New Hampshire Family Law Blog : New Hampshire Divorce Lawyer & Attorney : Crusco Law Firm : Family Law, Custody, Child Support : Manchester, New Hampshire, Massachusetts

New Hampshire is a state that recognizes both fault and no-fault grounds for divorce. The no-fault grounds allege that "irreconcilable differences which have caused the irremediable breakdown of the marriage." In other words, the parties just cannot get along and there is no hope of fixing the marriage.

New Hampshire recognizes the following fault grounds:

• Impotency of either party. 
• Adultery of either party. 
• Extreme cruelty of either party to the other. 
• Conviction of either party, in any state or federal district, of a crime punishable with imprisonment for more than one year and actual imprisonment under such conviction. 
• When either party has so treated the other as seriously to injure health or endanger reason. 
• When either party has been absent two years together, and has not been heard of. 
• When either party is an habitual drunkard, and has been such for 2 years together. 
• When either party has joined any religious sect or society which professes to believe the relation of husband and wife unlawful, and has refused to cohabit with the other for 6 months together. 
• When either party, without sufficient cause, and without the consent of the other, has abandoned and refused, for 2 years together, to cohabit with the other.

In order to prevail in the divorce on fault grounds, the party alleging the fault must be an "innocent spouse." For example, a party cannot allege that the breakdown of the marriage was caused by the other parties adultery, when that party contributed to the breakdown by being an habitual drunk. Even if a party does not prove fault grounds, they are still entitled to a divorce based upon irreconcilable differences.

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When a parent paying child support receives social security benefits, whether disability or retirement, those benefits are considered income for the purposes of determining child support. A dependent child of a recipient of social security receives dependent benefits, and the benefits are paid to the custodial parent. These benefits are an integral part of the parent's social security benefits, as they derive from the parents eligibility for the program and his past contributions into the program.

How are these dependency benefits treated for the purposes of child support? The New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled In the Matter of Denise Angley-Cook and John W. Cook that a parent with a child support responsibility is entitled to a dollar for dollar credit for any social security dependency benefits the other parent receives that are derived from their benefits.

Therefore, the Supreme Court held that the support should be calculated as follows:

"the amount of the . . . dependency benefits should be included in the income of the noncustodial parent and the guidelines should then be applied to that amount." Rosenberg, 697 N.E.2d at 991; see also Miller, 890 P.2d at 578. The noncustodial parent is then allowed a credit equal to the amount of the dependency benefits, and the net amount of the noncustodial parent's support obligation is the difference between the support amount determined by the court to be correct under the guidelines minus the amount of the credit. See Rosenberg, 697 N.E.2d at 991. An exception exists if the support amount determined by the court to be correct under the guidelines is less than the dependency benefits. See id. at 991 n.7 "In such case, the total support obligation is simply equal to the amount of the . . . dependency benefits, and the noncustodial parent would not owe any additional amount." Id.

Basically, the calculation boils down to everyone's income goes into the pot, and if the child support amount is less then the dependency benefits, there is no child support due from the obligor parent.

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The New Hampshire Supreme Court released an opinion today In the Matter of Kevin Gendron and Jody Plaistek that held that a voluntary acknowledgement of paternity executed in Massachusetts must be given full faith and credit and that the trial court erred in ordering genetic marker testing. The voluntary acknowledgement of paternity signed by both parents had all ready established the father as the legal father to the child, and therefore there was no need for further proof of paternity to establish parenting rights and responsibilities.

The court noted that it had made similar rulings in Watts v. Watts, which held that a father was precluded from seeking blood tests to disprove his paternity fifteen years after the children's births. In Watts, the court found that to allow the father to escape liability for support by blood tests would ignore his lengthy, voluntary acknowledgement of paternity. Here, the court noted that although the mother was seeking to disprove paternity, the result should not be any different than that in Watts.

Today's opinion should serve as a warning to anyone who voluntarily signs an acknowledgement of paternity. If there are any doubts or questions regarding paternity, seek legal counsel prior to signing the acknowledgment  because it may preclude the ability to reopen the issue of paternity in the future.

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Alimony, also called maintenance or spousal support, is payments made to a spouse or former spouse under a court order. Alimony in New Hampshire is "rehabilitative' and is based on the theory that both spouse should be able to provide for their own financial needs. Therefore, when alimony is awarded, it is designed to encourage the supported spouse to establish an independent source of income. However, the New Hampshire Supreme Court has ruled  that this theory is not controlling when the alimony recipient "suffers from ill health and is not capable of establishing an individual source of income, or where the supported spouse in a long-term marriage lacks the requisite job skills to independently approximate the standard of living established during the marriage."

In order to award alimony, the court must find that the supported party lacks sufficient income, property, or both to meet their reasonable needs and be self-supporting and that the paying party can provide for their own reasonable needs and those of the other spouse. The court should also consider the style of living to which the parties have become accustomed during the marriage in determining their reasonable needs.

