Although we are not tax professionals nor do we claim to be experts on the subject, we at Kevin Hickey Law Partners can tell you how the new tax laws approved by Congress as part of Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) will affect you. These new tax laws will have an effect on millions of Americans. In addition to the standard yearly adjustments for things like cost of living, retirement savings and inflation, the new tax reform impacts couples initiating divorce now or in the future, those that pay and receive alimony/spousal support and those that have utilized child exemptions. Remember, spousal support/alimony is when regular payments are made or received after a divorce that are agreed upon by both spouses or determined by the court. Spousal support has tax implications that affect both parties when filing yearly tax returns. The new tax laws also affect child support as personal/dependent exemptions for federal taxes have been eliminated.

Divorce entails the loss of more than future family goals and material things. Divorce can affect your professional life as well. Couples involved in a family business find themselves battling over the division of assets and labor that threaten the security of all involved. If you are divorcing and you own a business with your spouse, keep reading.

It’s the new year, and you are getting divorced. The good thing is that you both recognized the need to begin afresh. Your divorce might be considered amicable, which is rare, but if you have children this begins a new relationship with a different structure for your family. Restructuring and learning the boundaries of this new relationship becomes the next big focus. Here are four ways to begin the process:

Remember to the keep the children first in order to avoid resentment over finances and settlements. Even when the decision to split is mutual, heated debates over assets or alimony can affect decisions about custody or visitation. Don’t let the inevitable arguments steal from your children’s sense of security or their futures. Be the bigger person, even if it hurts your pride.

Have a conversation about your parenting philosophies. This conversation potentially curbs future misunderstandings, arguments, and miscommunications. Understanding how you will parent separately is vital to raising children in a healthy environment. You can learn from one another, make sure the child/children’s mental and emotional health won’t suffer from dysfunction, and you can support one another.

Decide how to tell your children about the split. When telling the kids about a divorce, it’s important to remember they need love and security. Structure the change in a way that meets these needs. As long as they understand the differences between the old family and the new family, but know they are still part of a family, they will be able to cope with the loss and move forward into their new lifestyle.

Respect the boundaries of the new family. When a family divides into two households, this means that rules and schedules change. Each parent must respect the healthy (notice I did specify the word “healthy”) parameters set about bedtime, dinner time, screen time, discipline, etc.

Knowing you both want to work together towards a new kind of family does mean establishing good communication and it will take effort, but the reward of seeing your children thriving makes the extra time and energy worth it. Here’s to the new in 2019!

These days it is not uncommon for a parent to need to relocate for a job. While today’s global economy has allowed some to work remotely, it has also required moves out of state or even out of the country. These job changes can be exciting and help catapult your career to the next level, but they can and often do create a big problem regarding child custody and whether or not the child is allowed to move with the custodial parent. Rightfully so, the non-custodial parent is concerned that they will not be able to see their children as often and it will be virtually impossible for them to be involved in the children’s day-to-day activities like ballgames, school plays, dance, the list goes on and on. Modifying a child custody agreement can seem daunting and, admittedly, can be difficult, but not impossible. Your first step is calling your attorney to discuss the matter; therefore, allowing the two of you to gather the appropriate evidence to support the move with your children. Then, we at, Kevin Hickey Law Partners, always recommend trying discussing the matter with your ex before taking it to court if you have any communication at all with your ex. Anything settled out of court is always the preferred method, but, unfortunately, often can’t be settled that way leaving you with the only other option of filing for a child custody agreement modification.

Most child custody agreements state that the custodial parent must get permission for moving with the children if outside the parameters set forth. There will often be a specified distance or described geographically. For instance, permission from the other parent must be received to move more than 30 miles or you may not be allowed to move out of the city. These agreed upon distance parameters are another reason it is important to have an attorney when making the initial agreement, because our firm will help you determine on the front end if a job relocation might be necessary in the future for you and your career. If we are able to discern this in the beginning, then we can build an exception to the custody agreement that a career move may be required. Even if this was built into the original custody agreement, we always recommend you discuss a move with the other parent, to keep the peace and to avoid your ex filing a modification request. Remember, the same as you can ask for a modification to move, the other parent can ask for a modification to prevent you from moving even if it is built into the original custody agreement.

