Source: http://www.cornwell-law.com/category/columbus-ohio-divorce-lawyer/page/9/
Timestamp: 2019-11-22 21:33:32
Document Index: 93605781

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 1', 'art 2', 'art 3', 'art 4', 'art 5', 'art 6', 'art 7', 'art 8', 'art 9', 'art 10']

Divorce – Page 9
Attorney Fee Awards in Ohio Domestic Relations Cases
In Ohio, attorney fees awards are often sought in domestic relations cases. Courts used to require that a expert testimony be presented regarding the reasonableness of the attorney fees sought. However, in Franklin County Ohio there is a court case which states that the domestic relations court may take notice of the complexity of the case from the court’s own record. A copy of that case is at the bottom of this post.
The first articles in the series can be seen here, but there are many more:
Part 1 (Conciliation or Legal Separation), Part 2 (Dissolution or Uncontested Divorce), Part 3 (Reasons to Choose Divorce), Part 4 (Restraining Orders),Part 5 (Where will you live?), Part 6 (Paper Work), Part 7 (Health Insurance), Part 8 (Attorney Fees), Part 9 (5 Dirty Divorce Tricks), Part 10, (5 More Dirty Divorce Tricks).
Do you have to get a divorce in the state or county you were married in?
A Columbus Ohio Divorce Attorney article about divorce in Ohio
NO – NO – NO, a thousand times NO! This is by far the most common legal myth we encounter. Your friends and family will tell you with authority that they are CERTAIN that you have to get a divorce in the state you were married in. This is not true.
In order for a court to have jurisdiction, the state must have personal jurisdiction over at least one of the parties to the marriage. Generally, this means that you must get divorced in the state where at least one of the parties lives. While this jurisdiction will be enough to grant the divorce, in Ohio, if the Defendant is only served by publication (because his or her whereabouts are unknown), then the court does not have jurisdiction to make orders regarding the assets and liabilities of the parties, only to grant the divorce.
In addition, in order for a court to have jurisdiction over the custody of a child, a court must have jurisdiction pursuant to federal law (Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act or PKPA) and state law, which often follows the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA).
To better understand which state has jurisdiction in your Ohio case, please call our office or the attorney of your choice to schedule a consultation.
Adultery, Annulment, Alimony (Spousal Support), Best Interest of the Child, Child Custody, Child Custody Jurisdiction, Child Support (deviation), Child Support (how much), Child Support (how to pay), Child Support (lower), Child Support (myths), Child Support (resources), Child Support (sign up),Contempt, Dissolution, Divorce Basics, Divorce Myths, Foreclosure Mediation, Grandparents, Guardian ad Litem, House, How Long Your Divorce May Last, International Abduction,Legal Separation, Mediation, Moving, Packet of Forms vs. Getting a Lawyer, Prenuptial Agreements (Antenuptial Agreements), Shared Parenting, Temporary Orders, Temporary Orders Affidavits,
10 Things You Should Know About Adultery / Infidelity and How it Relates to Divorce in Ohio
A Columbus Ohio Divorce Lawyer article about adultery as an issue in an Ohio divorce.
In Ohio, adultery (infidelity) is one of the statutory grounds for divorce. Incompatibility, gross neglect of duty, extreme cruelty, and habitual drunkeness are also grounds for divorce in Ohio. None of these grounds are more legally significant than any of the others – they will all suffice to allow the court to find that there are grounds to terminate the marriage.
In Ohio, as in most states, adultery is not legally relevant to custody matters. In the eyes of the law, a person can be a bad spouse and that has nothing to do with whether they are a bad parent.
In Ohio, adultery has no legal relevance to the division of property. A court will not give one spouse more property than they other in order to punish the spouse who has been unfaithful. In Ohio the primary purpose of the divorce court is to divide things and end things.
In Ohio, one spouse’s commision of adultery does not automatically mean that the other spouse will be awarded the marital home in the divorce. If the one spouse asks the other to leave as a result of adultery, the faithful spouse will not be any more entitled to have the house than he or she would have been if adultery were not an issue.
In Ohio, just because the marriage is ending after adultery, that does not mean a court will fail to consider shared parenting.
Once the marriage is over, the court will rarely enter an order requiring separation between the “object of affection” and the children. Unless a court finds a parent unfit, that parent will have the right to make their own child care arrangements.
