Divorce is rarely a life event that one plans for, but while many couples live happily ever after, some undoubtedly will go their separate ways. A divorce can be emotionally devastating, but it doesn’t have to derail your long-term financial security. If you’re facing a divorce, consider these steps to protect and claim what’s yours:
•Understand your assets. A divorce can be expensive, especially if you fail to spend the appropriate amount of time reviewing and discussing your finances as you go through the process. Educate yourself by examining investment and bank statements, qualified plan and pension information, tax returns, mortgage information and insurance policies.
Before you can begin to split the assets you’ve accumulated as a couple, you should know your total net worth so that you’ll be able to assess how the divorce will impact your financial goals.
•Consider the big picture. When deciding how to split the nest egg, it helps to look into the future and think about how your lives will look postdivorce. Will you have short-term needs — like buying a home and furniture, new or continued child care costs or paying an attorney — that require immediate funding? Will you be able to replenish your retirement assets if you must use them to pay for these unexpected expenses?
Develop a detailed written financial plan as a soon-to-be single so that you can act in your best interest when deciding which assets will best fit your needs.
•Think about tax consequences. Most retirement plans are made up of pre-tax dollars, meaning your contributions won’t be taxed until you withdraw them. This can be beneficial if you believe your income and tax rate will be lower in retirement — but it also means the amount of cash you’ll be able to use to meet your day-to-day expenses will be less than what you actually withdraw.
Be sure you’re aware of how taxes can affect your retirement income as you divide assets with your former spouse. Trusted financial, tax and legal advisers are especially valuable as you make such important decisions.
•Follow the rules. If you decide that it makes sense to divide funds from you and your former spouse’s 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts, it’s important to carefully follow state and local guidelines. This process is complicated, so be sure that your divorce settlement states specifically how assets are to be divided and transferred.
Dividing a pension or 401(k) plan might require a qualified domestic relations order, which allows funds to be withdrawn without penalty and deposited into a separate retirement account. Make sure that you discuss preparation of such an instrument with your attorney.
•Update your financial accounts. Once your divorce is final, revise the beneficiaries on your checking and savings accounts, investments, retirement plans and life insurance. Also re-evaluate your insurance policies and confirm that you still have adequate coverage for you and any dependents. Nothing can undermine your financial security faster than an uninsured accident or illness. Once the dust has settled on your divorce, create a new will or update the existing document to reflect your new marital status. Continued...
Source: www.thenewsherald.com
Is Katy looking so miserable because of Russell’s recent divorce gags? - Daily Mirror
We doubt Katy was massively impressed that her ex husband of not even a year made a mockery of their short marriage in front of thousands of people the other night.
While hosting the MTV Movie Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday night , Russell said: "Last time I did an MTV show I ended up marrying someone.
“Tonight I’m going to keep my eyes peeled for my next wife.”
Not very sensitive of him really was it, although it was quite funny (sorry Katy).
And now we have these images of Katy Perry at LAX airport looking very down in the dumps and scarily stern.
The harsh make up doesn’t help of course. She’s wearing some very pale foundation, with dark ruby lips and pencilled in black eyebrows, all finished off with some deep purple hair, which basically makes her look like a goth and they’re not known for being the sunniest of people.
If we were the type to gossip, we would jump to the natural conclusion that Katy was in a black mood because of Russell’s big gob.
But we’re not the type… oh, ok, we love a good gossip, but we also know that Katy is one of life’s odd, slightly hypocritical celebrities who smile their head off and are as charming as… well Russell can be at times, at red carpet events and the like but who have a face like thunder if anyone dares notice them any other time.
This we reckon is what’s going on here. Katy Perry IS NOT FAMOUS WHEN CATCHING A FLIGHT. OK? SO BACK OFF.
Here's another lady celeb who rarely cracks a smile , but almost managed it when sitting next to her husband David for a message to the Queen.
Source: www.mirror.co.uk
Don’t sign those divorce papers without financial advice - Globe and Mail
As anyone who has been through a messy divorce can attest, with goodwill eroding faster than the lawyer bills are stacking up, you just want to get things over with. If that means giving up something you were feverishly holding on to, so be it.
But there are pitfalls to arbitrarily negotiating a deal to trade assets – a private pension for a family home, for example – or to abandon them, without recognizing the future financial implications of that decision, say lawyers, who are now recommending that clients seek advice from a financial planner before the mediation process.
“The law sets out what child support should be, how property and assets should be legally divided,” Ottawa family lawyer Adriana Doyle says. “But the majority of family cases have some component of financial and tax issues that can be complex, challenging and require advice outside of the legal profession. In these situations, the financial adviser is priceless.”
