Law Office of Joanne Kleiner

Archives for October 2021

Oct 22

How to Negotiate a Divorce Settlement With Your Spouse

Tips for Negotiating Your Own Divorce Settlement

A pro se divorce is a divorce in which one or both spouses represent themselves. Divorce lawyers generally recommend a collaborative divorce as an alternative, but if you do represent yourself, there are certain strategies you can employ to help ensure a successful divorce settlement.

Research Your Legal Rights and Responsibilities

You and your spouse have certain legal responsibilities that cannot be negotiated away. An attempt to do so will result in refusal of the proposed divorce settlement agreement by the judge. It is also essential that you understand your legal rights because it is possible for you to negotiate them away.

Check Your Emotions

No matter how amicable, a divorce will be an emotional affair. A potential benefit to retaining the services of a divorcee lawyer is that it helps to eliminate the excess emotions. However, emotions are not necessarily bad. They are only problematic when you let them get in the way. Think positive. Get ample rest. Exercise and eat well, and if you ever feel overwhelmed, take a break from the negotiation in order to reboot.

Set Mutual Ground Rules

Negotiation should start with agreeing on ground rules. Determine when, where and how you will negotiate. Agree on a neutral site. Establish a timeline and a deadline.

Be Flexible

In order for a divorce to be amicable, it is important to be flexible and to work to ensure that any agreement benefits both you and your spouse. Keep an open mind. Brainstorm alternatives when there seems there are none, and be willing to concede at times. You both will have to.

Negotiate Based on Interests

A common mistake when negotiating a divorce with a spouse is bargaining from a position rather than what your interests are. If you focus on what is important to you rather than what you have a right to, you may relinquish your position at times, but you will likely gain more ground and at a faster pace.

Identify Needs and Wants for Both Spouses

Not only is it useful to negotiate based on your interests but the interests of your spouse. Wants are important, but needs are integral. If your spouse has a need and you seek to negotiate a settlement that does not meet that need, you likely will not be successful, and you will at the very least fail your spouse.

Know Your Finances

Another common mistake is not having a full appreciation of your finances, and it is not uncommon in marriages for one spouse to have much greater awareness of the money situation than the other. This lack of knowledge puts you at a disadvantage and could lead to a wide range of bad decisions.

Recognize Your Best and Worst Alternatives

BATNA and WATNA are negotiating concepts that apply to divorce settlements, and they are acronyms for best and worst alternative to a negotiated agreement. What if the negotiation fails? What are the worst things that could happen? The answer to that question is often enough motivation to help reach a compromise.

Determine Your Bottom Line

Determine the aspects of any agreement that you simply cannot live without. Explain those to your spouse and have him or her do the same. Make sure that your bottom line is realistic, and be willing to walk away if your spouse is not willing to reach a bottom line that is fair and practical.

Always Have a Plan

Have a plan in place even before you agree on the ground rules. Be open to the idea that your plan will change. Determine your bottom line, but try to recognize your spouse’s bottom line and all the areas in which you can be flexible. Also, consider contingencies for those times when things do not go as expected.

Protect Your Interests and Legal Rights

If you are considering divorce or if your spouse has already filed, the Law Office of Joanne E. Kleiner is here to help. Schedule a consultation with a divorce lawyer through which we can assist you in determining the best path for you and your family. To do so, you can contact us online, or call our Jenkintown office at 215-886-1266.

Oct 18

How to Split the Family Home in a Divorce Without Going to Court

Ways to Fairly Divide Your Home With Your Ex

Since a home is most people’s largest asset, it’s no surprise that property disputes are one of the biggest reasons for fights during divorce proceedings. If you are not interested in a court battle, it is a good idea to be flexible and talk about your options. Here are some ideas for how you and your estranged spouse can fairly divide your family home.

Exchanging the House for Other Assets

The first thing to recognize is that it’s not technically necessary to split the house. During a divorce, you are splitting all the assets you and your partner contributed to. So if one person really loves the house and the other person doesn’t care at all, it may be worthwhile to just let that person have the house. To keep asset division fair, your divorce lawyer might suggest that the other spouse gets things like a bigger portion of a retirement fund, more of the joint savings account, or possession of other property. This solution works best in cases where couples have a lot of assets, so a house is just one of the many things to negotiate. It may not be possible if all your funds are tied up in the value of your home.

One Partner Buying Out the Other’s Share

This option is popular in a divorce where you want to split all assets down the middle, but one partner wants the house more than the other does. On the surface, it’s a simple thing that involves one person giving away some of their personal funds, while the other person gets full control of the house. The tricky part is determining the value of the house. Some people may want to get half of the full market value of the house. Others may be fine just getting half of the original cost of the house or half of what they both paid into the house over the years. When negotiating this, it may be necessary for the seller to decide whether their goal is maximum profit or just recouping a little costs and escaping the responsibilities of home ownership.

Continuing to Co-Own the House

Sometimes, either partner selling their share just doesn’t work. Often, people want to wait to sell until market conditions improve or until their kids move out of the home. Keeping your finances entangled can be a little tricky. It’s a good idea to get help from a divorce mediation practitioner who can assist you with navigating all the emotions and financial disagreements involved in co-owning a house after divorce. You will need to be able to handle things like splitting the cost of repairs and agreeing on who gets to spend time in the house. Keep in mind that you will each technically be responsible for the full cost of the mortgage, so it can make it hard to get credit for things like car purchases.

Selling the House and Splitting the Profits

Selling the house, subtracting all costs, and then dividing the profits into two equal shares is a fairly simple way of dealing with the conflict. Though actually preparing the house and selling it takes time, this agreement reduces arguments and gives each person money to start their new life. This is actually the solution the courts usually recommend if the two spouses cannot agree on who gets the house. However, going through the court takes extra time, and then you would have a rushed sale that might not net the highest cost. Therefore, agreeing to this solution can give you a little more time to find a favorable sale.

As you can see, there are a lot of creative solutions to the question of who gets the house. Having a divorce lawyer who can help you negotiate a clear and satisfying agreement can take a lot of the stress out of dividing assets in a divorce. The Law Office of Joanne Kleiner is here to assist people living in Montgomery, Bucks, and Philadelphia counties with their divorces. Call 215-886-1266 or fill out our contact form to learn more about how we might be able to help you.