other issues violated the separation of church and state.

After reviewing the case, the court decided that the order violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which governs the separation of church and state and says that the government can’t favor one religion over others. [Read more...]