Keith Adams, 42, learned this lesson the hard way. He served his wife divorce papers in 2010. After negotiating privately over the properties and businesses they owned in Calgary, child support for their two teenage daughters and spousal support, the couple found themselves in mediation and arbitration.
“There was no light at the end of my tunnel, the lawyer bills were racking up,” Mr. Adams says. On the recommendation of a friend, he went to an independent financial adviser.
“She showed me a number of different options and explained how capital-gains taxes work on properties that are not the primary residence,” says Mr. Adams, who, as a stay-at-home dad for a number of years, was on the receiving end of spousal support. “She also went through various spousal support scenarios, and showed me the future values of RRSPs.”
Armed with information, Mr. Adams and his wife were able to come to a mutual agreement earlier this year.
“People have a lot more control over the final result when they negotiate the process themselves outside of court,” Ms. Doyle says. “The financial adviser can advise on how to roll over pensions to avoid tax repercussions and help couples understand how to plan for the future with their new income scenario.”
They can also help to level the playing field going into negotiations, says Blair Corkum, a chartered accountant and financial divorce specialist in Charlottetown.
“There is usually one person in the couple that has more education pertaining to finances and that’s the start of the imbalance,” says Mr. Corkum, who has been specializing in divorce financing since 1997. “And it’s a hugely emotional time for people, so they’re often negotiating property without being aware of how it will impact their financial future.”
That was true for Wendy Noble, when she was presented with divorce papers 14 years ago. A stay-at-home mother to four children for more than 20 years, Ms. Noble had been completely reliant on her husband’s income. Although she had always managed the household finances, she admits that she did not have a clue about the value of her husband’s work pension or share options.
“At that time in my life, I had no idea what a financial planner was,” she says. “My lawyer tried to help with the financial stuff, but all the while the bills were adding up. At some point, I just threw my hands up in the air.’ ”
In her mid-40s, Ms. Noble launched a professional career and started her own retirement savings.
“It wasn’t until a few years ago that I sat down with a financial planner,” she says. “Some of the advice confirmed what my gut had told me for years, but it also gave me an entirely new perspective on how to invest the money I had saved for my own retirement. I wish I’d known all this 14 years ago.”
Special to The Globe and Mail––––––
Where things get complicated
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Where things get complicated
Splitting assets during divorce can be relatively straightforward if the couple have no children. There are a few areas where things can get complicated in the absence of professional financial advice.
Splitting assets during divorce can be relatively straightforward if the couple have no children. There are a few areas where things can get complicated in the absence of professional financial advice.
Life insurance
Particularly for those who divorce later in life, policies that are not jointly owned can be cancelled or altered by one party. “The insurance company will only disclose policy information to the owner,” says Wendy Olson-Brodeur, a financial divorce specialist and divorce mediator in Calgary. “Part of the divorce agreement should ensure joint ownership of the policy. Otherwise, if the owner stops paying or removes the wife and children as beneficiaries, they may not know, and a person who’s older may find they are uninsurable.”
Private pensions and work options
While Canada Pension Plan benefits are split evenly under the law and are non-negotiable, private pensions and work options, such as shares, can be more complicated to value.
Real estate
Properties other than the principal residence are subject to capital gains when there is a sale.
Tax
In the case where one spouse pays a lump sum to the other as part of asset division, or where funds are being transferred from registered funds, a financial adviser can help to find appropriate tax shelters for the investments.
Budgeting
“People need to make sure their divorce settlement accounts for both present and future needs,” says Blair Corkum, a financial divorce specialist in Charlottetown.
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By the numbers
41 per cent: The number of marriages in Canada that end in divorce.
33 per cent: The proportion of divorce cases in family law courts.
21 per cent: The number of divorce cases that last more than two years. This figure has risen 6 per cent between 2006 and 2011.
Source: Statistics Canada
Source: www.theglobeandmail.com
London 2012 - New tickets Olympics released - Yahoo! Eurosport
London 2012 organisers are releasing a further batch of tickets for the previously sold-out Olympic opening and closing ceremony - but the cheapest available seat will be 995.
In addition they are releasing further contingency seats in athletics, swimming, football at Wembley, volleyball, table tennis and boxing, priced between 20 and 720.
Tickets will go on sale on a first come, first served basis on the London 2012 ticketing website from 11am this Friday.
Organisers Locog have also confirmed that eight million tickets have now been sold for both the Olympics and Paralympics - under two thirds of the total available.
Just over half a million non-football Olympic tickets are still available, while under 50 percent of the 2.5 million available inventory of Paralympic tickets remains unsold.
