Nolo’s Divorce, Custody & Family Law Blog

There are over a million active duty service members in the U.S. Armed Forces today, many serving in high-stress areas like Iraq and Afghanistan. Perhaps surprisingly, the rate of divorce generally among service members is comparable to that in the general population (although there was a sharp increase between 2001 and 2004, a period when deployments increased significantly). But within the military, women divorce at nearly twice the rate of men. There's lots of speculation about why in this article at Divorce360.com, but no solid answers.

Numbers aside, the reality is that divorce raises special issues for military spouses in almost every aspect of the divorce process, including calculating support, dividing property, establishing a parenting plan, and dealing with retirement and insurance benefits. The Armed Services Legal Assistance Office provides some help for military families going through divorce, and there are websites that offer free legal information as well. Also check out Nolo's Essential Guide to Divorce -- the updated 2nd Edition has a new chapter on military divorce.

A recent article in Australia's National Newspaper argues that divorce is "not just heartbreaking -- it's bad for the environment." Can this be true? And is there anything to be done about it?

Like the United States, Australia has a high divorce rate; approximately 40 per cent of marriages there end in divorce. Matthew Warren's article in the business section of The Australian points to the doubling of households and the resulting inefficient use of resources that occurs when couples divorce. The number of people living in a household, he says, is the biggest single determinant of how much energy and water are used and how much waste is generated. Even though it seems counterintuitive, more people in the household means that fewer resources will be used.

Of course, owners of rental properties, suppliers of small electronics, and furniture stores will benefit when a divorcing family needs to duplicate its household furnishings. But consuming more of these items isn't good for the environment, either. The mantra of "reduce-reuse-recycle" is difficult to apply when two households are being created where once there was one.

Unfortunately, there's no simple, immediate solution to this problem. People who can't stay together for the sake of their children surely won't be able to stick it out for the sake of the environment, either. But as Warren argues, we can start thinking about the bigger picture and considering options for creating more efficient, environmentally sustainable societies.

Do you even know what a Divorce Financial Planner is? If not, you're not alone -- Divorce Financial Planners (sometimes also called Divorce Financial Analysts) are a relatively new addition to the kinds of assistance available to people going through a divorce. In fact, the profession has only existed for 10 years, but it's growing as a result of more frequent use of DVPs by divorcing parties, divorce lawyers, and mediators.

A Divorce Financial Planner can help divorcing parties assess their situation and make smart decisions about dividing their assets and assigning their obligations. DVPs look at your entire financial picture, taking into account not just what looks like a fair division in the present, but also the future ramifications of potential settlement scenarios. They'll consider tax consequences, the present vs. future value of money, each party's retirement needs and career plans, and whatever else needs to be factored into your financial planning.

Not everyone needs a DVP -- if your assets aren't complex and you haven't been married long, you probably don't need the comprehensive advice. But if you've got a house, more than one retirement plan, and investments -- and especially if it feels overwhelming to you to consider all the possible options for settlement -- you might benefit from some professional help. If you're cooperating in your divorce by using mediation or collaborative practice, you can share the cost by having one DVP assess your situation. 

To find a DVP, ask your attorney if they're using one. Or, go to the website of the Association of Divorce Financial Planners or the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts and find a DVP in your area.   

A California police officer left his new wife in the lurch when he failed to update the beneficiary on his life insurance policy after his divorce. When Officer Jerry Ortiz was killed in the line of duty in 2005, he had been married for only three weeks to his new wife, Graciela. Four months before that, his divorce from his first wife, Gloria, had become final.

Right after the divorce was finalized, Officer Ortiz's attorney sent him a letter reminding him to update the beneficiary designations on any insurance policies. We can only imagine what kept him from doing so -- maybe his pending remarriage, maybe his demanding job, maybe the very common reluctance to think about his own mortality. Whatever the reason, Ortiz never made the change -- and when he died in June of 2005, the designated beneficiary for his life insurance policies, with benefits totaling half a million dollars, was Gloria, his first wife.

