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SPRING RENEWAL, THE NEW “HOT COIN” AND FAMILY LAW

Spring marks a time for renewal and growth or weathering the storm. As the Covid 19 pandemic cloud slowly lifts, safety issues remain in schools, the workplace, gatherings and travel. Spring is also a time for changes in our relationships, whether moving forward or ending.

Many couples making changes to their relationships — moving in together or getting married — should consider legal agreements to protect their assets and gain peace of mind. Before couples live together, we advise thinking about putting a contractual agreement and making a deal on who pays expenses and how you handle bills. It does matter if one of you gets stuck with the lease or mortgage payment after a breakup or if the other walks out with all the technology that you bought together. For couples planning to get married, a prenuptial agreement is highly recommended. It may not sound romantic, but romantic relationships are partnerships in every sense of the word and when you move in with a partner or get married, your credit ratings, tax liability, incomes, debts and assets start to merge along with your hearts and souls.

Our firm is here to help you navigate either of these agreements along with steps needed to solidify your relationship or if necessary to end the relationship. We are here to facilitate and not to judge the difficult decisions and to try to make any necessary relationship decisions as amicable as possible, but also we are here to fight for you if your soon to be ex will not allow it to be amicable. It takes two to accomplish an amicable divorce. 

On the pandemic front, covid safety continues to haunt both families and schools. The differences between the two parents can be divisive, even for intact families and certainly for divorcing ones. We recommend parents find common ground regarding getting vaccinations for themselves, and eventually when allowed, their children. Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech recently requested the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to expand the emergency use of their Covid-19 vaccine in adolescents aged 12 to 15. 

Another recent trending topic in our world includes Bitcoin. Many do not understand the cryptocurrency but we all should be paying attention to it, and divorcing couples especially so. Part of the appeal of Bitcoin is how confidential and private your holdings are intended to be. Hiding assets is the oldest game in the divorcing handbook and cryptocurrency has provided a new digital cave. However, good lawyers know what the right questions are and how to ask them, and more importantly, how to follow up on incomplete or evasive answers. Our firm is finding we are handling more divorces involving cryptocurrency assets and thinks everyone needs to be paying more attention to this alternative asset. 

For those considering relocation, local or to a warmer climate, please note there are special rules for divorcing and divorced families to follow and remember we are always here to help.