But the biggest concern for organisers will be the seemingly sluggish sale of football tickets.
After the recent draw at Wembley, 1.4 million seats went on general sale but only 150,000 have been shifted in the last month - leaving 1.25 million still available.
Last month organisers admitted that only 10,000 tickets had been shifted for the opening event of the Games, when, two days before the opening ceremony, Team GB's women footballers take on New Zealand at the 74,500 capacity Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
"With 50 days to go there are still plenty of ways to join in and be part of London 2012. We are at advanced stages of venue planning and these represent the final release of Ceremonies and other sport tickets," said Locog commercial director Chris Townsend.
"Over the next few weeks we will release further tickets for other Olympic sports and keep people informed when tickets are available.
"We are delighted with ticket sales to date, and have sold another one million tickets in the last four weeks, prioritising people who were unsuccessful last time around."
Ticketing breakdown for London 2012
Olympics: 7 million sold, 1.8m still available (including 1.25m football)
Paralympics: 1.25 million sold, 1.2m still available
Source: uk.eurosport.yahoo.com
Divorce hotel offers weekend splits - Financial Post
Jim Halfens, a Netherlands entrepreneur, has developed a Divorce Hotel concept that allows couples to have divorce papers in hand after only a weekend at a hotel.
According to the New York Times, couples check in to designated five-star hotels on Friday and stay in separate rooms for the weekend. Mediators and independent lawyers attempt to help the couples settle their differences in a hotel suite used for the negotiations.
The Divorce Hotel is operational in the Netherlands, where 16 of 17 couples who have bought into the process at a cost of US$3500-$10,000 have checked out with all the documentation necessary to obtain court approval.
Halfens is currently negotiating with hotels in other countries including the UK, Italy, Germany and the US. He’s also interested in developing a reality show.
Gives new meaning to weekend getaway, doesn’t it?
Source: business.financialpost.com
Atlanta Motherhood: How to handle divorce with children - Examiner
Divorce for most families is a hard and very emotional time. The parents usually have differences that they are unable to resolve or hurt feelings towards one another regarding previous situations in their marriage. Children during this time feel like it is their fault or in some way want to change the status of the relationship of the two people in their lives that they hold dear.
While divorce is a hard process for the family, the couple should keep in mind that they are also parents. As a mother, the children should come first above any personal relationship with the father. The children are innocent and should be protected from experiencing adverse emotions, statements, and overall experiences.
A divorce finalizes the union between two people, however, does not deny the responsibility of being a good parent. When parents argue and say derogatory things about one another in front of the children this produces shame and low self-esteem in them, although most of the time children will suffer in silence.
We have seen far too many ugly divorces and nasty custody battles. We have seen it time and time again, parents fighting over their children, degrading each other in public to win the battle.
In Atlanta, Usher and his ex-wife Tameka Foster are currently in the spotlight with a tough custody battle. According to ex-wife Foster, Usher did not uphold his end of the bargain in their joint custody agreement. In addition to that, there appears to be a spiteful discourse between the two that has been showing up in the media recently.
Foster reported that Usher cut off her Saks Fifth Avenue credit card and denied custody for two weeks to their boys, that was previously arranged for her to receive. Usher reported that Foster spat and fought him in a rage of fury while returning their boys to her home with his girlfriend in the vehicle. According to Usher, Foster's actions took place in the presence of their children.
Being a responsible mother involves considering how something will effect the children. Remaining civil during a time of hardship shows discipline, intelligence, and honor. The children learn the most from watching the ways of the parents and how the parents handle their separation will directly influence their children's views on the male and female relationship and how they see themselves.
It can be very hard to let go of combative emotions. However, we can make the choice to rid ourselves of them, even if we need to ask for help. Counseling and peer groups are two ways to get assistance in dissolving these emotions to move forward in life. Odyssey Family Counseling Center offers family counseling services to the Atlanta area and is experienced in assisting families in surviving a divorce.
There are also meet-up groups for newly divorced and healed divorced individuals to offer guidance and support during such a rough phase in life. Opening your heart and mind will allow for the hurt emotions to heal, giving your children better parents. However, this process must start with you.
The children are our future and what they learn in their time of innocence will directly effect their actions as an adult. Caring mothers would not put their children at risk to be hurt by others. Yet, mothers must also consider themselves in this equation by their actions and words because the parent's dealings are what effect their children the most.
Source: www.examiner.com
Goldsmith divorce battle is being played out on Twitter before lawyers get a look-in - Evening Standard
Source: www.thisislondon.co.uk
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