How much will the court award in alimony? The court relies on several factors to determine the amount of alimony to be awarded, including:

•  the length of the marriage;
• the age, health, social or economic status, occupation, amount and sources of income, the property awarded in the divorce decree, vocational skills, employability, estate, liabilities, and needs of each of the parties;
• the opportunity of each for future acquisition of capital assets and income;
• the fault of either party;
• the federal tax consequences of the divorce order. 
• the economic contribution of each party to the value of their respective estates
• the non-economic contributions to the family unit.

To read New Hampshire's law on alimony, click here.

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An issue to consider when divorcing is how the divorce will affect your ability to get social security benefits through the other spouses records. These issues can be especially important for older divorcing couples who are counting on social security benefits as part of their retirement plans. It is important to consult with your attorney regarding how the divorce may affect your right to receive social security benefits on your spouses record.

Ora Schwartzberg, a New Hampshire attorney and mediator, posted an e-newsletter titled "The Impact of Divorce on Social Security Survivor Benefits" that explains: 

There are two major types of Social Security benefits: retirement benefits and survivor benefits. In general, a divorced spouse who is eligible for survivor benefits would also be eligible for retirement benefits. Retirement benefits are monthly payments that represent a portion of what your former spouse receives monthly and is paid out while your spouse is still living. Survivor benefits are monthly payments that widows and widowers are entitled to when their spouse dies, assuming that the spouse worked long enough to have earned this benefit under the Social Security system.

In order to qualify for retirement benefits, you must have been married for at least 10 years. You can collect retirement benefits on your former spouse's Social Security record if you are at least 62 years old and if your former spouse is entitled to or receiving benefits. Generally, if you remarry, you will not be able to collect benefits on your former spouse's record unless your later marriage ends (whether by death, divorce, or annulment). 

If your divorced spouse dies, you can receive survivor benefits if the marriage lasted 10 years or more. Similar to retirement benefits, you may not be able to collect benefits if you are remarried unless your later marriage ends (whether by death, divorce or annulment). If you are at least 60 years old when you are receiving benefits, the amount of your benefits will not affect the other survivor's benefits amount.

For more information on social security benefits, check out the Social Security Administration's on-line help center here.

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When parties disagree about the parenting rights and responsibilities of each parent, often the court appoints a Guardian Ad Litem. This adds an additional time and cost to a divorce or parenting case. As with attorney fees, the cost of GAL can vary depending on the rate that he charges and the time demanded by the complexity of the case. 

A GAL can be paid through "private pay" or through the "court fund."  When a GAL is paid through a"private pay" case, the court's order of appointment apportions the payment of the GAL's retainer. The cost is not always split 50/50, and the division of the fees is reviewable at a final hearing. In New Hampshire, the retainer usually ranges between $1,000 and $1,500. Additionally, the hourly rate varies from $60 to $100 per hour.

When one or both parties cannot afford to pay for the GAL, the court may order the payment of services from the Guardian ad Litem court fund. When a party qualifies to use the court fund, the GAL is paid for her fees through the court's fund. However, a party is required to contact the New Hampshire Office of Cost Containment to determine their ability to repay the fund for their share of the GAL services in their case.

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Today the California Supreme Court struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage in a 4-3 ruling. The court’s ruling stated that “the legal issue we must resolve is not whether it would be constitutionally permissible under the California Constitution for the state to limit marriage only to opposite-sex couples while denying same-sex couples any opportunity to enter into an official relationship with all or virtually all of the same substantive attributes.” Instead, the question the Court answered was whether the failure to designate the official relationship of same-sex couples as marriage instead of the state recognized domestic partnership violates the California Constitution. The Court found that it did.

The decision and its dissents is 172 pages, so there is a lot to digest. I will post more after I have been able to  read through it in full. In the meantime, to read the opinion yourself, you can find it here. There are also posts through the blogosphere today on the issue, including here at Steven Ballard's Massachusetts Divorce & Family Law Blog, here at Family Law Prof Blog, and here at Jeffrey Lalloway's California Divorce and Family Law Blog.

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As tax season is now behind us, many same-sex couples may have discovered that same-sex couples often pay higher taxes because they are not entitled to federal tax benefits regularly given to married couples. Additionally, same-sex couples must file separate federal returns and in most states, separate state returns. States that recognize civil unions or marriage for same-sex couples, such as Massachusetts, may file joint state returns. Here in the Live Free or Die state where we do not have an income tax, couples do not file state tax returns. 

Kevin R. McMurdy's recent post on Tax Implications and Civil Unions on the Employee Benefits Law Blog reviews various tax implications and employee benefits for same-sex couples.

