Issues commonly found in the divorce process

What are the issues involved in divorce? Here is a list of the most common:

1. child support (YouTube1, YouTube2)
   
2. settlement (divorce settlement or property settlement)
3. family law (laws or statutes on the books of your state)
4. child custody (legal, sole, joint)
5. separation (legal, marital, temporary, trial)
6. child visitation (a.k.a co-parenting, supervised)
7. adultery (personal and legal impact)
8. marriage counseling (divorce counseling, mediation)
9. common law (legally binding in some jurisdictions but has no meaning in others)
10. marital annulment (process, degree of difficulty, laws of each state, grounds)
11. alimony (a.k.a. spousal support, maintenance, qualifying for alimony)
12. community property (states, division of marital assets)

Child custody

The typical divorce includes parents that cannot agree on either who will be the primary custodian or on a parenting schedule (sometimes called visitation). The standard parenting schedule features for a non-custodial and his/her children involves alternate weekend visitation (3-day weekends included), mid-week visitation, sharing of the children during periods of school recess -winter, spring and summer, New Year's Eve, Easter, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Thanksgiving, and Christmas with one parent or the other in alternate years, Father's Day with Father, Mother's Day with Mother, alternate years on the children's birthdays, and open communication by phone and computer.

What experience have you had with child custody? Who received physical custody? Is it called legal custody? Is joint custody awarded? Sole custody? Are you sharing custody 50/50 so that no money changes hands?

Child Support

Is there anything that stirs divorcing parents' emotions more than child support issues? Each of the 50 states and District of Columbia have chosen their own formula for calculating child support. Which calculation method does your state employ? There are 3 formulas the states use: 1.) Income Shares- 37 states have adopted this method. The sum of the two parents income becomes 100% and each parents percentage contribution to that 100% becomes the percentage basis for their required participation. 2.) Percentage of Obligor Income (a.k.a. Wisconsin Model)- 10 states use this method. Child support calculation is based on a percentage of each parent's income. The Wisconsin standard is designed to replicate an income tax. 3.) Delaware-Melson- 3 states (DE, HI, MT) use this formula. It is based on the net income of both parents, from which a self-support reserve is subtracted. Income Shares calculates from gross income while the Wisconsin model and Delaware-Melson calculate support based on net income.

Massachusetts stands alone, using a hybrid of each method above. It uses gross income.

How do you assess your child support situation? Do you fall into that majority of respondents where the receiver of child support claims amounts are too small, and the payor claims he (95% of payors are men) aren't able to survive because they must pay too much?

To review your state's child support details, click here.