Divorce Drama – A Sampling

A married couple, Abby and Ben, own a manufacturing business. Abby and Ben began the business together early in their marriage, and they both contributed to the successful start up of the business. Once it was off the ground, however, the couple decided to have children. After the birth of the couple’s first child, Abby continued to do the books for the business. However, as the business grew, the couple had two more children. Abby began devoting her full energy to the couple’s home and to family duties. The business is grew, the family is grewing, and financial obligations grew right along with them. Ben hired additional staff to take care of the active roles that Abby once held in the business.

Several years into this growth process, the marriage grows apart, and the couple, for whatever reason, filed for divorce. They can’t agree on what to do with the business. Abby wants the business sold, while Ben wants to continue to run it. The parties have the money to fight over the issue, and so they leave the decision to the judge, who determines the business has little market value, and that it’s more profitable for Ben to continue the business.
Because the parties could not feasibly work or own the business together, Abby is awarded a partial payout for her share of the business (based on expert evaluations of its value) and monthly payments until her share is satisfied and she is made whole.

In this example, the court determined that it was best to leave the business intact. Depending on the circumstances, however, the same judge, under almost identical circumstances, might decide to sell the business and split the proceeds between the parties.

The point: The division of property is never predictable. If one party feels a strong desire for some item of property, it may be best to have the attorney negotiate and settle the property distribution ahead of time. In any divorce case, some issues can be resolved separate from trial, and only remaining issues need to be resolved by the judge. Use the services of a Family Law Attorney to work through negotiations and find middle ground.

A party may decide that, although she would really like to stay in the family home, she really needs to keep her business. Therefore, she might forgo the home in favor of the business. In this manner, parties can work to strike a mutually satisfying agreement for dividing property with your spouse.

On the issue of the Courts determining a couple’s support obligations. This comes in two forms — child support and spousal support (a/k/a alimony). Child support payments are now largely set by state law, however, deviation from those standards are not uncommon. Also, child support orders may depend on the custody arrangements ordered. In general, spousal support largely depends on the facts and circumstances of each particular couple. What this means is, in many cases, attempting at predicting a court’s ultimate support decision is often a waste of time. The attorneys are put in the position of convincing the other side that “this” is the most likely outcome.

Aside from the distribution of wealth, the other main function of the divorce court is to set child custody and visitation schedules. This too is anything but predictable. While courts often try to make their decision based on a set of factors said to promote the “best interest” of the child, these decisions can vary from case to case and court to court. After all, human judges, who are influenced by their own beliefs, opinions and values, apply these factors. Further, judges usually see and hear only the worst of people during heated custody proceedings. Based on their limited “view” into the parents’ lives, a divorce court may not always make the “best” possible decision when it comes to custody. Here again, negotiation and settlement are important options to remember. Everybody, especially your children, will benefit by a cooperative child custody arrangement.

Let us help you avoid the divorce drama today!