Divorce is a process that has touched all of us in one way or another. With 50% of marriages ending in divorce, you probably have someone close to you that has gone through one, if you haven’t had one yourself. There are a lot of assumptions that people make about divorce that may not be accurate.

ONLY WOMEN GET SPOUSAL SUPPORT.
While this may have been somewhat true in the past because of traditional family roles, times are changing. Women have made their mark on the workforce. More and more men are stay-at-home dads. Spousal support is meant to provide support in the instance of a serious income imbalance when one spouse provides non-monetary support to the relationship instead of acting as a breadwinner.

Of course, spousal support itself is occurring less and less often, but if it is awarded, there’s no guarantee that only the former wife will receive it.

THE MOTHER ALWAYS GETS CUSTODY.
Similar to trends in spousal support, the idea that the mother of the child or children always gets primary custody is outdated. Fathers no longer have a steeper hill to climb in court than mothers, and both sides begin on similar ground.

EACH SIDE GETS HALF.
This one cuts both ways, so to speak. Courts are concerned with equitable division of assets, not necessarily equal division of everything. The distribution must be fair, not even, and the process takes into account the financial standing of each spouse. That means that some parties with higher means may walk away with more debt.

There are two types of property – marital assets and non-marital assets. Marital assets are generally assets acquired during the marriage, with some exceptions. Non-marital assets are those acquired before the marriage or through inheritance or gift. Generally, only marital assets are divided between spouses, while non-marital assets stay with the particular owner. At the same time, this doesn’t mean that the spouse who earned the balance of a retirement account gets to keep the full amount – this kind of asset is likely to be divided in some equitable way.

NON-PAYMENT OF CHILD SUPPORT LIMITS VISITATION.
This is a common misconception, and it causes a multitude of problems. Child support is a completely separate issue from visitation. If a noncustodial spouse does not pay child support, the custodial spouse cannot withhold visitation. The reverse is also true: if a spouse withholds visitation, that doesn’t authorize the noncustodial spouse to withhold child support. Although they both concern the children of the marriage, they are two separate issues with different rules and standards, and one has no bearing on the other. The appropriate sanction for failure to supply either visitation or child support is up to a court.

Ty Zdravko practices law as a divorce attorney, and family law attorney in Palm Harbor, Clearwater and the surrounding area.

For more information, visit our website at www.divorceboardcertified.com
or call (727) 787-5919.