News & Resources

How to Prepare Yourself to File for Divorce:  Part 1 In this two- part series, we focus on your (1) your children and (2) your finances.  Part 1 –  Children If you find yourself in a position of facing a divorce, you may be wondering what the next appropriate steps are to protect yourself or possibly your children. Unbeknownst to many, there are steps one can take to protect themselves even before filing for divorce.  […]

Social media has been continually evolving and transforming into an outlet for people to share anything and everything about their lives. Posting on social media can be a way to connect with others, however, it is crucial to understand that anything said or posted on social media may be used against you in your divorce proceeding. Now, more than ever, attorneys are using social media posts as evidence in divorce proceedings.  Typically, it is recommended that clients completely refrain from posting on social media for numerous reasons. Social media […]

ARTICLE 3: NEW TAX LAW: IMPACT OF THE CHILD TAX CREDIT AND DEPENDENCY EXEMPTION UNDER THE NEW LAW Previously, in divorce proceedings, the question of which parent would claim the children for tax purposes had been a contested issue. The reason – the exemption was financially beneficial for the parent that received it. For example, the dependency exemption for a “qualifying child” in 2017 was $4,050, which equated to a significant exemption for the recipient. Typically, […]

Who will get the marital home is always an area of contention in divorce proceedings.  And paying for the home is also a large consideration.  Sometimes, the tax credits received from retaining the home comes into play in determining whether either party will retain it.  In prior years, mortgage interest and property taxes were deductions available to the parties during the marriage.  Beginning in 2019, the tax laws will change and reduce the deductibility of […]

ARTICLE 1 – NEW TAX LAW IMPACT ON ALIMONY On January 1, 2019, many new tax laws will go into effect.  These laws will have a direct impact on divorcing couples.  There appears to be four (4) major areas where the tax laws will change which every divorcing person needs to be aware of before moving forward with their divorce proceedings.  These changes are to alimony, the marital home, child related tax credits and prenuptial/post-nuptial […]

Health insurance is an important part of determining a child support obligation in the state of Iowa under the child support guidelines. It is, therefore, essential to determine who will carry the insurance, and how the cost regarding the health insurance will be allocated. You must further understand if the health insurance coverage is a state sponsored plan, such as hawk-I, or a private health insurance plan, to ensure that the proper child support calculation […]

The drafters of the revised child support guidelines felt it was necessary to more completely define actual child care expenses in the Revised Iowa Child Support Guidelines.  They did so in Rule 9.11A.  First, the drafters defined what are “child care expenses” by saying that this term means expenses for the children in the pending case that are reasonably necessary for the parent to work, attend school or training activities, or conduct a job search.  […]

So what is “income” for child support purposes?  The drafters of the revised Iowa Child Support Guidelines have attempted to make sure that the definition of what is considered income is better defined. Rule 9.5 of the Iowa Child Support Guidelines states that gross monthly income is defined as, “reasonably expected income from all sources”. Recently, the Iowa Child Support Guidelines changed to reflect that income now includes traditional or rehabilitative spousal support (alimony) payments […]

    Over the next several weeks we will be highlighting the recent changes to the Iowa Child Support Guidelines in our five part blog series –  The REVISED Iowa Child Support Guideline – What you should Know!.  We will be highlighting such areas as:   How “income” is now defined, including what is considered “income” for child support purposes; What are “child care expenses”, how are they defined according to the child support guidelines, […]

In the last several weeks we have learned about the various classifications of property in your divorce—premarital property, gifts and inheritance and marital property.  It is important for any person going through a divorce to understand that the courts can view one asset as having more than one classification. For example, a house can be purchased before marriage by one party (premarital) but it had a loan on it when the parties married. During the […]