When one spouse is leaving a marriage because of adultery, the other spouse may unnecessarily prolong divorce litigation in order to maintain a connection. While adultery is not legally relevant, it is not unusual for divorce litigation to confuse the feelings surrounding infidelity with the legal issues surrounding the end of the marriage.
If one of the parties alienates the children by disclosing the other parent’s infidelity, or worse, by stating the infidelity as the reason for the end of the marriage, a court may find that the disclosing parent is unable to put the needs of the children before their own need for vindication. A pattern of such behavior, with no regard to the strain it causes on the children, could result in custody of the children being awarded to the party who committed adultery, rather than the party who chose to discuss the adultery with the children.
In Ohio, the court does not care if you were a good spouse to the unfaithful party, and you did not cause the end of the marriage. The court only cares that the marriage is ending and things have to be ended and divided. You will not be awarded any more spousal support (alimony) than you would received otherwise, and the court is not going to order the leaving party to “find a way” to let you maintain the exact same lifestyle that you lived before the end of the marriage. The court is going to expect you to live as if the income available to the parties is now being divided among two households.
Be honest with your lawyer about infidelity – it is never a good thing for your lawyer to find out about any relevant information by surprise.
Who Gets the House? 10 Things You Need to Know About What Happens to Your House in an Ohio Divorce.
A Columbus Ohio Divorce Lawyer article about who gets the house in a divorce.
1. In Ohio, fault doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if you think it is the other person’s fault that the marriage is ending. It doesn’t even matter if you convince the Ohio court the divorce is the other person’s fault, the marriage is ending and you did nothing to contribute. Under the law, that has nothing to do with who gets the house.
2. In Ohio, the court’s goal when dividing property in a divorce is to divide things and end things. The court does not care AT ALL that you were a good spouse. The court will NOT give one spouse enough support to keep the house and give the other spouse barely enough to afford a studio apartment, EVEN if you have children.
3. The house usually comes with a mortgage, and always comes with taxes, insurance and maintenance. In Ohio, if you cannot pay the mortgage, taxes, insurance and maintenance on the marital residence, then a court is unlikely to award you the marital residence.
4. In Ohio, Even if you could pay the mortgage on the house with a reasonable spousal support award, if your spending history while the divorce is pending shows that you are more likely to spend spousal support living your previous life style, and ignoring the mortgage, then you probably STILL will not be awarded the house.
5. In Ohio, if neither of you can afford the house now that the marriage is ending, then the house should probably be put up for sale. Generally, the spouse who is least able to afford a similar house after divorce AND is not the person who initiated the end of the marriage is unlikely to be cooperative in selling the house. For example, they may be inflexible on price, refuse to follow the advice of the realtor regarding decluttering, refuse to cooperate with scheduling showings, fail to maintain the residence properly, etc.
6. In Ohio, If one spouse wants to keep the house, and intends to refinance the house into his or her name only, strong consideration should be given to doing the refinance while the divorce is pending. If they can’t qualify for a loan while the divorce is pending, they will be unlikely to qualify for a loan afterwards either. In the meantime, you can’t qualify to buy a new house either because your name is still on the old mortgage. If the refinance can be accomplished later, it can be done now. Remember the old adage – act in haste, repent at leisure.
7. In Ohio, just because the house is titled in one parties’ name or the others, only, does not mean that the house is separate property under Ohio law.
8. In Ohio, Just because one of the parties owned the house prior to marriage, does not mean that the house is STILL separate property. It may have become “transmuted” into marital property under Ohio law.
9. The parties may simply not have enough money to pay the house payment while the divorce case is pending (temporary orders). An Ohio court may order neither party to pay the house payment while the divorce is pending, if it finds the parties do not have enough money to do so.
10. Being awarded the house in a divorce is not a victory if you can’t afford it and it will be foreclosed as soon as the divorce is over.
Adultery, Annulment, Alimony (Spousal Support), Best Interest of the Child, Child Custody, Child Custody Jurisdiction, Child Support (deviation), Child Support (how much), Child Support (how to pay), Child Support (lower), Child Support (myths), Child Support (resources), Child Support (sign up),Contempt, Dissolution, Divorce Basics, Divorce Myths, Foreclosure Mediation, Grandparents, Guardian ad Litem, How Long Your Divorce May Last, International Abduction,Legal Separation, Mediation, Moving, Packet of Forms vs. Getting a Lawyer, Prenuptial Agreements (Antenuptial Agreements), Shared Parenting, Temporary Orders, Temporary Orders Affidavits, Where to File for Divorce