Parents and caregivers alike can agree that children are expensive. This is why it is generally agreed that both the mother and the father have an obligation to provide financial support for any children they have. When the parents are not married or they are getting a divorce, a child support order can be entered to ensure both parents contribute their fair financial share. Child support is calculated using a formula that incorporates both parents’ income, amount of parenting time, and whether or not they have other child support or spousal maintenance obligations.

However, monthly child support obligations do not always cover all costs associated with raising a child. There are expenses that will appear that are not accounted for in the monthly child support obligation. You are not required to address them in your parenting plan or support order, but doing so can save time and stress in the long run.

Dividing Your Child’s Additional Expenses

For some parents, decisions about how expenses are allocated can be made as needed, however, this type of arrangement typically only works if the parents are on good terms with each other and they are willing to compromise. In most cases, it would behoove you to try to address any foreseen additional expenses in your parenting plan or support order before your case is finalized. These expenses can include:

For many people, the largest asset they own is their home. Real estate can make for some tricky situations when it comes to the asset division process of divorce. Everything must be divided, including real estate, like your family home. While cutting your home down the middle will not help you out, there are three viable ways you can deal with your marital home during your divorce: keep the home under joint ownership, sell the home or have one spouse own the home in their name only.

To Appraise or Not to Appraise?

Getting an actual appraisal for your home is an important step in the process. You may think you are able to estimate how much your home is worth, but it is actually in your best interest to get a home appraisal so you have a legitimate figure of how much you are working with. There are many reasons why someone would want to have their home appraised, which include:

• Ensuring the estimated value of your home is accurate
• The divorce court requires a current official appraisal of your home
• The value of your home may have changed since you last had it appraised
• Having proof of a specific numeric valuation in the case their spouse disputes the value

Preparing for Your Appraisal

During a home appraisal, an inspector will come to your home and assess its value based on square footage, lot size, measurements, photos, the number of rooms in the home, and the condition of the property. The appraiser will also factor in things such as the neighborhood demographics, housing trends, available utilities, and other details about your home.

For many couples who are divorcing with children, much of the stress present during the divorce accumulates because of child-related issues. It can sometimes feel like you are fighting tooth and nail to ensure your children are getting what is best for them. The issue is that your spouse also thinks that he knows what is best for the children and most of the time, that idea does not line up entirely with yours. Most parents will have some sort of an argument or disagreement at some point during the process, but when the situation gets too out of hand, the judge might intervene and order you and your spouse to work with a parenting coordinator.

The Role of a Parenting Coordinator

A parenting coordinator, also known as a PC, is a highly-trained professional who helps parents that are separated or divorced settle their disputes about child-related issues. PCs are used in situations in which the parents of a child just cannot seem to get along or cooperate with one another. The PC’s main task is to help couples make decisions without having to make multiple court appearances. A PC may also:

• Make recommendations to the court concerning approaches that are aimed at reducing the conflict between parents and stress on the children
• Mediate disputes between parents
• Recommend other resources such as psychotherapy, drug counseling and/or testing, or parenting classes
• Serve as a line of communication between parents
• Give the couple tools and practices to help facilitate healthy communication

When Would a Parenting Coordinator Be Appointed?

Most of the time, parenting coordinators are appointed to couples by a judge. Parents are permitted to hire a parenting coordinator of their own will, but both parents must be in agreement, making it a rare occurrence. A parenting coordinator is usually used as a last resort and is appointed if:

When you first begin the divorce process, you will likely be advised to come up with a list of issues that matter the most to you -- the ones that you are adamant about fighting for. What is on that list? For some people, their finances are at the top of their list of concerns. The way your finances are handled during your divorce could significantly impact your financial situation after the fact and for years to come.

The first step in successfully managing your finances during your divorce is taking an actual inventory of everything that you and your spouse own. This includes both physical items such as vehicles and jewelry and immaterial items, like bank accounts or retirement funds. Ensuring you have an accurate picture of your financial situation before any decisions are made is crucial. Here are a few tips to help you inventory your assets:

Make a List of Common Assets

Firstly, make a list of any assets that you and your spouse both have ownership to. This should include both physical and immaterial items that are considered marital property and subject to division during the divorce. Physical items can include things such as real estate, vehicles, artwork, or other important and/or expensive assets. Other items that you will want to include on the list are things such as bank accounts, retirement accounts, gym memberships, airline miles, or other immaterial items.

In a divorce, you end up having to make a lot of compromises. The divorce process involves a series of negotiations, many of which you might leave feeling as if you did not get what you wanted, but it has been said before: a good compromise is when both parties are dissatisfied. Compromise can indeed sometimes feel as if you have lost, but when it comes to your divorce, you should do everything you can to adhere to the compromises you agreed to. If not, the court may end up holding you in contempt.

Understanding Contempt of Court

Contempt of court occurs when a person does something that a judge or a court order has prohibited them from doing or required them to do. In most cases of contempt in family court, people are held in contempt because they have not obeyed or have violated an official order, such as a custody arrangement or support order.

If a person believes that their spouse is purposefully disobeying a court order, they can ask the judge to hold their spouse in contempt of court. A hearing will then be held to determine whether or not the spouse was actually in contempt and what consequences should be applied. For a person to be held in contempt, it must be proven that they: