Can I Buy a House Before or While Going Through a Divorce? Should I?

We won’t keep you in suspense: yes, you might be able to buy a house before or during the pendency of a divorce case. However, in most cases, you should not.…

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What Is Dissipation of Marital Assets? How Is It Addressed in Utah Divorce Actions?

We’ll start with this: The marital estate is generally valued at the time of the divorce decree or trial. Goggin v. Goggin, 2013 UT 16, ¶ 49, 299 P.3d 1079. The…

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On What Basis Should the Couple Share Half of Property in Divorce if One Contributes Significantly More Than the Other? How Is It Fair?

It’s fair. It’s not fair. Frankly, reasonable minds can differ on this question. The governing principle in the USA is still (though it’s subtly and slowly changing) in most jurisdictions…

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Establishing the existence or absence of business/commercial goodwill value in a divorce.

Sometimes a business is a marital asset. When the value of a business that is a marital asset is divided in divorce, the question of the “goodwill value” of the…

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What are ways divorcees reach a mutual agreement when splitting up their assets?

What are ways divorcees reach a mutual agreement when splitting up their assets? What they often do (but shouldn’t): rationalize and justify their greed and pettiness in advancing their “arguments”*…

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Spouse abused me emotionally, so I get more money in divorce now, right?

My spouse abused me emotionally, so I get more money in divorce now, right? Strongly believing or feeling that “I deserve” an unequal division of the marital estate does not…

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If you inherit property during your marriage, is your spouse entitled to any?

Great question. The answer is (for Utah, where I practice divorce and family law), generally, no, your spouse is not entitled to half of property you inherited during the marriage.…

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Why is dividing money in a divorce so difficult? Shouldn’t it be as simple as take what each earned?

Why is dividing money in a divorce so difficult? Shouldn’t it be as simple as each takes what each earned? In Utah (where I practice law), the law is not…

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Can a wife expect a property to be split equally if she cheated?

Can a wife expect a property to be split between partners if she cheated on her partner in the US (assuming no contract has been signed)? Yes. People who are…

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