The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or Fafsa, generally requires personal and financial information from dependent students and their parents in order to determine eligibility for federal financial aid. It’s particularly important to fill out the Fafsa correctly since it “can make a huge difference in the possibility of aid,” says Carrie Fellon, a certified financial planner and financial strategist at Agili, a registered investment advisory firm in Richmond, Va.
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
What You Need to Know About the FAFSA and Divorce
Filling out college financial-aid forms can be confusing for anyone. They may become even more confusing for families where parents are divorced or unwed, or for blended families.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or Fafsa, generally requires personal and financial information from dependent students and their parents in order to determine eligibility for federal financial aid. It’s particularly important to fill out the Fafsa correctly since it “can make a huge difference in the possibility of aid,” says Carrie Fellon, a certified financial planner and financial strategist at Agili, a registered investment advisory firm in Richmond, Va.
In this excellent Wall Street Journal article, Cheryl Winokur Munk answers some of the biggest questions blended families and those with divorced or unmarried parents have about filing for financial aid.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or Fafsa, generally requires personal and financial information from dependent students and their parents in order to determine eligibility for federal financial aid. It’s particularly important to fill out the Fafsa correctly since it “can make a huge difference in the possibility of aid,” says Carrie Fellon, a certified financial planner and financial strategist at Agili, a registered investment advisory firm in Richmond, Va.
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
An Age-By-Age Guide For Helping Children Through Divorce
Research tells us that children of divorce face many risks. It is a major challenge for kids to cope with the drastic change that is inevitable after their parents split and that adjustment is even tougher if they are exposed to the conflict of divorce.
How children of divorce respond to news of their parents’ split can also vary wildly depending on their age. Your 4-year-old toddler is probably going to take the news of your divorce a whole lot differently than your 15-year-old who is about to get their driver’s license.
In this excellent blog posting by Shawn Garrison, you will find an age-by-age guide walking you through how children are likely to respond to your divorce. You also will find tips for how you can help ease this difficult transition for them.
No matter your child’s age, the best thing you can do to ensure a healthy adjustment after your divorce is ensuring that they have a strong and loving relationship with both parents.
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
3 Myths About Divorce Mediation [VIDEO]
Susan Ingram, a divorce attorney and mediator, has put together this short video debunking three of the most common misconceptions regarding mediation.
- Mediation is not for complicated cases.
- Mediation is not for high net worth cases.
- Mediation is not for high-conflict cases.
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
I Don't Have to Continue to Pay Alimony If I Lose My Job, Do I?
In every divorce mediation, the payor of alimony is afraid of becoming unable to meet their obligation. This is invariably based on a fear of job loss.
It’s true: If you lose your job, the obligation to pay alimony doesn’t go away automatically.
Even if the job loss is through no fault of your own, such as an industry-wide layoff, your obligation remains. You are expected to find a comparable, replacement job as soon as possible. Easier said than done, of course. However, best efforts must be made to secure employment at the same level. In traditional litigation, you would have the option to petition the court for alimony modification or relief. The court would require tangible proof of diligent, exhaustive efforts to secure comparable income — resumes submitted, interviews attended, online job searches completed, etc.
Why does the onus remain with the alimony payer? For a couple of reasons. First, the recipient of alimony is relying, often trepidatiously, on an ex-spouse to provide the regular, necessary support. As goodwill, good faith and good feelings may be lacking, the recipient often must place faith in the strength of the legal system to ensure regularity of payments — which form the basis of meeting his/her own financial obligations.
Second, as the alimony payor has far more direct control over his or her employment, it is logical that he/she carries the responsibility for it as well. A resentful payor could deliberately sabotage her own livelihood in an effort to unburden herself of a duty she perceives as oppressive and unfair. In order to balance two risk factors inherent in alimony payors — control and high emotionality — the legal system demonstrates more rigidity than flexibility when holding the payor to his/her commitment.
The good news, as usual, comes in the option of mediation. In mediation, spouses can consider significant changes of circumstances when formulating their settlement agreements, before a crisis ensues. In the event of a job loss, rather than having to petition the court for relief, parties can return to mediation to create an interim support and financial restructuring until gainful employment is restored.
It’s true: If you lose your job, the obligation to pay alimony doesn’t go away automatically.
Even if the job loss is through no fault of your own, such as an industry-wide layoff, your obligation remains. You are expected to find a comparable, replacement job as soon as possible. Easier said than done, of course. However, best efforts must be made to secure employment at the same level. In traditional litigation, you would have the option to petition the court for alimony modification or relief. The court would require tangible proof of diligent, exhaustive efforts to secure comparable income — resumes submitted, interviews attended, online job searches completed, etc.
Why does the onus remain with the alimony payer? For a couple of reasons. First, the recipient of alimony is relying, often trepidatiously, on an ex-spouse to provide the regular, necessary support. As goodwill, good faith and good feelings may be lacking, the recipient often must place faith in the strength of the legal system to ensure regularity of payments — which form the basis of meeting his/her own financial obligations.
Second, as the alimony payor has far more direct control over his or her employment, it is logical that he/she carries the responsibility for it as well. A resentful payor could deliberately sabotage her own livelihood in an effort to unburden herself of a duty she perceives as oppressive and unfair. In order to balance two risk factors inherent in alimony payors — control and high emotionality — the legal system demonstrates more rigidity than flexibility when holding the payor to his/her commitment.
The good news, as usual, comes in the option of mediation. In mediation, spouses can consider significant changes of circumstances when formulating their settlement agreements, before a crisis ensues. In the event of a job loss, rather than having to petition the court for relief, parties can return to mediation to create an interim support and financial restructuring until gainful employment is restored.
Loss of a job is not going to relieve the payor of an alimony obligation, but in mediation, even post-divorce, we can approach economic vicissitudes in a civilized manner intended to address the needs of both parties.
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