The Best Post-Divorce Activities for You and Your Children

Now that you have divorced, your family unit has changed. As a single parent, you are now the one in charge when the children are with you. You no longer have to worry about the wants and needs of a spouse, which means you now have the freedom to choose activities that you want to do, as well as fun things that your children will enjoy.

Keeping busy is essential after a divorce. When you have too much free time, your mind tends to focus on negativity. Therefore, you can help you and your children recover from the effects of divorce by participating in fun activities. Here are some fun post-divorce activities to consider.

Arts and Crafts

Arts and crafts classes can help bring out your child’s creative side. To be sure, Denver is home to a number of pottery studios, which may offer summer programs for children as well as classes for parents and children to work on projects together. You’ll work with clay to learn pottery through wheel-throwing and handbuilding.

If you prefer other types of arts and crafts””such as painting, jewelry making or some other interest you and children share””you should be able to find classes in your area.

Trampoline Park

Jumping on a trampoline may seem repetitive, but there are fun activities included in the jumping zones. There are several trampoline parks in the Centennial area that offer activities such as obstacle courses, inflatables, sports, slides, jumping walls and parkour-type activities. Jumping is a great way to release energy. Parents can get in on the act as well and burn off stress.

Try a Sporting Activity

Bowling, miniature golf, roller skating and indoor rock climbing are all fun activities that parents and children can do together. Decide on something you haven’t done before and make plans to try it out. Who knows, it may become a regular thing.

Go to a Fair or Festival

Colorado has some type of fair, festival, show or event happening most weekends. Look online for information about county fairs, the state fair, local carnivals and other fun events that your children would enjoy. Many of these events are day-long events that allow you spend quality time with your kids and enjoy yourself without thinking about the divorce.

Go Out to Eat

Even something as simple as going out for a meal or dessert can become a fun thing to do with your kids. It can easily become a routine that your children will look forward to. Have them choose a new different restaurant so you can try something new and have some variety.

Seek Advice from an Experienced Lakewood Divorce Lawyer

Families change after a divorce. You are now a single parent, so take this time to focus on doing activities that you and your children can enjoy together. Colorado offers many fun activities for families. The Centennial lawyers at Divorce Matters can help you adjust to life as a single parent and explain more about family law in Colorado. To get connected to resources in your community, contact us at (720) 408-7469.

Child Support and the Gig Economy

Avoiding child support payments is nothing new, but the way people try to hide their income is new. There are tried and true methods for obtaining child support. Obtaining tax refunds, garnishing wages and bank accounts are straightforward methods that work. However, these tactics rarely work for the gig economy. The gig economy is a fancy way of saying the self-employed economy. Another word that people like to use is freelancing, but it all means self-employed.

Why Being Self-Employed Makes It Harder for Child Support Collections

The self-employed rarely have tax refunds, and they almost always owe taxes at the end of the year.  They can time their payments to the IRS to avoid ever having a tax refund. The self-employed often don’t have actual wages to garnish and bank accounts are often in a company name, not subject to garnishment for individual child support obligations. The self-employed are sometimes paid in cash which is almost impossible to trace or collect.  For these reasons, the self-employed have always posed a problem for child support collections.

One of the obstacles with the gig economy is that when someone is self-employed is not easy to track their earnings or income. Employers report new hires to data bases for child support enforcement, but employers do not have to report contractors. This means that companies such as Uber or Airbnb do not report to these databases because they hire contractors and not employees.

How Can You Overcome This Obstacle?

Payments to contractors can be garnished once they are discovered and a private family law attorney can assist in collecting. But often the self- employed person moves onto a new gig once the old gig is discovered and garnished. The new gig economy poses new problems for child support enforcement and as the gig economy grows, so does the problem of child support collections.

Contact A Divorce Matters Attorney For Help With Obtaining Child Support

If you have questions, contact us here at Divorce Matters. We can help you try and recover child support if you find yourself on the wrong side of the new gig economy. Visit us at www-divorce-matters.com for more information.

