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New divorce app to help couples split assets in New York without lawyers

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Re: New divorce app to help couples split assets in New York without lawyers

#111

Post by alecco »

no_wizard wrote: post #57

Does this handle potential alimony? That’s the thing that scares me about getting divorced. A friend of mine confided in me that their partner hasn’t worked since they been married and is afraid that ending the relationship would put them in a deep alimony situation. Unfortunate side effect of living in a high cost are sure but I understand their frustration

One big problem with alimony is it's often calculated at time of divorce and never updated. Extreme cases are when the provider is at an unusual peak of earnings. Once they are past that peak and can't keep up payments, they are driven into bankruptcy (or even jail!). This is quite common with successful actors and sport stars.

On the other end, some divorces happen when the provider is in a low (e.g. depressed with an unusually low salary, or even jobless). So the other partner has to face almost zero alimony support. Even if the provider is later recovered and well off.

There are people exploiting both scenarios by timing the divorce when it's most convenient for them. This used to be a trope in magazines.

Re: New divorce app to help couples split assets in New York without lawyers

#112

Post by throwaway_4ever »

nickMMM wrote: post #19
cafard wrote: post #15

In one of his books, Gerald Weinberg said that his sister decided that it was time to give up divorce work when one of her clients (or the client's adversary) produced a list of goods for partition including a partly used container of dish soap under the sink. And my brother (a lawyer) told me of an attorney in the Mountain West who gave up divorce work as too stressful and went on to defending clients on capital cha…

thank you - I hope so too. When people are separating and fighting over kids, that can get intense too. This tragic story has stuck me for a long time https://nypost.com/2021/11/26/texas-man-shoots-partners-ex-a... . If people understand their rights better, they can avoid taking things into their own hands.

Sheesh Texas let that guy shoot and kill an unarmed man, outside of the house, with no charges?

Insert a gun into a frustrating situation for no reason. What an a-hole.

Re: New divorce app to help couples split assets in New York without lawyers

#113

Post by verandaguy »

schappim wrote: post #91
verandaguy wrote: post #85

I once worked for a Candian startup whose main product was (at least initially) an app that did the same thing. Slick UI, PDF parsing, the whole thing was fairly polished, and if the press releases were to be believed, our product had captured something like 10% of the province's whole amicable divorce market. Unfortunately, the product ended up not being viable. The company pivoted around the end of my short time th…

The rate of repeat business would be pretty low, at least one would hope!

You could probably get away with a subscription model if you market it to the rich, the famous, and politicians.

Re: New divorce app to help couples split assets in New York without lawyers

#114

Post by watwut »

notch656a wrote: post #103
pyuser583 wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The sort of rational thinking you are describing was completely absent from this process. Neither party cared about child support or alimony. Or money, at all. Also, you’re not accurately describing how things turned out. One of the parents wound up having very little custody time, and very little child support.

Accusations of abuse seem pretty rational to me in a custody battle. It's one of the best ways to get custody. Come up with some 'witnesses', trick the kid into testifying on your side. Have the attorney write up the sob story and blindside the other partner so they're left defenseless. Bonus points if you can get a restraining order in the process so custody is lost and continuity is maintained by continuing the cus…

it is actually not. Courts tend to punish those if they don't believe them - accusing partner of abuse is fairly often how you get less custody.

Restraining orders are not easy to get either. It can take quite a lot of fight even in cases where actual stalking and threats of violence are going on.

Re: New divorce app to help couples split assets in New York without lawyers

#115

Post by watwut »

nickMMM wrote: post #19
cafard wrote: post #15

In one of his books, Gerald Weinberg said that his sister decided that it was time to give up divorce work when one of her clients (or the client's adversary) produced a list of goods for partition including a partly used container of dish soap under the sink. And my brother (a lawyer) told me of an attorney in the Mountain West who gave up divorce work as too stressful and went on to defending clients on capital cha…

thank you - I hope so too. When people are separating and fighting over kids, that can get intense too. This tragic story has stuck me for a long time https://nypost.com/2021/11/26/texas-man-shoots-partners-ex-a... . If people understand their rights better, they can avoid taking things into their own hands.

That sounds like a case of somestic violence - it frequently escalates precisely as reaction to victim searching freedom.

Re: New divorce app to help couples split assets in New York without lawyers

#116

Post by hd4 »

optimiz3 wrote: post #44

Separately, as advice to potential couples: get a pre-nup. Resolves any awkward beliefs about money up front. Discloses assets and liabilities so no financial skeletons in the closet. Establishes who has what before the nuptials and frankly fast forwards your relationship to see if it is strong enough to handle a "difficult" conversation and negotiation. Lets you establish what claims your spouse will have to your fu…

I'll do one better, just don't marry. Pre-nups are routinely thrown out by divorce courts.

Unless the guy is extremely poor and marrying a high net-worth woman, there is just no point in marrying, you gain absolutely nothing (except for pithy tax benefits in some cases).

Re: New divorce app to help couples split assets in New York without lawyers

#117

Post by sofixa »

throwaway_4ever wrote: post #112
nickMMM wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

thank you - I hope so too. When people are separating and fighting over kids, that can get intense too. This tragic story has stuck me for a long time https://nypost.com/2021/11/26/texas-man-shoots-partners-ex-a... . If people understand their rights better, they can avoid taking things into their own hands.

Sheesh Texas let that guy shoot and kill an unarmed man, outside of the house, with no charges? Insert a gun into a frustrating situation for no reason. What an a-hole.

> Insert a gun into a frustrating situation for no reason

IMHO that's the main reason everyone having a gun with zero training is one of the stupidest things ever. People are dumb, people are brash, people make mistakes, people argue over everything. Why introduce a lethal component to every confrontation and bar fight? Because a piece of paper written 200 years ago says that it will be needed to protect the country doesn't really sound like a good enough reason for all the useless deaths.

Re: New divorce app to help couples split assets in New York without lawyers

#118

Post by 55555 »

romanovcode wrote: post #99
cheriot wrote: post #98

I watch my parents spend more money on lawyers than either of them stood to gain from winning. Is it possible to have a prenump that declares a fair method of splitting assets and prevents the lawsuits?

Yes, it's called postnup. You do a prenup and after marriage do a postnup. This pretty much binds contract in stone since partner accepted the terms even after the marriage contract was in motion. All in all marriage seems like a lot of contracts for no good benefit.

> This pretty much binds contract in stone since partner accepted the terms even after the marriage contract was in motion.

Can you explain why this means more than just getting a prenup? I really don’t get it. If you agree to a prenup then you agreed to the prenup, no?

Re: New divorce app to help couples split assets in New York without lawyers

#119

Post by philliphaydon »

chrsig wrote: post #94
philliphaydon wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don’t have to answer but I would like to ask. > I wouldn't be able to make the income that I do without the contributions my wife has made to making my life easier, and in general keeping the more administrative aspects of life under control. If you were to divorce would you find it reasonable for her to get 50%? Because I would seem as tho she gave up (willingly in support of you) a career for you. And after div…

50% would be a reasonable starting place. I might factor in her earning potential had she not left her career. We've discussed getting it codified in a postnup (along with assets), so we would know in advance what any numbers would be should either of us want to terminate the marriage. I forget off the top of my head what number we floated -- she didn't ask for it to be 50%.

I’m in a similar boat but it’s something that just kinda happened as a result of having kids and living in Singapore. In my head I wouldn’t even want to discuss it I would just split down the middle but I read your post and wondered if my thoughts would change /if/ I was going through a divorce.

Hopefully it never comes to down because our relationship is amazing.

Re: New divorce app to help couples split assets in New York without lawyers

#120

Post by lelanthran »

rokhayakebe wrote: post #101
chrsig wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It shouldn't be that scary. I've been married coming up on 10 years in January. I've been the sole income provider for a large majority of the marriage. I wouldn't be able to make the income that I do without the contributions my wife has made to making my life easier, and in general keeping the more administrative aspects of life under control. I'm in a marriage with her because I love her and respect her. Part of t…

As Chris Rock says, the problem is not having to give up half of 15M. The problem is having to give up half of 35,000.

> As Chris Rock says, the problem is not having to give up half of 15M. The problem is having to give up half of 35,000.

I don't understand - are the stakes much higher when fighting for half of 35K than when fighting for half of 15m?

It seems to me that it is, but if you have a link to the video I'd appreciate it.

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