An issues that frequently arises is the treatment of an inheritance received by a spouse during the marriage. The basic rule is that any property received via gift or inheritance during the marriage is exempt from equitable distribution. When advising people, to the end of that sentence, I usually add something like, “provided that it
New Guidance on the Distribution of Deferred Compensation That Vests Post-Complaint
The issue of the division of deferred compensation in divorce – more particularly, unvested deferred compensation, is often one that is hotly disputed. This is in part because there is not a lot of case law on the issue. The case law is clear that deferred compensation (eg. stock options, restricted stock, RSUs, REUs, etc.)
All Apologies and the Distribution of a Famous Guitar
Perhaps Kurt Cobain knew when writing the song “All Apologies” that one day his daughter would be embroiled in a nasty divorce battle. While the lyrics, “Married, Buried, Married, Buried”, may not sound uplifting, they are undeniably classic Nirvana. Fans of the band would largely agree that the most well known live performance of the
‘Til Death Do Us Part…or Not.
In the recent case O’Hara v. Estate of John B. O’Hara, Jr., the Appellate Division reminded us that even though the death of a party to a marriage ends that marriage, it doesn’t always end the divorce. In Carr v. Carr, 120 N.J. 330 (1990), our Court examined what happens in the event
“Conscious Uncoupling”: An Ode to a Mediated Divorce
As a lover of all things Coldplay, I was sad to hear that lead singer Chris Martin and his wife of more than 10 years, Gwyneth Paltrow, were divorcing. Gwyneth Paltrow announced the separation on her website Goop.com and used the term “conscious uncoupling” to describe their approach to divorce. Although the term had been
I is for Independence: The divorce is over and so now what?
You’re at the Courthouse and your attorney has handed you for your final divorce documents. It may be as a result of a negotiated settlement, or it may be as the result of a judge’s decision, but you are a single, independent person again. But the end of the divorce is not exactly there yet.
Marriage: When Does it End?
The Importance of the Filing Date of the Complaint
A recent unpublished decision from the Appellate Division, McNamara v. McNamara, serves as a reminder that, when it comes to marriages, the old saying is true: it ain’t over ’til it’s over. In McNamara, the parties separated in 2006, but the husband did not
You May Be Wealthy, But It May Be Hard To Pay The Equitable Distribution
You’re wealthy and entitled to a big settlement but does that mean that it will be easy to get your share of equitable distribution? When all of the assets are valued, you are worth $2,000,000, $10,000,000, $25,000,000, $9 billion. In many cases. the issue is less about the amount of the award of equitable distribution
(UN)REASONABLE COMPENSATION – AN EASY WAY TO MANIPULATE VALUE IN A BUSINESS VALUATION
We deal with a fair number of cases where a spouse’s interest in a business has to be valued for equitable distribution purposes. While there are many objective parts of a business valuation report, reasonable (a/k/a replacement) compensation is subjective. That is why this is one of the first things I look at when partisan
IN WITH THE LION – MARCH AS THE PEAK TIME FOR DIVORCE FILINGS.
As our loyal readers may know, Eric Solotoff blogs annually about the so-called “New Year’s Resolution Divorce,” where the number of new clients walking through our doors spikes at the beginning of the new year. There are, most definitely, verifiable statistics to show that this concept is for real. A new cnn.com article,