The big news in divorce as the New Year begins? Starting January 1, 2019, a significant change in how alimony payments are treated under federal tax law goes into effect. As part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (aka “Trump Tax”), spouses who pay alimony must now claim alimony payments on their federal tax returns as taxable income; spouses who receive alimony are not required to claim alimony as income and receive this money tax-free. 

The new tax change represents a complete reversal of the old federal code in which paying spouses deducted alimony from their income as a tax break, while recipient spouses were required to claim payments as taxable income. Any alimony order put in place on or before December 31, 2018, is grandfathered in under these old rules.    

If you are currently going through a divorce that involves alimony, or are pursuing temporary alimony during a separation, you will need to grapple with these new tax implications. If you are the paying spouse, you probably want to know… is there anything I can to avoid this extra tax burden? If you are the receiving spouse, your main question may be… what can I do if my spouse low balls alimony in our divorce negotiations? 

Bari Weinberger took a deeper look at alimony negotiations under the new tax law in her piece for the New Jersey Law Journal: The 2019 Alimony Tax Change Is Here — But Is It Fair? She described how changing tax rules will necessarily mean changing tactics in reaching an alimony agreement. 

Here are 3 takeaways for your own alimony negotiations.  Read more

Nesting is a child-centered custody arrangement that puts the burden of switching homes solely on the parents, who take turns staying in the family home with the children. The divorced couple will usually rent a separate house or apartment where one person will go during the other’s parenting time so that the children never have to move between households. This arrangement benefits kids for the following reasons: Read more

If you’re a “gray divorcer,” you’re not alone: divorce rates for adults aged 50 and over have doubled in the past 25 years. While it may be a relief to extricate yourself from a long-term unhappy marriage, divorce at this stage brings unique challenges. Here are 10 steps to surviving gray divorce – and thriving once it’s over. Read more

You and your spouse are at loggerheads over custody arrangements, and it now looks like your matter could be headed to court.

Despite all the drawbacks to custody battles, they’re sometimes unavoidable: if your ex poses a safety risk to your kids; if your ex is obstructing your visitation time; if co-parenting is next to impossible. While mediation and other low conflict resolution matters are preferred whenever possible, going before a judge may be your best option for safeguarding your relationship with your child.

Are you ready for this next big step? Whether you’re initiating or responding to litigation, here are some tips for standing strong in your custody battle. Read more

Are you frustrated that conventional divorce advice doesn’t seem to apply to you? Wondering when your ex is going to “get over it,” as your friends and family keep promising? Feeling overwhelmed by attempts to co-parent with someone who’s chronically hostile and manipulative?

If this is your experience, you have a toxic divorce and you probably won’t be able to mediate or make traditional co-parenting strategies work for you. You can, however, learn skills and strategies to manage conflict and crazy-making behavior. Read more