Hillsborough County Family Law Blog

Divorce might be difficult for natural born planners

On behalf of Pam Gonzalez of Pilka & Associates, P.A. posted in High Asset Divorce on Friday, March 30, 2018.

The divorce process is one that can impact every aspect of your life. Not only are you going to have to divide up assets, you also have to decide what is going to happen with your children. All of this can lead to significant emotional trouble, as well as financial issues. Your social life and career might also be affected.

We understand that many people are planners by nature. If you are one of these individuals, make sure that you are working to understand your options and what might happen in your case so that you can make plans. Even if you need to make more than one plan, you might feel better knowing that you have a plan A, B and C at the ready.

Think about the fate of the marital home in a divorce

On behalf of Pam Gonzalez of Pilka & Associates, P.A. posted in High Asset Divorce on Friday, March 16, 2018.

Your marital home is likely one of the biggest, if not the biggest, assets that you have to deal with. When you are going through a divorce, the fate of that home is one of the most important things that you will have to decide. You might not realize it now, but you actually have a few options about what can happen to the home.

Every situation is different, so you can't become fixated on what someone else did with his or her marital home when he or she divorced. Instead, think about the case as it pertains to you. It might behoove you to sit down with a pencil and paper and work through how each scenario can help or harm you in the future.

Alimony payments vary from one case to the next

On behalf of Pam Gonzalez of Pilka & Associates, P.A. posted in Alimony on Wednesday, February 28, 2018.

Some adults who are going through a divorce need to have a little financial boost because of the circumstances they are in at the end of the marriage. One way that you might be able to accomplish this is through alimony. These payments, which are also known as spousal support, are paid from one ex to the other. They are ordered by the court and come with specific conditions.

We understand that you might not relish the idea of having to turn to your ex for support. Still, alimony is necessary in some cases. If you think that you will need to seek alimony, you need to learn about the ins and outs of these support payments. Not all payments are handled in the same way in every case.

You might be able to avoid monthly alimony payments

On behalf of Pam Gonzalez of Pilka & Associates, P.A. posted in Alimony on Friday, February 16, 2018.

Alimony isn't something that most people going through a divorce will look forward to paying. Just knowing that you have to make monthly payments to the ex who you aren't involved with any longer is difficult. You might be able to avoid having to make those monthly payments if you are able to make a lump sum payment instead.

There are several advantages and disadvantages to making a lump sum alimony payment. One of the most important to some people is knowing that they don't have that monthly bill hanging over their heads. Since you won't have to make the payments, you might find that there is more room in your monthly budget to do things that you enjoy.

Complexities of property division require serious thought

On behalf of Pam Gonzalez of Pilka & Associates, P.A. posted in Property Division on Friday, February 2, 2018.

Trying to divide the property that you amassed during a marriage is often difficult. You and your ex each probably have a list of what you think you should get. Those lists might overlap and this is where the issues start since both parties can't usually walk away with the same assets. We can help you find out what options you have so that you might be able to work something out with your ex.

Some facets of property division are more complex than others. Just last week, we discussed some points about art valuation in divorce cases. As you can imagine, these assets would be rather difficult to divide, especially if there are collections of works.

Is art valuation too subjective?

On behalf of Pam Gonzalez of Pilka & Associates, P.A. posted in Property Division on Friday, January 19, 2018.

Artwork is just like any other asset during a divorce. It has to be divided. It's a marital asset. Some have compared it to simple things like pots and pans. Is there really any difference between a painting that a couple bought and a new couch or a shoe collection?

There is one potential difference: the value. Some people have art collections -- or even single pieces -- that are worth millions of dollars. Some collections reach upwards of a billion dollars. While these may be assets in the same way that pots and pans are, they're clearly a different animal when you're trying to break that down during divorce.

Tips for modifying your child support payments

On behalf of Pam Gonzalez of Pilka & Associates, P.A. posted in High Asset Divorce on Friday, January 5, 2018.

You want to modify your child support payments. It's not that you don't want to pay, it's just that the amount you were ordered to pay in the divorce no longer fits your life.

Maybe you lost a big contract. Perhaps your business hasn't been doing well. Some of your investments may have tanked. Maybe you had another child and have more financial obligation. There are plenty of reasons why the court order may appear outdated.

The complexities of dividing a business during divorce

On behalf of Pam Gonzalez of Pilka & Associates, P.A. posted in Property Division on Friday, December 22, 2017.

Think it's hard to split up your assets when you get divorced? Try splitting up a business.

It's an incredibly complex situation in which it's often very hard to find a resolution that makes everyone happy. It's also very common. The U.S. Census Bureau says that about 3.7 million businesses are owned jointly by married couples.

What happens to my engagement ring when I divorce?

On behalf of Pam Gonzalez of Pilka & Associates, P.A. posted in Property Division on Friday, December 8, 2017.

When couples divorce, as you imagine, splitting up assets can get quite contentious, especially if the assests that are being fought over are expensive, sentimental or rare. In the case of a wedding or engagement ring, it can easily be described as all of the above. With that in mind, you're probably wondering how it's handled then when property is divided up.

Although it might make sense to your husband that, as the original purchaser, he should once again retain ownership, judges often don't interpret the law the same way. They generally think of an engagement ring as a gift that was given by the man to his prospective wife in exchange for her promising to marry him. As a result, they're often unwilling to require the recipient to hand over the gift.

Practices require special considerations during a divorce

On behalf of Pam Gonzalez of Pilka & Associates, P.A. posted in High Asset Divorce on Friday, November 24, 2017.

Many challenges exist when you are trying to get a divorce. In the case of professionals who are self-employed, such as doctors who have their own practice, making a plan to deal with the practice must be made a priority. The last thing that you need is to lose your practice in the property division process.

We understand that you might not be sure about what to do to save your practice. There isn't any one size fits all solution to this issue, so you need to look at the individual circumstances of the case. For example, the presence of a prenuptial agreement will affect whether you can hang on to the practice. Not having a prenuptial agreement could mean that you have to fight harder to keep what you've worked hard to build.