Paul Horton: How to Get the Best Outcome in Divorce

As you go through your divorce, important to be focused on the long term, making sure you’re ending up with the best possible settlement for you. This requires you to have a clear picture of exactly what it is you want as you move forward with your life.

With how stressful and emotional divorce can be, however, this is often easier said than done. To make this process less difficult, you should identify all of the most important issues and your top priorities ahead of time, and stick to them throughout the divorce proceedings. Having a game plan before negotiations actually begin will help ensure you stay on the right track.

The most common issues individuals need to navigate are child custody and support, the division of marital assets and alimony. Let’s take a quick look at each:

Child custody and support: If you have children, what happens to them is going to be a significant component of your divorce. Even if custody itself ends up being an easy issue to resolve, you still must consider things like visitation schedules, the division of expenses, the amount of child support that the non-custodial parent will pay and how you will jointly make child-rearing decisions.
Property division: The division of martial property and assets can quickly become contentious, especially when there are particularly valuable or sentimental items involved. Consulting a divorce attorney or financial planner will help you figure out how to best address your priorities through this process.
Alimony: If alimony (or spousal support) is an issue in your divorce, get an idea of how much you’re seeking or willing to pay out in alimony payments each month. Note that almost all alimony arrangements are temporary in nature.

Child Tax Credits After Your Divorce

Some of the most valuable tax credits are those that are granted to parents to help provide assistance with the costs of raising their children. But when parents are separated or divorced, who gets to take advantage of these tax credits?

There are different stipulations for each type of tax credit:

Child and Dependent Care Credit. This credit covers expenses for child care options like day care so that you can work or look for work. The total credit amount of up to 35 percent of care expenses, up to $3,000 for one child and $6,000 for more than one, so long as those children are under 13 or disabled. For divorced parents, only the custodial parent is able to claim the credit.
Child Tax Credit. This tax credit gives parents that have incomes below a certain level a $1,000 credit for each child under the age of 17. The custodial parent will usually take this credit, but the noncustodial parent can claim it if the custodial parent decides to release the dependency exemption to the noncustodial parent. The credit is also lowered for single parents or could be completely unavailable if gross income is over $75,000.
Earned Income Credit (EIC). EIC is meant to provide low-income workers with tax breaks. A taxpayer’s ability to claim this credit depends on adjusted gross income and earned income, and for parents, the total amount of the credit depends on the number of kids. Only the custodial parent can claim EIC in a divorce. Alimony and child support paid to you does not qualify as earned income.

Free Consultation with Divorce Lawyer in Utah

If you have a question about divorce law or if you need to start or defend against a divorce case in Utah call Ascent Law at (801) 676-5506. We will fight for you.