Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Are Insurance Payouts Marital Property?
With only a few exceptions, all of the money that either spouse receives during the marriage is marital property, which means that it is subject to equitable distribution in divorce. If that were not the case, then divorce would leave stay-at-home mothers destitute and they would reenter the workforce after divorce starting from zero,… Read More »
Residency Requirements For Alabama Divorce
When an employer offers you an employment contract, you keep rereading the line that tells you how much your new job will pay, but you may ignore the most important sentence of the contract, namely the dispute resolution clause. It should say, “The courts of Alabama have jurisdiction to rule on disputes arising from… Read More »
Which Time Sharing Schedule Is Best For Your Family?
Some parts of divorce are easier to adjust to than others, even if you have children. As hard as it can be to co-parent with your ex and see her take that same passive aggressive tone with them that she used to take with you during your marriage, you must admit that it is… Read More »
Country Club Memberships And Alabama Divorce
Perhaps up north, country clubs are stuffy and stodgy places where men in tweed suits drink whiskey in dimly lit dining rooms with taxidermied deer heads mounted on the walls, but in Alabama, country clubs are much more fun. The weather is sunny enough for golf and tennis year-round. You can sip cocktails poolside… Read More »
Another School Year, Another Back-To-School Parenting Challenge?
It seems like summer has just started, and from an astronomical perspective, it has. Summer vacation goes by quickly, and although your children might be in denial about this fact, a new school year is just around the corner. Many parents and kids regard the last day of summer vacation, before the new school… Read More »
How To Cope With The Chaos Of Divorce
When your divorce case is pending, it can feel like everything you have worked for since you took your first steps into adulthood is falling apart. From the time you graduated from college until the day you received your spouse’s divorce petition, you never wasted a minute or a penny. Your work ethic and… Read More »
Can You Secretly Record Phone Calls To Show Your Spouse’s True Colors To The Divorce Court?
One of the most frustrating parts of divorce is when your spouse plays innocent in front of the judge and pretends to be the perfect spouse and parent, trying to convince the judge that you are the one who ruined your marriage single-handedly and that all the problems your children have had before or… Read More »
Co-Parenting When Your Children Are Grown Up
Some people stay in unhappy marriages until their youngest child graduates from high school and then file for divorce after his or her graduation, hoping to avoid all the stress of drafting a parenting plan and complying with a child support order. Certain problems are unique to divorce cases where the couple has minor… Read More »
You Know Your Divorce Is Messy When The Court Orders Your Spouse To Pay Temporary Alimony
The word “alimony” strikes fear in the hearts of many breadwinner spouses, but pendente lite does not. It just sounds like another legalese Latin term. In fact, pendente lite alimony is the most common type of alimony that the family law courts in Alabama award. Pendente lite alimony is also known as temporary alimony,… Read More »
Co-Parenting Disputes About Kids Staying Home Alone
If you and your ex-spouse never disagreed, she would not be your ex. Now that you are divorced, your court-ordered parenting plan is supposed to keep the peace. It sets guidelines for deciding about children’s medical care and education, but it puts you in a good position to stay out of each other’s business… Read More »