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Do Divorce & Legal Papers Have to be Served in Person?

Whether you are a movie actress or an accountant, legal documents are often served in person. Actress Olivia Wilde was on stage talking about her upcoming movie in front of an audience of 4,000 at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. In the middle of her presentation, an unidentified woman handed Wilde an envelope from the front of the stage . After joking that maybe it was a script, she opened the envelope, ...

Can I Get a Restraining Order in a Same-Sex Divorce?

Up until about 100 years ago, “wife-beating” was legal in many states. Marital rape was legal well into the latter part of the 20 th century. A 1978 court case in Oregon marked the first time someone stood trial for raping their spouse. Not until 1993 was marital rape a crime nationwide. We’ve fortunately come a long way, but laws have still evolved slowly. New York’s 2011 Marriage Equality Act ...

Alimony Can Vary Depending on the Length of the Marriage

Alimony has its beginnings in gender-specific terms. Before the 1970s, divorce in the United States had to be fault-based. If the husband was to blame, he would have to pay his wife alimony – often for the rest of her life or until she remarried. During those times, women had few rights and opportunities to make a living. Today’s alimony is much different. The concept is now gender-neutral. ...

Will I Have to Pay for My Spouse’s Debt in Our Divorce?

Traditional marriage vows include for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer. The concept carries over into a divorce as you will not just have the right to certain assets from your marriage. You will also be responsible for a fair share of the debt. Negotiating how to divide marital debt can be an emotional aspect of divorce. If negotiations break down and the question must be brought before a ...