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Distribution of marital assets can be one of the most contentious aspects of divorce. There can be a great deal of personal and financial stake in how things are divided. It is no wonder that things can get so heated as this key issue is addressed.  This may be especially true when it comes to the division of a business. Many pour much of their lives into creating and running a successful business. It can not only be a central source of income but also deeply personal. If you are about to go through a divorce, you may be wondering whether your business will be cut down the middle and your spouse will receive half.

Will My Spouse Receive Half My Business in a Divorce?

As an equitable distribution state, Arkansas courts approach division of the marital assets in a way that is meant to be fair, but not necessarily equal. In order to do equity, a number of factors will be considered in the distribution process. For instance, the length of the marriage, the financial contributions of each spouse in the marriage, the non-financial contributions of each spouse in the marriage, and a variety of other relevant factors. In dividing all marital assets, the court will weigh these factors and the totality of the circumstances to try and do equity.

First, however, the property will have to be categorized as separate or marital. If a business was established prior to marriage, it may be viewed as a separate asset, at least in part. The business may be seen as part separate and part marital. This can happen in cases where the business may have been founded prior to marriage but gained in value during the marriage or both spouses made contributions to building and maintaining a successful business.

Considering the fact that so many different factors must be evaluated to do equity and the business may not be considered a totally marital asset or others may hold interest in the business preventing a 50-50 split of the business, it may be the case that the business may not be split down the middle between two divorcing spouses. It may, however, still be subject to division as the court may find both spouses hold an interest in the business.

In order to divide the business, the business must first be valued. There are several different methods employed in business valuation. For instance, the asset approach calculates the business value as the assets minus the liabilities. The market approach, on the other hand, compares the business to similar businesses that have been sold and calculates its value based on that. With the income approach, business records are entered into formulas to project the expected cash flow and profits of the business in order to find the value of the business. In many cases, each spouse will receive a certain percentage of business interests in a divorce. One spouse may choose to sell his or her shares to the other spouse using the value of the business to reach the sale price of his or her shares.

Divorce Attorney

Are you going through a divorce and are worried about your business being split apart? Talk to knowledgeable divorce attorney Bryce Cook about your options. Contact the Law Offices of Bryce Cook today.

Hearing your spouse actually say that they want a divorce can be a harsh reality to face. This can be true whether you were expecting it or not. The actual words being spoken out loud can be a game-changer. As the reality of the situation starts to surface more and more, there are steps you will want to take to protect yourself and help prepare for the road ahead. If you still think the marriage can be saved, and both you and your spouse are willing to put in the work, you may want to ask your spouse if you both should go to marriage counseling. If you both have come to terms with the fact that divorce would be in everyone’s best interests, then now is the time to get things in order.

What Do I Do If My Spouse Asks for a Divorce?

Even in the most amicable of divorces, it can be an emotional time. It marks the end of something deeply personal and the unwinding of otherwise intertwined lives. After your spouse informs you that he or she wants a divorce, it can be all too easy to dissolve into some powerful emotions. Try your best to stay calm. A level head will serve you well throughout the process. Avoid making any sort of promises, especially at this time. Additionally, do not give into any threats your spouse may be making in regards to holding things hostage, such as certain marital assets or child custody arrangements. Instead, focus on retaining trusted legal counsel so you know your rights regarding such matters.

Unless you are in an unsafe situation, consider staying put in the marital home. This is especially true if you have children. If you leave and your spouse stays in the home with the children, a court may see this situation as working out and consider simply staying the course when it comes to custody arrangements

You should also make it a priority to get your finances in order. Take steps to protect your credit. Monitor your credit reports to see if your spouse is racking up sizeable amounts of debt. This debt could very well become yours during divorce proceedings. Should you have joint accounts with your spouse, consider contacting those institutions and requesting joint authorization for any withdraws on an account. This way, your spouse will have to have your authorization prior to accessing anything held in the joint account.

Jonesboro Divorce Attorney

If your spouse has asked for a divorce, take action now to prepare yourself for what lies ahead. At the Law Office of Bryce Cook, we are here to provide you with trusted legal counsel and support services to help you not only survive a divorce but thrive after divorce. We do this by protecting your best interests and working with you to help ensure you have the tools you need to set up a bright future for yourself after divorce. Contact the Law Offices of Bryce Cook today.

