Is the date of separation important when it comes to finances and divorce?

There are plenty of reasons why the date of separation is critical when it comes to a divorce. Most importantly, it needs to be noted that the date of separation is what family courts across the country take into account when deciding on terms of divorce such as alimony, child support, property division, and adultery, say divorce lawyers in Fishkill, NY.

What is the date of separation?

The exact legal definition of date of separation may differ from one state to the other. However, for the most part, as the name suggests, it is the date on which the spouses separated (no longer lived together). A classic and obvious example of a date of separation is when one of the spouses moves out of the marital home with the intention of ending the marriage or relationship.

In some other not so obvious cases, spouses may decide to end the relationship and yet not move out of the marital home because of financial constraints and other reasons. In such cases the judge overlooking the divorce proceedings will determine by his or her discretion what the date of separation was. An example of something like this would be the date on which a spouse filed the divorce petition or moved into a separate room within the same house.

Now this is what happened in the movie The Break-Up with Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn who played Brooke Meyers and Gary Grobowski, respectively. They just bought a condo together shortly after becoming a couple that was very nice but they broke up shortly thereafter. The math worked out so they would lose money if they sold the condo since the market declined after they bought the condo. They would also have to pay the real estate agent and so on.

Your marriage may be getting erased. Hire a Fishkill, NY divorce lawyer so your financial worth is not erased along with it. 

So they both decide to be roommates and that does not go well either but that is another topic. Now they never married but the point is that if you are getting a divorce the dates on when you buy things and when you move in and out all matter.

Brooke and Gary should not have bought this condo together like what they did assuming they were going to live happily ever after. They should have written a partnership agreement or something akin to that but did not. That would have made too much sense.  

How does the date of separation affect income and property division?

Divorce attorneys in Dutchess County, NY tell us that as per the state laws any income that a spouse earns during the marriage is for all legal intents and purposes considered marital property.

We need to reiterate that this is only for income which was earned during the course of the marriage. Understandably, since the date of separation determines what the course of the marriage or the tenure of the marriage was, any income earned after the date of the separation cannot be considered marital property.

This may not last. It is better to assume that it will not.

In some cases, where the spouses have signed a mutual agreement known as a prenuptial agreement which explicitly states that earnings earned by one or both spouses will not be considered marital property then in these cases, the date of separation may not really matter, in the opinion of Fishkill, NY divorce lawyers who can be found right here Divorce.USAttorneys.com.

Just as in the case of earnings, even property acquired by one of the spouses during the tenure of the marriage (before the date of separation) will also be considered marital property unless otherwise specifically stated in a prenuptial agreement.

How does the date of separation determine whether or not a spouse committed adultery?

As per law in most states, the legal obligation to remain faithful to your spouse ends on the date of separation. Therefore, to put it simply, if the adultery or act in question occurred before the date of separation then it is considered adultery and if it occurred after then it is not adultery.

Terminating your marriage requires solid preparation from the beginning. If you need help with your divorce, all you need is to reach out to a New York divorce lawyer as soon as possible to ensure that your rights are protected and you receive a fair settlement.

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