Paternity, DNA & Old Wives Tales

Sure, you thought that DNA test would prove paternity once and for all right? Wrong. When unmarried couples bear children, the father is not automatically entitled to have his name on the birth certificate.  A father can have his name on the birth certificate simply by proving though a paternity action he is the biological father. A father can also have his name placed on the birth certificate if he signs a written acknowledgement of paternity. You can acknowledge paternity even if you are not the biological father.
This signed acknowledgement of paternity can be challenged within 60 days. After 60 days, a signed acknowledgement of paternity can be challenged only on the basis of fraud, duress or material mistake of fact. If a man signs an acknowledgement of paternity then that man can become liable for child support even if he is not the biological father.
If you say you are the father in writing, it may be very difficult to avoid paying child support later on even if DNA evidence proves otherwise. This is because a signed acknowledgement of paternity is extremely difficult to set aside after 60 days.

5 Things To Know About Child Support Garnishments

  1. Child support garnishments can be sent to an employer to attach wages. For wage attachment, Child support garnishments go to the front of the line above all other garnishments except IRS liens.
  2. Wages can be garnished up to 65% of “disposable income.” That’s after-tax income. So the employer first reduces wages by taxes and then by child support.
  3. An employer can deduct an additional $5 per paycheck as an administrative fee. This does not reduce child support but further reduces the employees pay.
  4. Child support garnishments can be taken from Workers’ Compensation benefits and can garnish workers’ compensation settlements.
  5. A private attorney can pursue past due child support on a percentage fee basis.

How To Give Your Child Emotional Support Through Divorce

Different colored hands with hearts on the palm

If you are facing divorce or perhaps already going through it, then you know that no matter what happens it will be something that affects your children. This is perfectly normal and there is a natural grieving process that they will go through as they deal with their emotions around your separation. There are ways you can help make sure that your children have the support they need during this time.

The first is to make sure that they know you are there if they need to talk about it. The urge to keep it hush-hush can be strong if you feel like avoiding the topic would be less painful for them. However, letting them know you are available to talk to about it without forcing them to gives them the space they need to process their emotions and feel safe enough to approach you if they have questions or need to share something.

One of the best things you can do for your kids is to try and work out an amicable and conflict free co-parenting plan. Of course, this isn’t always an option depending on the individual situation but if you can work to settle your differences with your ex-spouse for the sake of your kids it will go a really long way in helping them deal with their emotions about the divorce.

Finally, don’t be afraid to get yourself and/or your child professional help if either of you find that you continue to struggle with the divorce in a manner that seems unhealthy. Talking to a counselor or therapist is a great way to learn the tools needed to cope with the stress associated with divorce.

Playing For Keeps: Dennis & Kimberly Quaid Dispute Over Support Payments

Dennis Quaid and Kimberly Quaid are playing for keeps in a dispute regarding child support and spousal support for Kimberly and the kids. Kimberly filed for divorce last June and never got a temporary spousal or child support order. Dennis has been paying spousal and child support voluntarily for Kimberly’s and their twins’ living expenses, but a dispute has arisen. Kimberly doesn’t think Dennis is paying enough. Dennis thinks he is paying too much.

So, the issue will be thrown to the courts. It will be up to a judge to decide who is right ”“ and whoever is wrong will have to cut a check for the difference to the other. It’s a bit like Vegas ”“ high risk, high reward.

How Child Support & Spousal Maintenance Are Calculated In Colorado

In Colorado, determining child support payments is based on defined calculations. The state first looks at a parent’s gross monthly income prior to taxes and deductions, and then takes into consideration the amount of overnights each parent spends with the children. Usually, it is the parent who has less custody time with the child who pays child support, unless one party has significantly higher income.

As for spousal maintenance (also called spousal support or alimony), no spouse has an automatic right to this support. Whether someone will receive spousal maintenance will be determined by the courts based on whether that person lacks sufficient property to meet reasonable needs and is either unable to work or has child care responsibilities. Support is calculated based on the length of marriage, the health (mental and physical) of both parties, the standard of living the couple enjoyed, each party’s earning capacity and how marital property is divided.

If you’re curious to see what your Colorado support payments would look like, check out our spousal support and child support calculator app, available for free on iOS and Android devices.