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As foreclosures are on the rise, many homeowners are seeking alternatives to protect their credit and move on. One such alternative is a "short sale." A short sale is when the costs of selling the home (i.e. realtor's commission, transfer taxes) and the mortgage payoffs are greater than the proceeds received from the sale. The seller must then either bring funds to the closing to complete the transaction, or work out a deal with their lender to accept less than the amount due on the mortgage.

A recent posting from Barbara Strapp Nielsen on the New Jersey Law Blog titled Short Sales When Loans Exceed the Value of a Home provides insight and analysis on this topic. Attorney Nielsen writes:

Unless a homeowner is able to pay off all of the mortgages which are secured by his property, the homeowner will not be able to convey good title to a buyer.  If the homeowner is unable to obtain a sales price which enables him to pay off all loans and closing costs, and he does not have the funds to make up the difference, then he may want to try to obtain approval from his current lender(s) to accept an amount less than the full amount due on its mortgage.  For a lender, this may be acceptable to obtain repayment of a substantial amount of its loan and to avoid the costs and delay of foreclosing on the loan.  This will generally mean that the Seller will not receive any funds from the sale of his home.

In order to obtain such approval from a lender - which may or may not be granted - the homeowner needs to contact his lender(s) to determine what information they will need to make their decision.  This usually includes a financial statement of the homeowner, copy of a contract of sale, appraisal, and other pertinent documents.  Generally, a lender will not consider approving a short sale without a clear economic hardship on the part of the homeowner and an existing default or pending foreclosure.

Until recently, forgiveness of a debt under these circumstances, could trigger a taxable event according to the IRS.  This means that if a lender forgave a part of the mortgage debt by accepting a reduced amount in full satisfaction of the loan, then the amount forgiven could be deemed taxable income to the homeowner.  This was so even though the homeowner received nothing from the sale.  However, in December 2007 Congress passed the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007.  This Act amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income amounts attributed to a discharge of indebtedness incurred to acquire a homeowner’s principle residence.  The amount of the debt forgiveness can be up to $2.0 million.  Thus, a homeowner is now able to sell his home for less than what is owed on it without incurring an additional tax liability.   This exemption for forgiven debt, however, is only temporary and expires within three years.

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Reports of the housing crunch are all over the Internet, the newspapers and the television. Here in New Hampshire, foreclosures are on the rise. In 2007, banks foreclosed upon 2,000 New Hampshire property owners, and foreclosures are expected to reach 3,000 for 2008. As of the 2007 fourth quarter, 18,000 New Hampshire loans had past due payments.

What can you expect if you are in the process of divorce and one of the thousands of New Hampshire property owners experiencing trouble making your mortgage payments? The court has jurisdiction under NH RSA 458:16,I (h) to order the sale of the home only if the party residing in home does not have sufficient financial resources to pay the debts and obligations of the property in a timely manner. These debts and obligations include the mortgage payments, taxes, insurance and ordinary maintenance of the home. However, the continuing decline in the housing market can spell trouble for divorcing couples who are trying to stay afloat even when the parties agree to list the home for sale or the court orders the home to be placed on the market. According to the New Hampshire Association of Realtors, home sales in Hillsborough County New Hampshire have dropped 26.8% and the median home price has dropped 7.8%. Although these numbers have not seen as drastic a drop as the national numbers, divorcing couples in New Hampshire need to be prepared to sell at lower prices after a longer stay on the market.

For more information about the current New Hampshire housing market, Laura Knoy recently hosted a program on NH Public Radio that can be found here.

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Today the New Hampshire house passed HB 267, legislation that puts a cap on the interest rate for small loans given out by payday and title lenders. As on January 1, 2009, the date that the bill becomes effective, lenders may not charge more than 36% annualized. The bill also limits the eligibility of borrowers by restricting the number of times that a borrower can utlize a payday loan.

Although these types of loans can be a valuable way to manage an emergency, the loans can create a cycle of debt that the borrower can not break free from. Especially during a divorce, as pressure mounts to make ends meet, it is important to make good choices in the type of debt that you incur. Whether you are using a credit card, a payday loan, or a loan from your 401(k), read the fine print and make sure you understand the ramifications of the debt that you are taking on and the fees and costs that are associated with the debt.

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A guardian ad litem, often referred to as a "GAL," is a person appointed by the court to represent the best interests of an individual. Unlike a guardian, a GAL does not manage the affairs of of persons, nor do they act as their attorney.  

In a divorce or parenting petition proceedings, the GAL is usually appointed to represent the best interests of the children. The court charges the GAL with the responsibility of investigating designated issues and making recommendations to the court. Issues can include parenting responsibility, parenting schedules, ability of either parent, influence of significant others, and special needs of the children. The GAL is a valuable tool for the court since the GAL can gather a lot of information to provide to the court and aid in making a decision regarding parenting rights and responsibilities.

For more information on Guardian ad Litems, the New Hampshire guardian ad litem board has useful information on their site.

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