Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Choosing Your Battles Wisely Is The Key To An Affordable Divorce
When your spouse first tells you that he or she wants a divorce, money is the farthest thing from your mind. You are thinking about all kinds of other things, each more emotionally charged than the last. How will the divorce affect your children? How dare your husband leave you for another woman? What… Read More »
Can You And Your Ex-Spouse Get Joint Custody Of Your Pets?
Valentine’s Day is only weeks away, and you have almost decided to take the plunge and file for divorce, but one thing is stopping you. Your financial situation has never been stellar during your marriage, and you may even be able to get into a better financial position once you are no longer responsible… Read More »
Can Your Ex-Spouse Micromanage Your Childcare Arrangements?
As stressful as it can be to co-parent after divorce, a parenting plan can help you bring order out of chaos. You have it in writing that, during even-numbered years, the children are with you for the duration of Thanksgiving weekend. This means that, if your ex-spouse shows up on the morning of Black… Read More »
Are You Ready For Divorce Monday?
Can you believe that 2022 is almost over? Time has started to fly again like it did before the pandemic lockdowns, and now the news headlines about Divorce Monday are starting to appear again. As everyone knows (with the possible exception of happily married and happily single people), Divorce Monday is the first business… Read More »
What Happens If Your Ex-Spouse Doesn’t Follow The Parenting Plan?
If you do not pay the amount of child support that the court has ordered you to pay, you can get in big trouble. Not only are you responsible for all your overdue child support payments until you pay them, but the court can garnish your paychecks, suspend your driver’s license, and even send… Read More »
When To Run In The Opposite Direction After Meeting With A Divorce Lawyer
When your spouse serves you with divorce papers, you have only one month to get your act together to file a response, or else the court will grant your spouse everything he asked for in the divorce petition. No matter how hard you tried to keep the peace during an unhappy marriage, your financial… Read More »
How To Survive Your First Holiday After Divorce
The signs of the holiday season are already upon us, the supermarket displays with jars of nutmeg lined up next to rectangular plastic boxes of crispy fried onions, the food-themed decorations everywhere. The holidays can be a source of family stress regardless of your marital status; even if you and your siblings don’t fight… Read More »
What Does Your First Ex-Spouse Have To Do With Your Second Divorce?
If there is anything good about divorce, it is that, once the divorce is over, you do not have to deal with your ex-spouse and your former in-laws again unless you want to. It isn’t quite so simple if you and your ex had minor children at the time of your divorce, but in… Read More »
Retroactive Child Support In Alabama
It is certainly disturbing to receive a letter from the court, asking you to pay child support for a child you have not seen in years, or worse, to take a DNA paternity test, and to pay child support if it turns out that you are the child’s genetic father. Perhaps you fathered the… Read More »
How Much Do Children’s Opinions Count In Parenting Time Decisions?
Based on the principle of selfless love, you should want your children to be as happy during their time with your ex-spouse as they are during their time with you. The family courts do not expect you to be a perfect parent or to possess superhuman altruism, but they do expect you not to… Read More »