Dissipation Of Assets In Divorce & How To Fight It

In an ideal world, divorcing couples would be able to sit down with one another and separate amicably. Often, this is not the case. In particularly contentious divorces, greed, anger and spite can lead to vicious debates regarding assets. And sometimes, vindictive spouses will fight dirty to enact revenge on their exes. One such trick is known as dissipation of assets, and it can cause serious complications for one or both parties.

Dissipation of assets is a fancy legal way of saying that one spouse wasted marital assets to deprive the other party of those assets. For example, a husband decides to spend a significant amount of money on jewelry for a mistress. That money, in divorce, would be subject to equitable division between both parties, but because the husband dissipated those assets, the wife now faces financial struggles because of her husband’s malice.

Colorado offers some protection against this type of behavior in the form of the Automatic Temporary Restraining Order, or ATRO. This injunction helps prevent either party from disturbing the peace of another party, including prevention of dissipation of marital assets. While the ATRO is in effect, neither party can transfer, encumber, conceal or dispose of property without a court order or the other party’s consent.

Additionally, the services of an attorney can help you prove that dissipation occurred, which can help you fight for a fairer settlement. We can conduct interrogatories and request documents, financial releases and depositions to trace these dissipated assets.

Our Denver family law attorneys are ready to assist you in the process of asset division and protecting your assets from your spouse.

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.

What Do I Do If My Ex Is Not Paying Child Support?

What do you do if your ex-spouse refuses to make court-ordered child support payments?

Being a single parent can be tough, and child support payments help the parent keep bills and childcare costs under control. So it can be devastating when one party refuses to make those payments.

Fortunately, there are steps you can take to force your ex-spouse’s hand. The state takes child support very seriously, and those who do not pay it can suffer some pretty serious consequences. Not paying can lead to long-term financial ruin.

Consequences of Failure to Pay Child Support

Every month that child support is not paid, a judgment is issued against the non-paying party. These judgments, while destroying the party’s credit, build interest at a rate of 12% annually, compounding every month. This means that the longer the person waits to pay, the more they will owe ”“ it is not difficult for a monthly sum of a few hundred dollars to rapidly snowball into a ten thousand or even hundred-thousand-dollar problem.Additionally, child support cannot be discharged through bankruptcy, and the statute of limitations on child support judgments is 20 years. It can’t just be swept under the rug and ignored.

If the financial consequences are not able to convince the party to pay up, there are things we can do to help. The non-paying party can be held in contempt of court, which can put them in jail for up to 180 days and fine them for noncompliance. The courts can order wage garnishments on the nonpaying party, up to 65 percent of that person’s wages. The courts can also attach liens to property owned by the nonpaying party. In short ”“ it’s never worth it to withhold child support payments.

If your ex-spouse is withholding child support payments, our Denver divorce attorneys can help you bring legal action against your ex-spouse.

Introducing The Divorce Matters Spousal Maintenance & Child Support Calculator

Hello, readers! We have an exciting new announcement that may help you and your spouse figure out some of the logistics of your divorce, and you can access it directly from your Android or iOS device. Our law firm has published a free app, which you can find on Google Play by searching “Child Support Calculator CO” and on the App Store under the name “Divorce Matters Colorado Spousal Maintenance and Child Support Calculator.”

It does exactly what it sounds like it does ”“ it is a simple, portable method of quickly estimating how much you might be expected to pay for spousal maintenance (alimony) and child support if you are involved in a divorce. Knowing is half the battle ”“ our app provides a thorough, inclusive analysis of your financial situation and applies Colorado laws and statutes to help provide you with an accurate estimate of how much you or your spouse will be expected to pay, based on factors like gross monthly income, length of your marriage and a breakdown of costs you might not realize can affect alimony and child support payments. Knowing what to expect ahead of time can help relieve some of the stress and uncertainty of an upcoming divorce.

App Requirements:

If you are on iOS, our app is supported by iPhone, iPad and iPod touch running iOS 8.0 or later.

If you are on Android, you should be able to access our app as long as you are running Android 4.0 or up.

Our Denver divorce attorneys seek to provide the premier client experiences for divorcing couples in Colorado.