Till Debt Do We Part?

Till Debt Do We Part?

In community property states, both spouses are responsible for any debt that has been incurred while they were married. 

That means if one spouse doesn’t pay an outstanding credit card debt accumulated during the marriage, then the other one must pay, or risk credit damage and collection actions. The credit card company doesn’t view it as “his” or “her” debt. Instead, they see one debt, and if they can’t collect from one party, they will try to get the entire balance from the other party.

To read more about divorce and credit card debt, click on the following link:

http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2013/07/12/divorce-and-card-debt-in-community-property-s…

However, if you are divorcing in Rhode Island, it is important to note that Rhode Island is not a community property state, but instead is an equitable distribution state. 

In Rhode Island, marital property is considered to be all property acquired during the marriage by both partners. If there is a divorce, the court will aim to distribute one half of this property to each spouse unless the court finds such a division to be inequitable or unfair. In order to decide this, the court looks at various factors such as length of marriage, age, health, employability, other sources of income and any debt.

Are you a resident of Rhode Island and considering divorce?

The experienced lawyers at Law Office of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. and the mediators at Partners In Mediation offer you two options in order to proceed with your divorce or other family disputes and problems.

Learn about these options and which would work best for you by calling or contacting Jeremy Howe for a free comprehensive telephone consultation. Attorney Howe and his team of family court lawyers have been providing quality divorce and family representation in all Family Courts in Rhode Island for nearly four decades. He and his co-mediator have mediated hundreds of divorce, family law and elder law cases across the state of Rhode Island.

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For more information, please visit them on the web at http://www.counselfirst.com

Year-End Musings regarding Elder-Law

As I read the newspaper and hear the ongoing reports regarding the fiscal cliff and the general poor state of the economy (state and federal in the case of Rhode Islanders), I am quite concerned for my clients and for my family and friends. I attended an annual federal and state estate planning update two weeks ago and learned that the experts had no clear idea of what lies before us after January 1st. The three speakers disagreed in their predictions of what will occur and where it will leave us. So the message is “stay tuned”. Personally, I want to make sure that I make the best plans for my family but how to plan in the midst of chaos?

To move from the general to the particular, I have found that many clients come in and review their estate plan with us during what we term a “tune-up” but often they fail to follow through. Recently, a client cost his father’s chosen recipients many thousands of dollars by not checking the “transfer on death beneficiaries” of assets owned by the client’s father. The father passed away and the balance of the father’s pension contributions went to a former lady friend who had not been part of his life for more than a decade. What’s the moral of this story? It may be time for you to book a tune-up. Life has become more and more complicated by rules, regulations, and laws. It is difficult if not near-impossible to stay on top of Medicaid, Medicare, Veterans’ benefits, Social Security, state and local income tax laws, estate tax laws and the never-ending changes to all of them. We look forward to meeting with you. Then please follow through after our meeting! We at The Law Offices of Jeremy Howe and at Partners In Mediation wish you and yours a healthy and prosperous 2013.

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The Law Offices of Jeremy W. Howe, LTD. are ElderLaw attorneys in Rhode Island who specialize in wills and trusts, estate planning, guardianship, probate, and Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits.

They also are Newport Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers, Attorneys, Mediators, and Arbitrators providing services for family law issues such as divorce, child custody and visitation, support, and military family law.

Call them today at 401-841-5700 or visit them on the web at http://www.CounselFirst.com.