The life insurance companies did what insurance companies do in these situations -- they deposited the money with the clerk of the court and filed a lawsuit asking the court to decide who should get the money. The federal court decided that the insurance proceeds were Ortiz's separate property after the divorce, and that he expressed his intention to name Graciela as his beneficiary (to his attorney), and awarded the money to be split between Graciela and Ortiz's two sons. But the Ninth Circuit, a federal appeals court, reversed the decision and held that the divorce judgment did not extinguish Gloria's rights and that because Ortiz did not take any action to change the beneficiaries, Gloria was entitled to the insurance money.

The moral of this story could not be more clear: After your divorce, make absolutely sure you have taken care of the details. That means updating your insurance policies, changing title to your property, making a new will, closing all joint accounts, and following up on anything else you need to do to comply with your settlement agreement or final judgment. Don't wait, or your hard-earned assets could wind up exactly where you don't want them to be.  

By now you've probably heard about or seen Tricia Walsh-Smith's YouTube video, right? If not, here's the story: Walsh-Smith, a British actress-playwright, has been married for nine years to Philip Smith, president of the largest theatre owner in New York City, the Schubert Theatres. Now, she says, he's trying to kick her out of their Manhattan apartment and leave her destitute. Under their prenuptial agreement, she's entitled to half a million dollars and their house in Florida upon divorce, but she's trying to get that set aside so that she can fight for more of his assets.

Now, she's brought her case to the Internet with a video that has garnered nearly three million hits since it was posted on April 10. In it, Walsh-Smith explains her predicament, gives a tour of the apartment she's being asked to vacate, discloses intimate details about her husband to his assistant over the phone, shows photos from her wedding album, makes disparaging comments about her husband's family, and expresses her distress and bewilderment about the situation. In media mentions from CNN, MSNBC, ABC, and The Los Angeles Times, experts express various opinions about what it all means. Is it the advent of a new weapon in the divorce wars? A plan that will backfire when the judge is appalled by the tactic? A means to gain public sympathy and pressure Mr. Smith into doing what Ms. Walsh-Smith calls "the right thing?" A way for a disempowered wife to regain some control?

Or, as The L.A. Times says, perhaps it is merely "a performance piece by a theatre professional"? I'm inclined to agree with this view, and the whole thing leaves a bad taste. As an advocate of communication, collaboration, and making every effort to take the high road even in the painful and difficult event of a divorce, it's hard to condone something so clearly designed to humiliate Mr. Smith in the service of revenge and financial gain. The low road seems to have hit a new low.

Getting divorced? Thinking you'll sell your house and both of you can use the money to start fresh? In these subprime, foreclosure-happy times, think again.

In many divorces, the family home is the biggest asset to be divided. Divorcing couples have a few different options for dealing with the house: (1) the spouses continue to co-own the house; (2) one partner stays in the house and buys out the other partner's share; or (3) the spouses sell the house and divide the proceeds.

Option (1) is the only one not affected by the current slow housing market nationwide, and it tends to be the least desirable option because it keeps divorcing spouses connected to each other at a time when they're likely to want to get things done and move on. For couples who want to sell their house or who agree to a buyout, a weak real estate market can hold up a settlement indefinitely, as described by Kathleen Megan in this article.

Did you hear the one about the husband who won the lottery, neglected to tell his wife, and then bailed out and hasn't been heard from since? It's no joke. As reported in the Bradenton Herald, Donna Campbell has filed a lawsuit against her husband, Arnim Ramdass, after finding out that he hid from her the fact that he had won $600,000 in the Florida lottery. Of course, she can't serve him with the lawsuit, because he's taken a powder.

If she could find and serve him, what would she get? Florida is an equitable distribution state, so if Campbell files for divorce--and who could blame her?--she would be entitled to half of the lottery winnings. A judge might even award her more because of Ramdass' attempt to deceive her, like the California judge did in a 1999 divorce case in which the wife filed for divorce weeks after winning the lottery, and hid the lottery winnings throughout the divorce procedure. Hope she finds the guy....