Keys to Colorado Small Estate Planning

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Creating a Blissful Environment: The Key to Nurturing Child Custody Joy!

When it comes to child custody, creating a blissful environment is essential for nurturing the joy your children deserve. Start by promoting open and honest communication between both parents. Encourage your children to express their feelings and thoughts without judgment. By fostering a safe space for dialogue, you are allowing your children to feel heard and understood, thus promoting harmony and happiness.

In addition to communication, it is vital to establish consistent routines and rules across both households. Children thrive in predictability, and maintaining consistency between homes will provide them with a sense of stability and security. Collaborate with your co-parent to create a shared parenting plan that outlines routines, rules, and expectations. By working together, you can ensure that your child’s daily life remains consistent, regardless of which home they are in.

Lastly, don’t forget the power of love and affection. Shower your children with love, praise, and encouragement. Create a warm and nurturing atmosphere by celebrating their achievements, big or small. By fostering a loving environment, you are nurturing their emotional well-being and reinforcing positive behaviors, leading to a harmonious haven for your children.

Unleashing the Magic: Tips and Tricks for a Harmonious Co-Parenting Journey!

Co-parenting can be challenging, but with the right tips and tricks, you can unleash the magic and embark on a harmonious co-parenting journey. Firstly, always prioritize your children’s best interests. Set aside any personal conflicts or differences and focus on what is best for your child. Remember, your child’s happiness and well-being should always be the driving force behind your decisions.

Secondly, practice empathy and understanding. Put yourself in your co-parent’s shoes and try to see things from their perspective. By cultivating empathy, you can develop a deeper understanding of each other’s parenting styles and make compromises that benefit your child. Remember, co-parenting is a team effort, and by working together, you can create a strong foundation for your child’s future.

Lastly, make the most of technology and communication tools. Utilize shared calendars, online platforms, or co-parenting apps to facilitate communication and collaboration. These tools can help streamline scheduling, share important information, and reduce misunderstandings. Embracing technology can simplify the logistics of co-parenting, allowing you to focus more on creating a joyful and harmonious environment for your children.

Navigating the world of child custody doesn’t have to be daunting or filled with negativity. By creating a blissful environment and unleashing the magic of co-parenting, you can nurture the joy your children deserve. Remember, open communication, consistency, love, empathy, and utilizing technology are the keys to a harmonious haven for your children. Embrace the opportunity to co-parent with positivity and watch as your children flourish in a nurturing and joyful environment.

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For instance, if you deposit the inheritance in mutual funds in your own name, and over time the mutual funds increase in value, the increase in value is “marital property” while the original deposit is “separate property.” For example, you inherit $100,000 from your grandmother and deposit the $100,000 into mutual funds in your own name. Five years later a divorce is filed. The mutual funds are now valued at $150,000. The $50,000 increase is marital property subject to be divided by the court. The original $100,000 remains your separate property and is not subject to division by the court. You will be required to prove that the original $100,000 was your separate property if disputed. Therefore, you should always maintain records of the inheritance, the location of deposit and its existence over of the years. I also recommend you do not commingle this account with marital funds which now make it difficult to trace what is separate property versus marital property in the mutual fund account. Create a new account with your marital funds and always keep your separate property, just that – separate.

A person can also convert the inheritance from separate property to marital property by acquiring a jointly titled asset with the inheritance. For example, you purchase a piece of real estate using the $100,000 inheritance from your grandmother as a down-payment for the purchase and title the real estate in joint names. This is presumed a gift to the marriage and unless you can overcome the presumption of a gift, your inheritance is now a Marital Asset. The court has jurisdiction to divide “marital assets.” While a court has the ability to consider the contribution to the acquisition of the real property, there is no guarantee the court will give you a greater percentage of the property due to your inheritance contribution. That is in the court’s discretion.

There are other examples of issues relating to separate property versus marital property, gifts to the marriage and the tracing of subsequently purchased property with inheritance money, that has been subject to a number of appeals.

These questions can be technical and unfortunately most people do not seek legal advice on how to protect the inheritance upon divorce when the inheritance is received. The issue generally arises in the divorce. The attorney cannot modify the facts as to what you did with the inheritance but can assist in achieving the best result possible in light of the facts.

For these reasons, I strongly urge people to seek legal advice upon receipt of the inheritance, learn how to protect the assets and then make informed decisions on the best method to handle and invest the inheritance.

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I feel it is really never appropriate to drive up a U-Haul to the home and remove all household items from the home unless there is an agreement to allow this to happen in writing by the parties. Although this is rare, it happens. It sets the stage for a litigious divorce in most cases. It causes many negative emotions in the spouse who walks in the door after work and finds the home cleared out. You need to look at this from both points of view before taking such drastic measures. I find that it is almost always better to start off the divorce trying to be amicable than litigious. There are exceptions to this, such as when domestic violence is in involved, but in most of normal divorces, the cost of taking these dramatic measures are not worth it in the long run.

In most cases, the parties are able to reach an agreement on personal property division fairly early on after separation. It may be before the divorce is filed, after the filing when someone relocates from the home or even when the parties are discussing full settlement. Some parties go room to room, make verbal agreements on which party receives an item, and then the parties follow the agreement and honor their word. They are thoughtful of what items are important to each spouse and value of the items. They work together to make a fair division. Other parties will create a list of all assets in each room of the home and assign values to the items and then make an equitable division at some time later in the divorce. The usual value is garage sale type value, not replacement.  The parties strive to give each other a fair share of the household goods.

It is not cost effective to hire a personal property appraisal to value old furnishings, such as a five-year-old couch. In the one case that I remember the parties doing so, they were sadly shocked at how little the household goods were worth. If you have expensive artwork, sculptures or gun collections, this may be necessary, only as to these particular items. I have used had parties use property collection books to value collectibles. I recommend parties itemize and photograph high dollar items for valuation at later dates as these items are easily disposed of and then valuation is difficult.

If the parties are unable to reach agreements on value or the division of the items, the court will. The court may order everything sold or may order the parties flip a coin and then take turns selecting items. One magistrate routinely told a story about a couple arguing over heirloom flatware. He advised he had the authority to assign the forks to one party and spoons to the other. He did not have to award the entire set to just one party. The point of this story is, it is better for the parties to reach their own agreements on household goods and other personal property items as this issue is expensive to litigate and the results can be uncertain.

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