Alimony is also referred to as “spousal support” or “spousal maintenance.” An often highly contentious aspect of divorce, alimony is a court order requiring one spouse to provide financial support to the other spouse either during or after a divorce. The specifics of the laws relating to alimony will greatly vary between states. Furthermore, a court can often have wide discretion in determining the amount and length of an alimony award.

How Long Am I Expected to Pay Alimony

In Arkansas, a spouse may file a petition seeking alimony from a soon-to-be former spouse in order to maintain the same standard of living that was held during the marriage. The state of Arkansas has three types of alimony that can be awarded. First, there is temporary alimony. Divorce can be a prolonged process. On top of this, moving from what may have been a two-income household down to a one-income household can be a financial shock. This may be especially true for the person who was not necessarily the primary earner in the household. Because of these truths, courts have the discretion to order temporary alimony payments to the lower-earning spouse in order to provide financial support while divorce proceedings are pending. The award of temporary support will terminate upon the court entering the final divorce decree.

Rehabilitating alimony, on the other hand, is awarded after the divorce is finalized. It is the most commonly ordered type of alimony in Arkansas and it is only temporary. The goal of rehabilitative alimony is to permit one spouse the opportunity to find a job or secure the necessary training to improve income earning and employment potential by providing financial support. Rehabilitative alimony will usually only cover the projected time period estimated for the spouse to complete the necessary training or job search.

Lastly, there is permanent support. An award for permanent support is becoming increasingly rare. This is even more true for marriages shorter in length. In most cases, a spouse has a better chance of permanent alimony if it was a long-term marriage and the spouse, at the time of the divorce had little to no employment prospects due to being of advanced years in age or of poor health.

The exact length of time a court will order alimony to be paid will vary depending on a variety of factors. One of the primary factors to consider will be the length of the marriage. It is said that a good rule of thumb is that an award for one year of alimony will be granted every three years of marriage. This, of course, can widely vary depending on a number of other factors.

Regardless of the length of time alimony may be awarded, it will terminate in the event of certain things occurring. For instance, if a spouse receiving alimony payments remarries, alimony payments will end. This is also true if the recipient spouse does not get married, but maintains an intimate relationship with another person with whom he or she lives full time. Additionally, an alimony award will terminate if either spouse to the alimony agreement dies.

Family Law Attorney

For more information on alimony and other important aspects of divorce, the Law Office of Bryce Cook has answers for you. Contact the Law Offices of Bryce Cook today.

Divorce often requires a significant period of adjustment. Even if it is quite some time in the making, finalizing a divorce has its own effects. Among the many impacts of divorce to consider and adjust to, the financial impacts are likely to be among the most significant. The financial effects of divorce can have more far-reaching consequences than many will consider at first. It is critical, however, to plan as best you can for these impacts as it will help you on your way to solid financial ground after divorce.

The Financial Impacts of Divorce

Divorce is expensive. There are the court costs. There are the attorney’s fees. It is unavoidable that divorce will come with some kind of bill. The most significant financial costs of divorce, however, can come from other things. For instance, two people running separate households is almost always more expensive than two people living together, carrying the costs of living together. When you divorce, it is likely that you will be covering more costs than you ever were when you were married. This is a big adjustment to make.

As the divorce is finalized, you may find that you are legally obligated pursuant to a court order to pay child support and/or spousal support. While child support and spousal support will have end dates, you could be making these payments far into the future. You will need to establish a budget that accounts for these monthly payments to help ensure that you have the funds available to fulfill your legal responsibility. Should you have a financial change in circumstances, you will need to petition the court for a modification. Until you are granted a modification, it will not matter if your financial circumstances prevent you from making the court order payments, the order is still enforceable and you may incur significant penalties for failure to comply.

On the other side of things, you may be the recipient of spousal support and/or child support payments. If this is the case, you too should have a budget that accounts for these payments. Factor these payments into your monthly living expenses. Additionally, you should be mindful of the fact that these payments will not last forever. When payments stop, will you have enough income to keep covering your costs? If not, you either need to make more money, reduce your living expenses, or do both. If you need to make more money, will you need further job training or education? If this is the case, plan for how you are going to cover the costs associated with this before you begin earning more money.

Family Law Attorney

At the Law Offices of Bryce Cook, we are committed to supporting our clients throughout the divorce process and setting them up for a successful post-divorce life. For more information regarding how to plan for the financial impacts of divorce, we are here to provide you with answers. Contact the Law Offices of Bryce Cook today.

