New Jersey Family Law Blog

A 401k is meant to provide an additional means of financial support during your retirement. Yet what happens if you and the person that you had planned to spend your years in retirement with divorce? Many who come to see our team here at Carolann M. Aschoff, P.C. from Jersey City are surprised to learn that a 401k is considered a marital asset. Yet given that the contributions made to it come from one's income, the fact that those contributions made during a marriage are viewed as marital assets is understandable. 

The question then becomes how to best manage your share. If it is your ex-spouse's 401k that you are dealing with, you basically have two options. The first is to roll your portion into your own 401k account or into an individual retirement account. The main advantage of doing this is the added money that can be made from it both through earned interest and investment returns (which may vary depending on what type of strategy you authorize your account administrator to employ). The disadvantage is that money is not able to help you in the here-and-now. 

It is possible that you may have heard mediation and arbitration spoken of interchangeably with no intended difference between them. However, if you are exploring alternatives to going to a New Jersey court for an upcoming divorce, you should recognize that the concepts of mediation and arbitration, while they are distinct from court litigation, are not the same. Each of these forms of divorce resolution carries specific attributes that, depending on your needs, you may find more attractive over the other.

FindLaw points out that the structure of arbitration and mediation can be very different. Arbitration usually involves a decision made by a panel of arbitrators while mediation is typically conducted with a single mediator. Arbitration is generally employed when the two spouses cannot come to an agreement or feel they are unlikely to, so each spouse will select an arbitrator. From there, the two arbitrators will choose a third arbitrator, completing a council of three arbitrators to work out the problems of the spouses.

If you are getting ready to file for a divorce, or you are already in the middle of one, you could have a number of concerns. For example, you might be worried about what will happen with regard to child custody or you could be stressed out about adjusting to single life. However, the financial side of divorce must be given special attention, and there are many ways in which your finances could be impacted by your marriage coming to an end. Moreover, some people are facing other financial struggles in life, such as those who have lost their job, which can add to their divorce-related financial stress.

If you have already split up with your spouse and recently lost your job, you may have concerns about your ability to continue paying alimony. If so, you should look into the possibility of modifying your spousal support. On the other hand, perhaps you have not even filed for a divorce yet, or maybe you are still working but you know that you will be out of work in the near future. Under these circumstances, it is crucial to prepare for what lies ahead and do what you can to financially brace yourself.

Every year, many people focus on improving their lives in the new year, whether they want to eat healthier, get more exercise or accomplish some other type of goal (such as something related to their career). However, some people may have New Year’s resolutions regarding their divorce or other family law issues. For example, someone may make a resolution that they will stay caught up on their child support in the new year or find the courage to handle some stressful family law matter that they have been pushing off.

The new year can be a great time for people to change their lives and find a fresh start. As with any resolution, however, some people give up later on in the year. It is crucial to stay focused and even if you do not pay much attention to New Year’s resolutions, you should still look for ways to properly handle any family law matters that you are facing.