What Happens To Electronic Data In Divorce?

With the amount of information we put out there online through our use of smartphones and social media, it is not surprising that often, this data is used as evidence in divorce cases. Smartphones are the modern-day filing cabinet, containing tons of valuable information about their owners. Attorneys seek out this information during discovery to ensure both parties receive a fair shake in the divorce. If you post something online, you should assume that that information will make it to your spouse’s attorney.

There are steps you can take to protect your private data, and you should be prepared to do so the moment divorce becomes imminent. Here are a few tips to keep your private data private:

  1. Change ALL your passwords that your spouse may have had access to: your emails, your tablet passcode, your cell phone pin, your online banking and anything else you use on a regular basis.
  2. If you must post on social media, leave out everything related to your divorce, purchases or travels. If you are going to post photos, know that all photos posted from mobile devices carry GPS coordinates in their metadata, and your spouse’s attorney will be combing through that data.
  3. Separate yourself from any shared accounts, including bank accounts and even social media accounts.
  4. Back up any important data on your devices somewhere where only you have access.
  5. Check your privacy settings on social media and, if necessary, remove your spouse from your social media accounts.
  6. Don’t delete anything! Deleting your data is considered spoliation of evidence and will hurt your divorce case.

By digitally separating yourself from your spouse, you protect any valuable information a spiteful spouse might try to use against you while preserving that spouse’s right to electronic discovery.

Our Denver divorce lawyers use cutting-edge discovery tactics to ensure our clients are protected in divorce.

These Two Questions Might Be Able To Predict Your Divorce

Divorce is a complicated thing, but economists suggest that we can boil down a person’s chances of a future divorce using two questions:

  1. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being worse and 5 being better, how do you think your level of happiness would be different if you and your partner separated?
  2. How do you think your partner’s level of happiness would be different if you and your partner separated, on the same scale?

The first question is fairly predictable ”“ a score of 5 suggests that divorce is definitely in the cards. But your answer to the second question, as well as whether your answer is correct, could be an even more potent predictor of divorce.

How These Two Questions Can Predict Divorce

The study, conducted by University of Virginia economics researchers, surveyed 3,547 couples, recording their answers to the above questions. They were asked twice, six years apart, during which 7 percent of the couples divorced. For those couples who answered the first question with a 1 or a 2, the divorce rate was lower than usual. For those who answered 4 or 5, the divorce rate was higher than normal.

On the second question, couples who had “incorrect perceptions” of the other party’s happiness were overall more likely to divorce (8.6 percent, compared to 7 percent). But for those who had seriously incorrect perceptions (meaning their perceptions of their spouse’s second answer were off by two points) had a stunning 12 to 14 percent divorce rate. It suggests that, more important than your own happiness in a marriage, an incorrect perception of your partner’s feelings toward the relationship could be more of a predictor of divorce. The study shows that, as the adage goes, communication is key to staying together with your spouse.

Whether you are starting a family, have a marital dispute or need help planning for your family’s future, our Denver family attorneys are ready to assist.

After 13 Years Of Marriage, Slash Claims It Was All Fake

Almost two years ago, guitarist Slash of Guns N’ Roses fame filed for divorce from his wife, Perla Hudson. The two have been married since October of 2001 ”“ or have they?

In a recent revelation, Slash has attempted to convince the judge overseeing their divorce that Hudson is not entitled to a dime of his substantial fortune because the two were never actually legally married. His logic: Hudson was married to a man named Carlos Marty back in 1993, in a marriage that lasted only a month. The two filed for divorce, but apparently, a final judgment was never issued, meaning that Hudson and Marty’s marriage, technically, still exists. That means that Hudson could not have legally married Slash in 2001 ”“ he has called her a bigamist and now wants to withhold all his assets from her.

The question remains: will Slash get away with withholding all his fortune?

Putative Spouses in Colorado

In Colorado (and elsewhere throughout the country), there is an understanding of something called putative spouses. A putative spouse is any person who has cohabitated with another person, to whom he or she is not legally married, but in good faith belief that he or she was married to that person. These cases are rare, but do happen.

Putative spouses have all the rights of legal spouses, including spousal support, child support and property division rights. This means that Hudson may still be able to receive her share of the marital assets from Slash.

If you are engaged in disputes about the validity of a marriage, whether due to a putative spouse situation, common law marriage or other circumstances, our Denver family lawyers can help.

Returning To Work After Divorce? Here Are Some Tips To Keep Yourself Afloat

It happens all the time. One parent is out there making the money while the other stays home to raise the kids and take care of the house, but things start to get stressful. People grow apart. Then come those bone-chilling words: “I want a divorce.”

In situations like these, the stay-at-home parent is often disproportionately disadvantaged. While the process of asset division and the potential for spousal support can help the stay-at-home parent stay afloat in the short term, there are still often lingering issues that can prevent that parent from being able to find gainful employment. Perhaps in the time spent raising the kids and keeping house, the parent has allowed his or her education and training to languish. This means that finding a job to maintain a decent lifestyle can be a daunting process. Here are some tips to help those who are returning to work after divorce:

  1. Budgeting is key. Reassess your finances, figure out where you stand and then take inventory of your new needs. If you are not able to find quick employment, your assets from your divorce settlement will have to be stretched to cover you until you find work.
  2. Suppose you get the house, but it’s a three bedroom and the kids have moved out. Do you really need all of that space to yourself? Could you sell it reasonably quickly and move into a more realistically accommodating space? If you can, then the money you get from the sale can be a huge help in moving forward.
  3. Get help updating your résumé. It has probably been a while since you even looked at yours, and what employers are looking for has likely changed since you last had a job. Ask your friends if you can look over their résumés and see if they will review yours for you.
  4. When is the last time you sat down for a job interview? It has probably been a while. That means you need to practice! Whether it is in a mirror or in mock interviews with family or friends, you could benefit from a little rehearsal.
  5. Talk to everyone! Networking is key in our modern job-seeking world. Get on LinkedIn and talk to old friends and coworkers about any opportunities they might be aware of.
  6. Don’t give up!

Our Denver family law firm seeks to provide exceptional client experience throughout Denver.

Kate Beckinsale Divorce: Does Len Wiseman Have Any Rights Over His Stepdaughter?

It’s official: Kate Beckinsale and Len Wiseman are getting divorced. After a plague of rumors over the last few months, during which both parties were photographed without their wedding rings, director Wiseman officially filed for divorce. Neither is seeking spousal support and it is believed that the two have a prenuptial agreement.

While Wiseman and Beckinsale have no children together, Beckinsale does have a 17-year-old daughter from a previous marriage. This brings up an interesting question ”“ does Wiseman have any parental rights over his stepdaughter?

Colorado Stepparent Custody & Visitation

While we can’t speak for other states with different laws, if Beckinsale and Wiseman were Colorado residents, Wiseman would have certain rights over his stepdaughter, though those rights would be much less powerful than Beckinsale’s.

Given the high rate of divorce in this country, many children have stepparents. A stepparent in Colorado may assert custody of a child if he or she has been one of the child’s primary caretakers for six months. Additionally, courts are able to grant visitation for stepparents who have acted in the place of a parent.

Stepparents have an easier time obtaining visitation rights than they do custody rights over stepchildren. It all hinges on the court’s interpretation of what would be in the best interests of the child. If the stepparent was an active participant in the child’s life, has been an active participant for a decent length of time and it would be a detriment to the child for the stepparent to be removed from the child’s life, the courts will likely grant some rights to the stepparent.

Ask a Denver family law attorney about your rights as a stepparent in divorce.

Can I Stay On My Spouse’s Health Insurance After My Divorce?

Maybe your work doesn’t offer health insurance. Maybe it does, but your plan through your spouse’s work is better. But what happens when you separate? Can you stay on your spouse’s insurance, or do you have to seek out another provider?

Issues of Health Insurance in Divorce

No matter whether you are legally separated or divorced, you have the option of staying on your ex’s health insurance in a limited capacity through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, or COBRA. If your ex-works for a company with more than 20 employees, COBRA eligibility is automatic. If your spouse works for a company with less than 20 employees, you might still be eligible for Colorado’s mini-COBRA.

However, your spouse’s company is only required to provide COBRA coverage to you if you notify the insurance provider within 60 days of your divorce. If you fail to notify them in time, you will not be covered under COBRA.

Additionally, you cannot use COBRA forever. There is a 36-month limit on COBRA coverage, so while using your ex’s insurance might buy you some time, you should still be ready to transfer to your own health insurance plan when COBRA expires.

Before you decide on COBRA coverage, you should compare the rates with the health insurance provided by your own job, if there is any. While many employers pay a portion or all of employees’ health insurance premiums, COBRA requires you to pay your whole premium (and in some cases, more). COBRA may be convenient, but it can be more expensive than finding your own plan through your employer.

Our Denver family lawyers are well-equipped to assist you in ensuring that your needs are taken care of following divorce.

We’re All Celebrities: What Has Social Media Done To Divorce Cases?

The celebrity divorce is the quintessential aisle dressing of shopping centers across America. It seems like every day there’s a new cover story alleging an upcoming celebrity divorce (and sometimes they’re right. Sometimes). And we eat it up! Why is it that celebrity divorces are so popular? And is social media making the average person’s divorce more like a celebrity divorce?

Social Media, Divorce & The Court Of Public Opinion

What separates the average divorce from a celebrity divorce is that celebrity divorces are often these public spectacles that everyone wants a piece of. Some celebrities will use sites like Facebook or Twitter or even YouTube to tell their side of their story, hoping to garner sympathy and, in some contentious cases, turn the public opinion against their spouse.

Nowadays, social media has allowed the average divorcee to use social media for the same purposes ”“ to air their exes’ dirty laundry in hopes of gathering support or sympathy or even tangible things like property or child custody. It can be as simple as emailing their estranged partner’s family to allege infidelity, or something as far-reaching as posting a picture of the partner’s new boat as a way of spiting the partner for lying about assets.

We understand that divorce is an intensely personal, emotional process and that recovery takes a long time. But it should also be a private process. There’s nothing wrong with discussing your divorce with close friends or family members, but putting it out there on social media can often lead to disastrous consequences. Know that in your divorce, all of these electronic records are going to be used by both yours and your former partner’s attorneys in order to come up with asset division plans and parenting schedules. Keep your divorce out of your friends’ Facebook feeds, or it might come back to haunt you.

Our Denver family lawyers use thorough electronic discovery methods in order to ensure that you receive your fair share in divorce.

What Can We Learn From The Brangelina Divorce?

Location is very important in divorce. Because state laws regarding things like property division vary widely throughout the United States, choosing where to file for divorce is important. Is your state an equitable division state or a community property state? Do both spouses live in different states? What about the kids? What happens to property in states that neither party resides in?

The Brangelina divorce demonstrates some of the complexities of location in divorce. The two own quite a few properties all over the world. From their multimillion dollar compound in Los Angeles to their New Orleans French Quarter mansion to their southern France chateau, the couple needed to make an important decision: where do we file for divorce, and why?

Jurisdictional Differences In The United States

In community property states, assets earned or acquired during a marriage are understood to be equally owned and are divided as such. Even if one spouse is unemployed, that spouse is still entitled to half of the marital assets. In equitable division states, the courts determine what property is marital and which is separate, tally up the marital property and negotiate an equitable, but not necessarily equal, division. Colorado is an equitable division state. Depending on the nature of your finances and assets, choosing between an equitable division state and a community property state can drastically affect your divorce settlement.

If you own property in Colorado and another state and are filing for divorce, another question you need to ask is: do you fulfill the residency requirement for the state to file for divorce? For example, in Colorado, one spouse must be a legal resident of Colorado for 90 days before a divorce can be filed. You are allowed to file for divorce anywhere that you and your spouse meet residency requirements. You can use this information strategically, even for property in other states, because often the rules of the state where the divorce is filed take precedence over the rules of other states.

One last thing you should look at is spousal support laws (also known as maintenance or alimony, depending on where you’re from). If you intend to collect spousal support, look into the laws in Colorado and the other states where you meet residency requirements to determine if the laws for maintenance might be favorable if you file for divorce somewhere else.

Our Colorado family law firm can assist you in matters of property division regarding properties both in and outside of Colorado.

Are Women Worse Off In Retirement After Divorce?

Earlier this year, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney of the U.S. Joint Economic Committee released a stunning report about the gender pay gap and the long-term effects it can have on women. It also addressed how lesser pay over a long term slashes the retirement prospects for women, an effect that has drastic implications for divorcing women.

According to the report, over the course of a woman’s career, she can expect to make a little over $10,000 less than a man in the same role per year. Over a lifetime, that amount can reach a staggering half million. Not just that, but the report noted that women tend to leave jobs more frequently than men, making them less able to set up pensions (33 percent of women have pensions, compared to 55 percent of men). Women also generally have lower salaries.

Not only that, but because women often bear the brunt of taking care of the immediate needs of their families, they often invest less in their retirement accounts than men do. As a result, women often have less money than men during retirement ”“ and if divorce happens, this can be detrimental to womens’ prospects for the futures.

The Effect of Divorce on Women and Retirement

Because women are less able to plan for retirement than men, in addition to the expenses of filing for divorce, attorney fees and the disputes that go on during property division, divorcing women are typically disadvantaged in divorce. In fact, divorced women actually have some of the highest poverty levels among women ”“ even widows are generally at less risk of poverty than divorcing women. Only women who never marry have worse poverty levels.

So, how can women prepare for retirement and divorce in light of the overwhelming pressures they face? Women should be aware of how their divorce settlements will affect retirement accounts for both themselves and their spouses. Consider the future values of assets during the process of marital asset division, not just the current values. Many divorcing couples are interested in the here and now ”“ who gets the house, who gets the cars, who gets the boats. But often, retirement accounts (due to their tax-free growth) are much more valuable in the long term than other property. Trading some assets away during the divorce may be a worthwhile exchange for a portion of a spouse’s retirement fund.

Our Denver family law firm can assist your family in property division to ensure that both parties receive an equitable, future-proof portion of your marital assets.

Can I Get A Divorce In Colorado If I Am Pregnant?

Divorce is stressful. Pregnancy is stressful. And both at the same time?

When divorce comes up during a pregnancy, there are a lot of questions to ask. How does the divorce affect child custody? What about child support? If you divorce before birth, is it easier or harder to deal with these issues?

For fathers, the divorce might bring up worries about legal paternity, which is required for the father to have visitation rights, custody and child support obligations. Fortunately, establishing paternity even in divorce is usually a simple process. If the parties are married, then paternity is automatically presumed. If the parties are unmarried, the father can submit a Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity (which won’t include child custody or child support issues) or file a judicial action for paternity (which will include support and custody issues. If, for whatever reason, the mother decides to deny paternity, then the father would have to undergo a paternity test.

Fathers may also worry that they will be less likely to have custody of the baby. As far as the law is concerned, that is not true ”“ both parents have equal claim to the child. However, the courts are responsible for assigning custody and will have to approve any proposed custody plans. They will only approve what they feel is within the child’s best interest. Judges understand the need for both parents to foster a connection with the baby and will often recommend frequent visitation for the non-custodial parent. The best way to ensure a parenting time schedule that works best for you and your child is through mediation, rather than just letting the judge come up with one.

As for child support, it works the same way for pre-birth babies as it does for ones that are born. You can petition for child support even before the baby is born, and it is calculated the same way (and you can find out how it is calculated using our app.) You shouldn’t wait to file for child support, but know that no orders will be given until the baby is born.

Our Denver family lawyers are well-equipped to assist pregnant mothers in matters of family law.