One of the biggest issues that needs to be addressed in a divorce is the division of marital property. It can also be one of the most contentious issues. If the divorcing spouses can reach an agreement as to how to divide their property, they have the ability to put it into a written Property Settlement Agreement and submit it for judicial approval. Oftentimes, however, divorcing spouses are unable to reach such an agreement on their own. In this type of case, the judge will determine how marital property is divided. How, however, does the judge decide how the property will be divided? We will discuss more on this here.

How is property divided in an Arkansas divorce?

Arkansas is referred to as an “equitable distribution” state regarding the division of property incident to a divorce. Equitable distribution means that a court will decide how property should be divided based on a standard of fairness. An equitable division does not necessarily mean the division will be equal but should be, above all, fair to the parties in light of the circumstances. That being said, however, there is a presumption in Arkansas law that the marital property will be equally split between the parties. Factors considered by the judge in the division process, however, may merit a derivation from this presumption.

Before dividing property in divorce proceedings, a judge must first determine which property is marital and which is non-marital or “separate.” Only marital property will be subject to equitable division. Separate property will remain under the ownership of the original spouse owner. In most cases, non-marital property is property that was brought into the marriage and it will be kept by the spouse that brought it into the marriage

Once all property has been designated as marital or separate, the marital property will be divided based on a standard of doing equity. In order to equitably divide the marital property, the judge will weigh a number of different factors. Factors to be considered when determining an equitable division may include

• The length of the marriage
• The occupation and job skills of each party
• The health and well-being of each party
• The income and resources of each party
• The employability of each party
• The contributions of each party to both acquiring and maintaining the marital property
• The federal tax consequences of the proposed division of the marital property

While a judge must weigh all relevant factors, he or she also has discretion when it comes to dividing the marital property. The judge also has discretion when it comes to awarding alimony or spousal support as well as in determining child custody.

Family Law Attorney

Division of the marital property can have a significant impact on both parties to a divorce. At the Law Office of Bryce Cook, we work to ensure that your interests are not only represented, but protected throughout the divorce process. Contact the Law Offices of Bryce Cook today.

Are you considering filing for divorce in Arkansas? For so many reasons, divorce can be the best option for you and for your family. Should you reach the conclusion that divorce is the step you need to take to a better future, there are some things you will need to know about. There are basic requirements that must be met in order to file for divorce in Arkansas. We will further discuss those requirements here.

What are the requirements for filing for divorce in Arkansas?

To start, Arkansas has a residency requirement that must be fulfilled in order for a person to be able to file for divorce. Either you or your spouse must have resided in the State of Arkansas for a minimum of 60 days prior to filing for divorce and a minimum of 3 months prior to the final judgment of divorce being entered. 

In addition to the residency requirement, Arkansas law also has a separation period requirement. You and your spouse must have lived separately for a minimum of 18 months prior to divorce. This separation must have been voluntary. It must have only been voluntary, however, for at least one of you. That means that if you moved into your own residence against the wishes of your spouse, then the separation requirement will still be met if it has been at least 18 months in time. This requirement is in place with the intent that people seeking a divorce have really considered the implications of divorce and have made a thoughtful decision on the matter.

If you have fulfilled these basic requirements, either you or your spouse will need to file a complaint requesting that the court grant you a divorce in order for divorce proceedings to be initiated. The person who files the divorce is referred to as the “plaintiff” and the other spouse will be referred to as the “defendant.” You will need to file the divorce in the Chancery Court of the county where you reside if you are the one that resides in Arkansas. If your spouse is an Arkansas resident, but you are not, you will have to file in the county where your spouse resides.

You will also need to specify grounds for the divorce in the complaint. Grounds for divorce are the legally recognized reasons why divorce would be granted and sever the marital relationship. Arkansas, as most states do, provide no-fault and fault-based grounds for divorce. No-fault grounds only require that the complaint state that you and your spouse have been voluntarily separated for 18 continuous months. This will need to be supported by either a witness affidavit or witness testimony. Should you wish to go forward with the divorce without waiting the 18 months of separation, then you will need to assert fault-based grounds for divorce. This will require that you prove the grounds asserted.

Family Law Attorney

For all of your Arkansas divorce questions or concerns, talk to us at the Law Offices of Bryce Cook. We are here to provide you with trusted legal counsel and support. Contact the Law Offices of Bryce Cook today.