Cincinnati Legal Blog

People rarely go through their divorces without feeling tired and depressed. Divorce involves dealing with unsettling emotions and the necessity of filling out several legal documents. Divorce laws in Ohio and across the United States typically require individuals to spend time thinking about how to divide assets that they owned while part of a couple. Obtaining a final decree does not automatically divide properties. A couple must spend time working on a plan or succumb to the court's final decision.

From medical insurance to bank accounts and social security cards, divorce involves changing names and titles. A wife who was formerly included on her husband's medical insurance policy must now find her own health insurance coverage. The husband needs to ask his insurance agent to remove his wife's name from his policy. If a spouse changes his or her name after getting divorced, that person must notify the Social Security Administration and the Department of Motor Vehicles. As a single person, he or she must fill out forms to change his or her name on a Social Security card and a driver's license.

Bringing a child into your family means that you and your spouse will need to make many decisions. While a significant portion of those choices will likely revolve around the preparations needed to ensure that you can meet your child's immediate needs and that he or she will be comfortable and well-cared for, you will likely also need to look further into the future.

Future preparations do not only pertain to deciding which Ohio university or out-of-state college you want your child to attend. You will also need to consider what needs to happen and what you want to happen in the event that you and your spouse pass away or experience other serious issues.

As many parents in Ohio know, maintaining a relationship with their kids after a divorce is no easy feat, especially if the divorce itself was contentious. As a result, parents should exert extra effort to bridge the gap and reach out to their kids in any way they can. Thanks to the wonders of social media and texting, parents today have a plethora of resources at their disposal to connect with their children.

When researchers tried to assess what factors mattered the most to maintaining a healthy relationship between parents who chose to get a divorce and their children, they hypothesized that the relationship between the parents themselves mattered. However, as later research indicated, it's the frequency of contact between the parents and the children rather than the relationship between the parents that was important. Obviously, how well divorced parents get along might affect the amount of contact either of them has with the kids, yet modern technology mitigates this factor.

When business owners in Ohio decide to divorce, they may face specific considerations related to their businesses. While divorce can have a major financial impact on people in a variety of positions, business owners of closely held private companies can face additional repercussions that can make it difficult or impossible to conduct business in the same way as in the past. As a result, many people may want to plan for how a company will be dealt with in a divorce. While people are often uncomfortable with prenuptial agreements, a private business may make them a necessity.

Many investors or venture capitalists will insist on business owners and partners having prenuptial agreements or postnuptial contracts that address the division of the business in case of divorce. This kind of prenuptial agreement could include a recognition of the business as one partner's separate property. In order for a prenup to be valid, it is important that each spouse is represented by his or her own attorney advocating for their interests. This means that the spouse's contribution to the business after marriage may be recognized as marital property or may be given a specific valuation as a percentage of the business. In addition, the agreement may specify that any distribution is to take place in cash rather than through the division of the company.