Getting a Divorce from Your Addict Spouse
Has the time come to seriously start thinking about divorcing your Addict Spouse? After much heartbreaking soul searching has the time to break the downhill addictive spiral come for you and your family? Have you decided to stop the instability and damaging personal assaults the addictive spouse and parent has inflicted on the entire family?
Here are some possible questions you may ask yourself before making the final decision of divorcing your Addict Spouse:
- Have you acknowledged to yourself that your spouse is an addict?
- Have you acknowledged to your spouse that he/she is an addict?
- Has your life and that of your family become chaotic and unstable as a result of living with an addict?
- Have you gotten help for yourself and your spouse from an addiction expert?
- Have you attended counseling with your spouse and a knowledgeable addiction therapist?
- Have you or your family experienced serious negative consequences as a result of your spouse’s addiction?
- Have you considered or tried an intervention?
- Have you told your addict spouse that you are contemplating divorce unless he/she stops using?
- Are you now ready to leave the marriage and stop the pain?
You do not have to live in this current situation. Are you, as the non-addictive spouse, already the enabler in this relationship? Many times when the addictive spouse does seek professional help it is already too late for the marriage to survive.
If you have a family, addictive reality is very destructive to you and all family members involved. Most non-addictive family members feel very helpless in stopping the family unit from being destroyed or addressing the viability of the marriage.
(credit : National Institute on Chemical Dependency: http://nicd.inspirehealth.org/)
The Importance of Family Business Succession Planning
Do you have a plan if the family business must change hands because of illness or retirement? Why is it important to start considering a business succession plan for your business? A succession plan will establish an orderly transfer of the management and ownership of the business to new managers and owners to avoid liquidation of the business, as well considering tax treatment and other anticipated expenses and allows incorporation of the family’s nontax objectives.
A Succession Plan controls future ownership and management transfers to different groups or designated transferees.
What is considered a family business? It is an enterprise owned and controlled by one or more families who plan on succeeding generations continuing to own and manage the business. Generally, only about 30% of these businesses survive the second generation and 12% the third generation.
Family businesses generate about 50% of our gross national product. The strength of the family business is independence, accomplishment and income for the family.
Why is a family Business Succession Plan so important? Estate taxes may be significant and is an important issue to be addressed. The estate tax plan involves providing funds to pay estate taxes upon the death of the founder of the company. Other strategies may involve transactions that are subject to income tax such as intra-family sales not involving grantor trusts.
As the principal of the family business starts to age, tension can develop concerning when the older generation should retire and turn over ownership and management to the younger generation. Another big concern is the effect of estate taxes on the business. Personal issues concerning siblings’ emotions and roles in the business are usually in the mix.
Once the decision is made to establish a succession plan, find a knowledgeable attorney who understands the company’s financial situation and the family dynamics. This person should have knowledge of the tax and related issues, including corporate, partnership, limited liability company, and employee benefit law and knowledge of the estate planning and administration issues.
A family needs to consider commencing a succession business plan at least ten years before retirement and implementing new management five years before the anticipated retirement date. This is important since many family businesses do not survive the death of the founder because of inadequate planning and insufficient cash to pay taxes and maintain the business’s viability. Many businesses will close or be liquidated in order to meet the needs of the family.
Holding an Inspector Accountable When Purchasing a Home
The housing market has exploded in the Dallas / Ft. Worth area in the last several years through the move of many companies to relocation national/regional headquarters to Texas. New jobs have created an explosion in the DFW housing market bringing in many potential buyers. A nice home in a good neighborhood may last only a couple of days before it is sold.
Potential buyers must be prepared when purchasing a home in the Lone Star State. After the initial offer, it is customary to have 8-12 days for a potential buyer to have the prospective home inspected by an independent third party. During this time, it is important to find an inspector that you trust.
If the home inspector performs a negligent inspection or misrepresents the condition of a part or a defect in the home that causes expensive problems for the buyer, the inspector may be liable. The Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA) will protect a buyer from the misrepresentation of an independent inspector. Under the DTPA per Tex. Bus. & Comm. Code §§ 17.46(b) there are multiple causes of action to insure your protection if an inspector committed an action that:
(a) represented that goods or services are of a particular standard, quality, or grade, or that goods are of a particular style or model, if they are of another;
(b) causing confusion or misunderstanding as to the source, sponsorship, approval, or certification of goods or services;
(c) causing confusion or misunderstanding as to affiliation, connection, or association with, or certification by, another;
(e) representing that goods or services have sponsorship, approval, characteristics, ingredients, uses, benefits, or quantities which they do not have or that a person has a sponsorship, approval, status, affiliation, or connection which he does not;
(f) representing that goods or services are of a particular standard, quality, or grade, or that goods are of a particular style or model, if they are of another;
(g) knowingly making false or misleading statements of fact about the need for parts, replacements, or repair service;
(h) falsely representing that work or services have been performed on or parts replaced in goods; and
(i) failing to disclose information concerning goods or services which was known at the time of the transaction if such failure to disclose such information was intended to induce the consumer into a transaction into which the consumer would not have entered had the information been disclosed;
These are some of the causes of actions that can be filed against a home inspector that misrepresented a portion of the home that had a severe defect. DTPA actions can be complex and intricate both in filling the action and in litigation of the case. An experienced real estate attorney is needed if you wish to pursue a remedy.
Julian Nacol, Attorney
Nacol Law Firm P.C.