If an agreement can’t be reached out of court, the first step in modifying a child custody agreement is doing your homework to prove your position in court. It is crucial for you and your attorney to prepare beforehand to gather strong evidence and arguments in support of your need to relocate. A court is looking specifically for:

1. A legitimate reason for the move, i.e., a career change, remarriage or medical issue.
2. The move is reasonable in light of its purpose. In other words, you’re not moving just because you feel like it.
3. The move is in your children’s best interests. As unfortunate as it is, many parents make a move just to spite the other parent and make life difficult for them. If a judge discovers this, it will not reflect kindly upon you.

After the evidence is presented, to decide if the relocation is in fact in the best interest of the children they will consider many factors including, but not limit to:

1. The children’s relationships with both parents.
2. The impact of the move regarding the children’s ability to spend meaningful time with both parents.
3. The feasibility of making alternative parenting time arrangements to accommodate the move.
4. Economic, emotional and educational benefits received from the move.
5. If the children are old enough, the court will consider their preferences when making their decision.

Family law matters involving children and a parent’s ability to see his or her children are complex and difficult to maneuver. We at Kevin Hickey Law Partners have helped many parents work through relocation and custodial agreement modifications. Let our experience and expertise work for you. Call today.

A question that we often get during divorce consultations is, “How much will the divorce cost?” While that is a valid question, there is no one answer. Each case is unique. Some divorcing couples have very few assets or generally agree on how they want to divide marital property resulting in minimal cost and, on the other side of the coin; some couples disagree on everything leading to high divorce costs. Let’s look at factors affecting divorce costs:

• Arkansas is a “fault” state; meaning the parties must have a valid reason to request the divorce. The reason does not need to be some specific, wrongful act or behavior that led to the divorce. If both parties are in agreeance, then the cost will be minimal. However, if a “fault divorce” is filed there may be additional costs associated with providing evidence of the fault. Arkansas recognizes the following fault grounds:
  • Impotence
  • A felony conviction
  • Alcohol abuse for at least one year
  • Cruel treatment that endangers the other spouse’s life
  • Behavior that results in intolerable humiliation, embarrassment, or shame to the other spouse
  • Adultery
  • Incurable insanity, and
  • Willful failure to support the other spouse despite a legal obligation to do so.

• Divorces involving minor children tend to cost a little more, especially if one spouse is being unreasonable about the children, visitation and/or child support. To help determine child support received or paid, it is beneficial to provide documentation detailing how much it generally costs to meet your child’s needs. You should also consider your child’s current standards of living and what it will cost to maintain it. Read my previous blog detailing child support payments here.
• Ironically, financial disagreements such as alimony increase overall divorce expenses. Alimony disputes can get very detailed requiring financial analysts, accountants and the like to provide evidence in each party’s favor. These disagreements can and most likely will extend divorce proceedings as they drag on.
• As mentioned, property division has an effect on the expenses associated with divorce proceedings. Couples that have a lot of marital property can expect a longer and more costly divorce. In addition to more attorneys’ fees, other professionals will need to be consulted such as financial analysts, real estate appraisers, personal property appraisers, and so on.
• Cooperation or non-cooperation play major roles in costs associated with divorce. For example, if one party is unwilling to fully disclose all their assets and liabilities then it is inevitable that costs will increase as formal filings will be made requiring the spouse to provide truthful documents.

In order to keep costs at bay during a divorce, you and your spouse should agree on the following:

• Marital property division.
• Alimony/Spousal support.
• Child support.
• Child custody.
• Visitation schedules.

What if you don’t have the money to hire your own attorney? These days it is increasingly unusual to see judges issue orders requiring one spouse to pay the other’s divorce attorney’s fees in dual income families. If you don’t have the cash readily available, a judge may let the spouse use some of the marital property for attorney’s fees with the understanding that when the property is eventually divided, the other spouse will be reimbursed. In the case that one spouse intentionally drives up the cost of litigation by delaying proceedings and withholding information pertinent to the divorce, a judge may be inclined to grant the other spouse’s request for attorney’s fees as a penalty for the inappropriate conduct. Examples of conduct that the court does not look too kindly upon:

• Continuously filing motions with the court about trivial matters.
• Refusal to comply with court orders.
• Delay in providing requested information to the other spouse.
• Failure to appear for hearings or court-ordered mediation sessions.

Generally speaking, divorce attorneys charge by the hour, rather than a flat rate fee due to the uniqueness of each case. A fee called a “retainer” will be required to retain our services. This in turn “prebooks” your attorney’s time just for you. Any money not earned by the attorney is returned to you at the end of the divorce proceedings.

Schedule a consultation with Kevin Hickey Law Partners to assist you in your divorce. We will help you plan and move forward with the divorce process and keep you informed about your legal rights and requirements. Whether your divorce is clear-cut or more difficult, no divorce is ever simple. Even if the divorce is uncontested, it is advisable that each party to the divorce seek legal counsel. Let us make sure all the forms are filled out correctly, keep you from agreeing to something that could eventually harm you and identify assets that you might not even know you are entitled to. In many of the cases we see, the divorce proceedings start out amicable, but end quite the opposite. It is best to begin with your own attorney, because in the end it could end up costing your more money.

The holidays are filled with happiness and joyous occasions…most of the time. For families of divorce the holidays can be anything but those things. They are often filled with struggle and conflict about custody. Then, top all of that off with emotions in regards to past relationships you have a recipe for a very stressful time of year. It doesn’t have to be that way; you can regain the joy and happiness in your holidays with a bit of planning, collaboration and especially communication.

The first step in a happy holiday season is to determine which holidays are most important to you. For example, is Thanksgiving more important to you than Christmas Eve? If so, then communicate this to the co-parent. Christmas Eve may be more important to him or her; thus, eliminating a conflict. There will be times that you both want the children on the same day. If you live close enough to one another, then you could possibly share the day. To split the holiday in one day requires some coordinating, but it can help children not feel torn and guilty for enjoying the day with one parent and not the other. For example, one parent could host a Thanksgiving brunch or early lunch and the other could host a Thanksgiving dinner allowing the children to spend an enjoyable day with both parents. If you do not live near one another, then you will most likely need to alternate years with the co-parent. If it is not your “year” to spend the holiday with your child, you can still let your child know you are thinking of him or her by sending a package to arrive in time for the holiday.

Planning ahead with your ex will help to identify conflicts and sort them out early. This also allows the children to know ahead of time where they will be spending the holiday. Couples often forget that the children need time to plan as well. This is especially important if the divorce is fairly recent and this will be their first year or two spending the holidays with each parent separately. Kevin Hickey Law Partners can help you go through this process and present it to your ex and/or his or her attorney. If it is short notice, it is unlikely the court will approve a change, but we can work with your spouse’s attorney to help reach the same compromise that the court will likely order.

Additionally, if your children are old enough, check in with them. They have inner lives to consider as well. Talk to them to get an idea of what is important to them and what they want to do on their vacation.

After you have determined the best holiday visitation schedule for you and your children, it will need to be written down. In order to be valid, the agreement should be signed by both you and your ex. This ensures that you both understand the agreement and it is favorable evidence if your ex fails to adhere to it.

A couple of other things to keep in mind this holiday season:

• If you plan to take your children out-of-state, check your custody agreement. Many have provisions prohibiting out-of-state and/or a distance over a certain amount of miles without telling the other parent. You will need to ask permission first.
• Think twice before purchasing a gift for your child that you know will upset the co-parent. If you feel the gift is safe and appropriate, then it is a good idea to make a deal with your child that it only stays at your house.

Planning and communicating early allows you to focus on the children and making their holidays memorable and happy. After all, isn’t that your first priority? To make sure your children are happy and secure. Contact Kevin Hickey Law Partners to let us help you work out a holiday schedule for you and your children. We not only identify relevant holidays, but we also help establish the parameters. If you get the children on Christmas Day, when does it start? Is it 9:00 am, 12:00 pm, etcetera?  We are also here to help you when legal questions arise. Our team is dedicated to your legal care.