Month: November 2017

November 2017

A Season for Strategies

November 30, 2017 / Doing Divorce

As a child, I loved opening up the chocolate-filled advent calendar to count down the days until Christmas. However I did not love the part about having to take turns with my siblings and thus only getting to gobble down a chocolate every third day. Now as an adult, I am feeling the same frustration show up in the face of having to share my daughters with their dad during the holidays. In this season, I find the time is starting to slip further away. Not only do I have shared parenting time with my former spouse, but now my

Holiday Parenting Time

November 28, 2017 / Divorce Made Simple

When crafting your parenting plan with your co-parent, you have to specify which parent will have your children for which holidays. Typically, the major holidays are alternated annually. However, if a parent has particular holidays that are especially important to him or her, accommodations can be made. You may hear your holiday parenting time schedule referred to as “Wilson v. Wilson” parenting time. This refers to the Nebraska Supreme Court case where major holidays were identified and time sharing explained. Wilson identified the following holidays as “major”: Easter, Memorial Day weekend, Fourth of July, Labor Day weekend, Thanksgiving, Christmas (may

What is the “Right of First Refusal”?

November 21, 2017 / Divorce Made Simple

When developing your parenting plan, you and your co-parent will craft a routine parenting time schedule, setting forth specific days and times when each parent will have parenting time. The parent exercising parenting time has the power to make every day parenting decisions during his or her time. Some parents assume that if the “on duty” parent is unable to watch the child(ren), he or she will automatically call the other parent before finding alternate child care. However, no law requires this. Instead, you and your co-parent have the option of including a provision known as the “right of first

How Does Nebraska Law Divide Appreciated Property During Divorce?

November 14, 2017 / Uncategorized

Generally speaking, the property that you owned before marriage (“non-marital property”) is yours to keep after marriage, and the property that you acquired during marriage (“marital property”) must be divided between you and your spouse upon divorce, regardless of how the property was titled at the time it was acquired. While this is fairly straightforward, Nebraska courts have struggled with how appreciation earned during marriage on non-marital property should be divided. The law regarding appreciation during marriage has recently changed, which makes it important to understand old Nebraska law compared to current Nebraska law. Old Nebraska Law: Prior to July

The Truth About Timing

November 9, 2017 / Doing Divorce

I sat with a mess of memories in front of me. Reflections from our fishing trips, vacations to the beach, our wedding, the births of our babies – all in shiny ornaments to be boxed away with the holidays now over. The tree ornaments were a reflection of our collective identity as a couple. We had been compiling this collection for nearly a decade spent together. The usual post-holiday sadness set upon me. But this year there was so much more – I felt desolation. I was aware my marriage was failing. It was hard, empty, and lonely. Our moments

Social Security Benefits and Divorce

November 7, 2017 / Divorce Made Simple

If your marriage lasted 10 years or more, and you are now divorcing, you may be able to receive Social Security benefits on your soon-to-be former spouse’s record (or vice versa). In order to receive these benefits on your former spouse’s record, the following criteria must be met: You must be unmarried. At the time your former spouse is eligible to receive Social Security benefits, you must be unmarried to receive your portion. If your former spouse has remarried, your ability to receive benefits on your former spouse’s record will be unaffected. If after your divorce you remarried, but that

Hallowed Holidays

November 2, 2017 / Doing Divorce

On Halloween night I sat on my sofa with a ho and a hum. This was the first year I did not spend part of the trick or treat festivities with my daughters. My eldest goes with friends now and needs no help with costume assembly. I didn’t even see her this day. My youngest still came to my house so I could curl her hair, but then off she went at 4:30 to her dad’s house to put on her costume and laugh into the night gathering candy. Seven years of co-parenting and I still hate holidays without my