Texas Divorce: For Richer or Poorer, Hire Expert Help to Protect Your Interests
For better or worse,
For richer or poorer,
Until . . . a divorce is filed.
When there are several zeros at the end of your bank balance, as in $500,000.00; $5,000,000.00 or more, the financial aspects of divorce can be high risk.
Texas divorce laws are the same regarding the division of property whether the money and assets in a marital estate are a lot or a little; however, the courts will inevitably encounter and address more complex issues regarding the property division in a divorce case with substantial financial and business assets.
Texas is a community property state. What does that mean, as a practical matter, when divorce occurs?
1. The law presumes that all property owned by either spouse is community property, meaning that both spouses own an undivided one-half interest.
2. The court cannot divest a spouse of his or her separate property in divorce.
In a very simple explanation: Texas community property is everything earned or acquired during the marriage other than inheritances or gifts. Your paycheck is community property, your rental income is community property, the cars you purchase are community property, retirement funds accumulated during marriage are community property.
At the time of the divorce, the court will make a just and right division of the community property. “Just and right” does not mean 50/50. Often the courts will split the community property equally, but many factors may affect this division including:
1. The spouses’ earning abilities and education.
2. The spouses’ actual earnings.
3. Who has care and primary custody of the children.
4. The value of separate property owned by the spouses. If the wife inherited $3,000,000.00, should the husband be awarded more of the community property?
5. Fault in the break up of the marriage, especially if a cheating spouse spent substantial assets dating or cavorting with others.
6. The debts of the spouses.
7. Tax consequences.
The bigger the marital pocketbook, the bigger the risk to assets in play.
Texas Child Support and High Asset Divorces:
The court also has discretion in setting child support when the parents are wealthy. The Texas Family Code provides guidelines and the guidelines are presumably in the best interest of the child.
The law caps the Texas child support amount guidelines to a percentage of the first $9,200.00 of the paying parent’s earnings. However, the cap is not made of steel. The law is a guideline.
The court has the discretion to order child support in excess of the guidelines based on the children’s best interest which includes an examination of the proven needs of the children. In the case of children growing up in a high-income household, do not expect the court to necessarily limit its consideration to basic food and shelter. The court may consider many factors in setting child support, including the children’s current living standards, such as private education, nannies, medical issues, emotional issues, sports and other extracurricular activities and, in the rare case, a body guard.
When setting child support within a wealthy family undergoing divorce, the court has discretion, based on the evidence, to set order child support above the presumptive amount in the guidelines. The court’s determination is subjective and is reversed by higher courts only if the trial court “abused its discretion,” a high threshold indeed.
With so much at stake, you should hire an experienced family law attorney who can present your case clearly, and persuasively.
Nacol Law Firm P.C.
Dallas Divorce Attorneys
(972) 690-3333
Children Born Outside of Marriage: Unknown Descendants that May Inherit
Creating a Will is extremely important for individuals that have a sizable estate in the Dallas and DFW metroplex. Time and time again, individuals refuse to properly prepare for death and do not see the proper preparation of a legal and valid will as a necessity.
When you refuse to prepare a Will, then your entire estate will pass through the intestate process. Intestate rules apply if: (1) there is no will, (2) the will does not completely dispose of the entire estate, or (3) there is a pretermitted child/adopted child born after the will’s execution.
In certain situations, a child born outside of a marriage may still claim inheritance rights per the rules of Intestate succession. Nonmarital children may establish inheritance rights from the alleged father if the presumption of paternity is proven in court. Paternity is presumed if one of the following elements are met per Tex. Fam. Code § 160.204:
- The child was born during (or within 300 days after) the marriage of the man and the child’s mother;
- During the first two years of the child’s life, the man continuously resided in the same household as the child and represented to others that the child was his; or
- The parties married after the Child’s birth and the man voluntarily asserted his paternity of the child in one of the following ways:
a) The assertion of paternity is in a record filed with the Bureau of Vital Statistics;
b) The man was voluntarily named as the Child’s father on the birth certificate; or
c) The man promised in a record to support the child as his own.In many cases a child that was born out of wedlock may still inherit from the father’s estate if the above mentioned actions can be proved. Depending on the estate, this ability to prove the presumption of paternity can have a great impact on the allocation of the estate’s assets.
Paternity may be rebutted, even if the presumption is proved by a preponderance of evidence, by a DNA test. DNA testing is the only option to rebut the presumption of paternity. Depending on the estate and the desires of all parties involved, a Judge may order that the body be dug up for a DNA sample of the deceased. This is rare, but the Court does have the authority.
It is important to remember that the Statute of Limitations to establish inheritance rights or the presumption of paternity begins at the date in which the father died. The statute of limitations is four years, which means any potential claim must be brought within four years of the individual’s death.
If you are a nonmarital child or born out of wedlock in the DFW area, you may still inherit as a matter of law. A will created prior to the birth of a nonmarital child will not cut off the child from his or her rightful inheritance. For situations like this, please contact Nacol Law Firm to acquire an experienced attorney to navigate through intestacy laws and probate.
Julian Nacol
Dallas Probate Attorney
Nacol Law Firm P.C.
tel: (972) 690-3333
NACOL LAW FIRM P.C.
8144 Walnut Hill Lane
Suite 1190
Dallas, Texas 75231
972-690-3333
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Attorney Mark A. Nacol is board certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization
